All Forum Posts by: Darren M.

Hey @Zach Zimmer! Glad to hear your ventures are going well. I'm basically just searching the forums for "Canton" as I'm about to move from dover to canton, starting with an owner occupied. I was just curious what kind of price ranges you were picking up (turnkey or fixer uppers?) and what the average rents are (if you don't mind me asking). I was thinking about focusing on multi-family but may jump on some SFH since they're easier to find.

Hello @Shaun Drone! I'm from ohio as well, O-H! That's right, @Scott K.

 haha.

Welcome to the boards, there is an unbelievable amount of resources on this site and the podcast is a great start.

Hopefully Detroit can get things heading in the right direction and you can make a killing on your investments!

Hi @Laura Janosko! I'm looking to get started investing a bit south of you in the Akron/Canton area! Any updates on your real estate situation? 

Hey @Rich Armentrout, I know this post is old but I'm looking to buy my first investment/owner occupied in Canton! Just wondering how your ventures are going in the area. 

Hello ALL!

I am in Ohio and looking to buy a 75-100k owner occupied multi family home. I have around 14k saved up for a down payment but i'm trying to avoid the loan insurance by getting 20% down. I have two 401k accounts currently (1 from and old employee and my current), the first account has 1200 and my second has around 3800. I'm 26 and decided that from here on out i'm only going to pay the minimum into my 401k to get the free match and use real estate for my retirement (I'll be buying more property as I go). I've heard things about using my 401k as a down payment to actually make it work for me, instead of sitting idle. What I'm having a hard time finding is, if I can avoid early withdrawal fees or it being classified as a "hardship withdrawal) if its for a first purchase. If not, am I better off just leaving it where it is and paying the loan insurance? Is a loan from my 401k plausible or is that more costly in the long run? Thanks for any input!

Thanks for the positivity @Brian C.! I'm glad there is no absolute WRONG ANSWER when it comes to the financing. I know i'm going to read all deals carefully but knowing a 30 yr FHA isn't the end of the world helps a lot, @Patrick Donovan. Now that you have me thinking about it my short term goal is to live rent free. I guess there's really no reason to pay any money out of pocket when there are so many to choose from. Very long term, if I enjoy it and feel that being a landlord is something i'm good at, I hope to own enough properties to quit my day job and give my potential partner proof i can manage rentals, increasing the possibilities. @Chris Adams, I will have to look over those cash flow options and see what works before I get back to you on that!

Hello everybody! I've found some amazing info on this site and I'm ready for some info tailored to my personal goals. I'm about to unload my situation so thanks to anybody who takes the time out of their day to read and help a complete newb!

I am 26 and single living in Ohio. I am a full time engineering student by week and full time employee at a manufacturing corporation by weekend. My credit score is 713 on equifax, 825 of trans union, and 782 on experian. I've checked all the reports and can't find any correlation as to the wide spread, I have 3 paid/closed collections from 5+ years ago that don't show on the experian, but do on the other 2. I make roughly $37,000 (3-4% raise yearly) and have around 560 in bills each month, without my $40,000 student loan payment while enrolled in school. I have saved around $13,000 (I would be willing to part with probably $10,000 as a down payment leaving the rest for emergencies.) I currently rent from a friend for only 300 a month total. I decided an owner occupied duplex would be my best bet for low cost and future income. I have decided that my best range would be in a working class area between $50,000 and $100,000, the rents per unit being between $450-650 on average, respectively. The best properties I have found that make sense are in the $80,000 range. In this case my down payment would be around 12.5%, Does FHA seem to be my best option or should I try to avoid that? If I go FHA should I put less down? I hear that my other unit should pay for my mortgage as a rule, but if I went 15 yrs and had to pay <$200 for my mortgage, is that really a big deal or should I do 30 years to be safe? Also, from what I gathered I should send out as many applications to different lenders within the month the first is pulled, how long do these reports last before they need pulled again?

*Exhales......* Sorry again for the length, I just wanted to give a clear idea of my situation and what (infinite) questions I have. Thank you so much to the people who run and/or post on this site, it has helped me more than you know.