All Forum Posts by: Dana Schreiber

Jason Chambers , thank you so much for explaining this technique. Your numbers in terms of ltv and equity match almost identically with my current property. I was losing so much sleep over how much I pay on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage (interest front loaded of course) that I ended up doing a refi (close pending) on a 15 yr fixed at almost 2% points lower apr. This would reduce my overall interest by 200k but it doesn't get me away from front loaded interest payments to the bank and it obviously increases my monthly payments tying up money that can go to other investments. What you are doing seems way smarter. Now I need to hunt for that heloc.

Jason Chambers fascinating how you were able to do this transaction. I'm still trying to wrap my head around how you used a heloc to payoff the loan, with a mortgage of 3200 and assuming you had a ltv somewhere around 70% I'm guessing the loan payoff was above $300k. These are just my assumptions. I haven't seen any Fixed rate helocs with draws that large. Is there a book, blog or spreadsheet that you can share which breaks down how to do this accelerated mortgage pay down strategy?

@Lane K. - In terms of travel back and forth I basically keep my personal items in storage in CA and stay with relatives or friends when i am there.  Its a weird setup and I always feel like i am vagabonding, which is pretty much what i am doing.  I used to own a condo in CA and if I had half a brain i would have held onto that gem but the past is the past.  

@David Dachtera - Sorry to hear that your J.O.B. is ending soon, glad to hear that you have already started on your path to financial independence and this site and your community are in place to help accelerate that journey.  I am dreading the day that my J.O.B. disappears but hey as you stated failure is a choice, success is a process so better to start implementing on that process now to mitigate whatever the future throws at us. I need to take those baby steps that you already started a long time ago. 

@Paul Timmins - Thank you for the nuggets of info and inspiration. I have signed up for 2 REIA meet ups in my area, hopefully the contacts there will get me going in the right direction. Researched HUD site for properties in my area, there are many in pre-foreclosure and foreclosure, trying to run the numbers to see what is a good deal. Hawaii has a lot of leasehold property and HOA fees are crazy high so that factors a lot into the ROI/BEP. I'll have to go through the process of understanding how to assess and make offers on these type of properties. When I purchased my last 2 properties I avoided anything in a short sale or foreclosure situation as I was always told "you don't want to go there, the process is complicated, the wait time can be long and the results are unpredictable". I'm sensing that to be successful in REI i need to avoid these type of "limiting factors" if i want to find the winning deals.

Thank you everyone for responding to my personal monologue.  I'll try to find ways to pay back to this community over time as i get better at this.  

Hey there, I am new to the BP community, recently been busy going through all the content on this site.  I love Josh and Braondon's podcasts, the forum posts, blogs, etc.  I've read Rich Dad Poor Dad, 4HWW, a few Bigger Pockets books including Rental Property Investing and Managing Rental Properties.  I am at the beginning of my journey here just at the learning phase of things looking to break in on a first deal within the next 3 months.  

I would like to briefly explain where i am in life and seek some general advice from the community members on how to break into my first buy and hold rental.  I am in my early 40s, happily married with 2 kids.  My current job is in IT in the SF bay area.  My job pays me enough to provide a comfortable life for my family but it totally consumes me and has me away from family 60% of the time.  About 5 years ago my family moved back to where we are originally from which is Hawaii.  It's a long story, involved both personal and family commitments.  Through this transition I kept my job in California by converting to a telecommute situation where i work from home half the time and I work from California half the time.  This has been sort of a life hack situation that i negotiated with my manager and i have managed to keep my job by delivering on big projects, keeping my customers happy and just working really hard.  My company supports telecommuting but that doesn't mean managers love it.  Anyone who telecommutes in any company is always under pressure of getting canned if they are out of site for too long, this comes with the territory.  Knowing this I have made it my priority to be visible by staying onsite more (and more) than working remote.  I have effectively been giving up both my time and my location to enable my family to live a comfortable life and this has been killing me slowly.  

I have been edging my way into real estate for quite some time and am both excited and afraid of what the future holds and if I have what it takes to pull things off.  Because of my current work situation I am never in any one physical location for more than 4-6 weeks.  The locations i am in (California Bay Area/Hawaii) are both very expensive locations so finding local RE opportunities that can convert into cashflow positive investments is a challenge.  I know, I know, we are all supposed to be how-can-i-er's and not I-can't-ers on this site.  Mr. Kiyosaki would consider me a chicken little but hey I am not some single guy in my 20's with no one counting on me to keep them fed, clothed and sheltered.  i have effectively allowed myself to get locked into the rat race.  Like so many folks on this site I am looking for ways to slowly dig myself out of this situation. I've been in the matrix for a long time, I am looking for the exit and I'm ready to take the red pill.  

Here are some questions I have as a newbie starting their journey in REI

1 - Would refinancing a primary residence to extract the accumulated equity be a good source for financing the down payment on a buy and hold property intended to be used as a rental? Would a HELOC make more sense? How about taking a loan against a 401K? I am confused which of these is the better/safer option to finance a rental.

2 - For folks interested in buying rental properties outside their primary market, how important is it to travel onsite to see/buy/manage the property?  How often or when should you do this?  I am thinking it would be crazy expensive to travel to remote locations on a regular basis just to keep an eye on properties.  Makes sense to see the property when it is appraised/inspected, before it is purchased and probably spend some time on site during the rehab.  Once the property is rented out i get that finding a trusted and reliable property management company to do the daily stuff and i am fine with paying the 8%-10% for this if the numbers work.  

Hey there, I am a cubicle junkie for probably the last 18 years, been plugged into the matrix for far too long working for the men (Corporation, Uncle Sam and Big Banks).  Looking to unplug and become my own person and work for myself.  I am interested in real estate strategies, in particular acquiring and managing rental properties, doing flips, investing in notes and wholesaling.  I've worked very hard the last couple of years to reduce my debt, save up some money and keep expenses really low.  Ready to move away from the sidelines and jump into the fire.