All Forum Posts by: Craig Moore

Hey all,

 I am on bigger pockets simply because I want to help beginners make that leap like I had to all on my own before I knew about bigger pockets.  A quick blurb on my experience : 

I am a serial House Hacker 

I am a Bank Manager for a large Bank 

My wife is a Real estate Agent specializing in Flips and Investment Properties

My friend and I have a total of 104 rentals in our area which are all self managed he owns the bulk of the 104 rentals

Also my father is an attorney and my mother is and has been a real estate agent my whole life.

I have lived with tenants , managed my own properties, helped grow and develop a property management team,  helped investors find deals,  helped investors get financing , and a bit more ! 

That all being said I have a bit of experience in buy and hold , financing traditional and creative , self managing, and MLS deals and using the MLS. I am still learning myself (always will be) but I feel like I can help people analyzing deals and making the leap into REI!

Please feel free to ask anything that comes to mind and I will try my best to answer all questions. 

@Craig Moore I would just focus on first finding a deal that makes sense as a flip. I'm a buy and hold investor, but if I get something under contract for a flip, I have a couple guys I can reach out to for partnering up. Just take a small percentage of the profit on the first one if need be. Exactly what I plan on doing.

@Craig Moore Well I can tell you that @Jacob Pereira is 100% inaccurate in his analysis of midwest/rust belt real estate. Although I have to agree with him regarding cities on either coast. Craig, if you're torn between wholesaling and buy and hold, then you haven't researched buy and hold enough. The economics of buy and hold are pretty incredible if you consider the laws of compounding returns and the availability of leverage. Wholesaling can obviously be a great thing but the barriers to entry are low and the competition is stiff thus reducing profits ON AVERAGE. Sure the best wholesalers make money, but so do the best football players in the world... See my point?

Buy and hold investing is an excellent way to build net worth and cash flow over time. Your net worth can undoubtedly hit 7 figures over time from real estate alone. You annual income can definitely be 6 figures plus OVER TIME. Maybe check out the book Millionaire Real Estate Investor if you haven't already. 

@Craig Moore,  That is a question that only you can answer.  In my opinion, yes it is for several reasons:

1) The $200-$300 per month wont change my life, but the wealth generated by having someone else pay my mortgage, the leverage I can use to purchase future properties, and the $600 or so cash flow I'll have from just one SFR after the mortgage is paid off can all most definitely change my life in the long run. It's a retirement plan, not a job replacement plan. I think having the right expectations with buy and hold is key.

2) Being a landlord for 1 single family household is not that stressful.  I text my tenants once a month to remind them to pay the rent.  They text me when something is broken and I call to fix things when they go wrong.  I pay a realtor to screen and place tenants and it really isn't all that bad.  My rental is 4 hours away with no property management but if it were closer or fully managed there would be close to 0 headache.  Managing an apartment complex or lots of multi-families would be more stressful but would also bring in much more money.  And if numbers work, you can always pay others to deal with things.  

Again, I don't know your local market but I would be shocked if there is nothing in your market that is totally destroyed (meaning copper stripped, walls missing, etc. like mine was) that could not be purchased and fully rehabbed for cheap enough that 20k would not cover 3.5% down payment.  With 15K down, you could finance a property over $400,000 and if you're buying and rehabbing right, it should be worth much more than that.  You would then have 5K cash reserves in case you need them, but because everything in the house would be brand new and still under warranty, you likely wouldn't need that until long after the property is cash flowing.  The nice thing other than financing with 203k is that because the government requires you to do so many things, you really don't have to know everything to rehab it.  All you have to do is agree to the GC that they already have pre-approved to work on 203Ks and pick what you want done.  The GC will handle the rest. The bank writes the checks, inspects the work, etc.  You literally just sign A LOT of papers several different times, and wait until you can move in.  Then get some roommates or tenants and you're done. 

@Craig Moore,  I have to agree with @Cary F. and disagree mostly with @Jacob Pereira . While I don't know your local market, I can tell you that I went FHA with only 3.5% down for my first property and I was "all in" including closing costs for well under $5,000. I did a 203k loan which allows owner occupants to roll rehab costs into the cost of the mortgage so that was a big benefit to my out of pocket expenses. Now that property brings in $1150 per month in rent. After mortgage and expenses, it easily cash flows $200-$300 per month.

I do think @Jacob Pereira had it right that you really should be looking at FHA route as an owner occupant because $20k on a traditional financing will be tough but it's not impossible in some markets. Sounds like it may be in Boston though.

I can also say that the lender that @Cary F. will refer you to seems to be very professional and efficient.  I was referred to him as well and while I have not yet closed on a loan, I have begun the process of obtaining financing and all seems very above board and straight forward. 

@Craig Moore

Keep saving up and go the small multi family route you were thinking about. I bought a duplex and now my tenants and roommate pay my mortage and expenses and I cash flow on it. With interest rates still low and FHA letting you put 3.5% down (that's an owner occupy loan btw) it's a great opportunity to take advantage. You will need more than 20k though IMO. Even if you put 20k down, there's rehab costs, maintenance, vacancies, and you'll want a cash reserve so you don't over extend yourself on your first deal.

Best of luck!

Boston is one of the top markets for airbnb in the US. I invest in airbnb in atlanta and have made a wopping 25k over the course of three months. I can give you my systems and strategies for you to build your capital up to invest in to a multi unit. Atlanta also havs under 20 unit commercial properties available in Atlanta that will give you some great returns. Let me know if this helps. Also my company invest in airbnb worldwide let me know if you would be interested in making some money together. 

I suggest that you grow your money (appreciation deals like flips or trading notes) first until you accumulate enough cash that, when you invest that cash in cash flowing investments like buy and hold properties, you generate enough monthly cash flow to replace your income.

Know the rules of the game and play to win. Stay blessed!