All Forum Posts by: Darius Wade

Welcome to the forums. You are taking a good first step by looking into the bigger pockets community. There is a lot of valuable information to be found through the forums, webinars, podcast, and YouTube videos. Be a sponge and engage where you see fit. 

But a friendly word of advice. You will quickly realize there is a lot of information out there, whenever, you're thinking of starting to invest don't get held up by paralysis by analysis. Find a strategy that resonates with you and learn as much as you can and be ok with not knowing everything.

As Mr. Bowens and Greene have stated, congrats are in order. That is awesome that you have this mindset so early in the game. That drive will do you well heading into your future. But as both have said don't force a deal. You've done a great job staking some cash to deploy and took a good step of reaching out to more experienced investors within the forums. 

When looking at your deal criteria I love the fact that you want to house hack, this is by far one of if not the best ways to start. It helps you learn as well as cut and or eliminate your living expenses for the time being. But with an expensive market like Utah you need to make sure the numbers really make sense. Not to mention it could be a challenge to get traditional financing because even though you're debt free without a high enough paying job your debt to income may still not meet their criteria for a loan that large. 

My suggestion in your current situation would be this. Firstly see what you can afford currently from a lender. You don't necessary need to get a pre approval and have a hard inquiry. Just ask for a pre qualification and have them run the numbers with your current credit score and income. If the total loan amount isn't enough then begin building your 9-5 working career. This will help you to increase your earning potential, make lending easier and allow you to save even more money. The second suggestion would be to get your real estate license. Getting that education is very valuable and it gives you access to MLS which is extremely helpful as an investor. And lastly to Mr. Greene's point, religiously attend all meetups in your area. Let people in the community know that you are serious. This will help you continue to learn as well as open up the possibility of partnerships or deals coming your way.

Best of luck.

I agree with Brandon. It would probably be easier with your current bank, but loyalty isn't always warranted. You are looking to create the biggest spread possible so shopping around for the best rate and terms should be a priority.

Congrats on finally deciding to begin your real estate journey. My suggestion for you would be to use the all powerful "Youtube University". You have posted a lot of what would be considered basic questions. That is fine to ask but I believe you will get more useful information information from Youtube to start. Then once you build up a general knowledge base and understand your exact strategy and the inventory available in your market then you can ask more specific questions to help you along the way. Hope this helps.

That's a great goal to have and very achievable. I am in a similar situation with my goals and strategy. So yes continue to learn and figure out where you want to get started. The best way to do so is start by finding your local REIA and attending some events to connect with locals with similar goals.

Hello Jeremy, thanks for getting started with BP and interacting with the community. Happy to have you here. The statement/question you asked is a very broad one that is hard to answer. The first thing I would suggest for you is to absorb as much information as you can through podcasts and the forums to help you better understand the in's and out's of real estate investing. The next and most important thing is determining exactly what you're looking for, that's for you to decide not someone else's suggestion. 

Are you looking into single family homes only, small multi families etc., how much cash do you have to deploy and what is your price range to purchase, do you want to invest locally or at a distance, what ROI are you looking to get on your investments and does the inventory in your market support that, are you looking for turn key or are you trying to force equity into the property, are you looking to house hack or are you doing a 20% down and rent it out right away.

I ask all these questions to show there is a lot you want to have squared away first. This will then allow you to be very intentional in your journey going forward which can lead to your eventual success. I hope this helps and best of luck.

I'm not in those areas but I just wanted to say congrats on deciding to get started. Reaching out to the forums is a good way to get the ball rolling. I would suggest you do two other things aside from just this post. Set up keyword alerts for those locations to see who's in the markets and the topics associated with them. Second I would say to continue to do research on your own. You have a general idea of what you are looking for but those are 3 vastly different markets with variations in pricing and inventory. Utilize some Zillow searches to see what all is available and narrow down what it is you really want to and can buy. Then with a clearer picture the members of BP's guidance can help you make a final decision. 

Wishing you the best of luck!

 That's wonderful to hear! Have you made your first investment yet? And what kind of strategy are you looking to put in place?

For me things have been well I purchased my first long term rental a year ago and house hacked it with AirBnb over the year. I'm now in the process of acquiring my next property and rinse and repeat! So far so good, taking a slow approach but still taking action.

Very nice, Florida provides a strong STR market depending on the area you buy in. That should be a great way to start for you. I am less familiar with land opportunities. Are you looking to flip the land to developers or build new constructions on them?

I have yet to do a true rehab (flip), but my advice would be to absorb as much information as you can and set up keyword alerts for the "fix & flip" to see others questions and answers as well as look through the deal analysis forum category to see how others analyze deals and estimate rehab costs. I hope this helps and welcome to BP.