All Forum Posts by: Craig Curelop

Hi Hillary Dandridge - I don't know too much about your current situation in terms of age, children, and financial position. I would strongly recommend looking into purchasing your property as a house hack. Live in one unit and rent out the others with low money down financing (i.e. FHA). If this is your first property, call around to different lenders. Many of them offer favorable terms for first time home buyers. Purchasing a property will have a tremendous amount of benefits that can grow your net worth significantly. Hope this helps, Craig

^^ sorry. I was trigger happy there. I was not in the military, but in a job I wasn't interested in when I happened upon BiggerPockets and Real Estate. My recommendation would be to listen to the podcasts every day. Start at #1 and work your way up. You'll learn a ton! At the end of each podcast, there is a final 4 where the co-hosts Josh and Brandon ask what the guests favorite real estate and business books are. Write these down as you hear them and start reading. Continue to interact in the forums and you'll have a wealth of knowledge in no time. Best of luck! Craig

Jeffrey White - welcome to BiggerPockets! I was in a similar position as you just about 6 months ago. Not in the military, but

Hannah Wilkinson - I have found that the best contacts and team members come from recommendations and referrals. Join a local real estate Meetup, setup coffee meetings with local real estate investors (www.biggerpockets.com/meet), and ask them who they use as an attorney.

@Nicholas Grieco - As was mentioned above, it all depends on your student loan interest rate. I am in a similar position as you, but I graduated a few years. I am drowning in student loans so my interest rate is fairly high (6%), but I opted to save as much as I can and am now looking to purchase my first property. Given your engineering background, I'm going to assume you'll be able to easily make your monthly debt payments and still save some cash. I would recommend you save your money and purchase your first property with a house hack in the next couple of years. Your net worth will grow exponentially more with a real estate purchase vs. a debt pay down. As for your niche to invest in. Wholesaling and Flipping are typically full time jobs. Obtaining a loan without a steady income is extremely difficult too. Since you will likely get a high paying W2 job upon graduation and will be able to qualify for a loan, I highly recommend you start with a buy & hold house hack. Hope this helps! Best of luck!

@Isiah Ferguson - If you've got a duplex that you have 100% equity in, I presume you are cash flowing nicely from the property. 

Whether you take the job or not depends on your goals and your risk tolerance. Taking the W2 job will be much safer, will allow for easier financing, and with a bit of frugality you can save a significant amount of your income from the W2 to invest in real estate and achieve financial freedom over the next ~10 years.

If you are on a sprint to financial freedom and are not afraid to take risks then putting the investment into your own business might be worth while. Just remember that going off on your own will likely come with significant financial set backs that will double as education. 

@Scott H. - I highly recommend you get her to read (or listen to) Rich Dad Poor Dad. 

Another thought would be to have her read this blog post. It shows why real estate investing is one of the best ways to significantly grow your net worth! 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/02/1...

Hope this helps!

Craig 

@Charlie Cummings - welcome to BiggerPockets! Definitely a great place to be to learn and network with real estate investors. 

If you're ever in the Five Points area, let me know and we can grab a coffee and chat! 

@Tony Hightower - I would be sure to confirm with the current lease how much the tenants are currently paying. Also be sure that the new appliances are of quality rather than "lipstick on a pig." Double check taxes (county tax assessor website), insurance (get a couple quotes), and utilities (call the utility companies) to get a gauge no how much you would spend on each. I would also look at comparable rents around your area to see if the $730 is market rate. 

Make sure to run the numbers through the BP calculators and if you're property cash flows make an offer, due your diligence, and close it! 

Best,

Craig

@Shawn Munoz - It is legal for banks to deny a loan for such a low amount. Usually they do this because it cost them the same to underwrite a loan for $50k as it does for them to underwrite a loan for $500k so it is just not worth their effort. 

To simply give up because a couple banks would not give this to you does not make any sense. Talk to private lenders, call other banks, friends and family, etc. If none of these work, maybe you use your funds (presumably $10k) and get a 10% down payment for a $100k property? Or FHA your way to a $280k multifamily property. There many ways to finance - take a look at Brandon Turner's Book on Real Estate Investing with No (or Low) Money Down. There's a lot to learn in there.

http://get.biggerpockets.com/nomoneydown/

Hope this helps!

Craig