All Forum Posts by: David D.

The answer you're looking for is going to be it depends on a number of factors: in the White L? $40k range? $400k-ish range? or higher?

I can say for reasonably priced small multifamilies in the $300-$500k range have been going to contract in a couple of weeks to a month. 

If you think you might decide to pursue a graduate degree, it's going to largely render the prestige of your undergraduate institution irrelevant.  I don't know anything about CM, but a good chunk of jobs will need some sort of masters to advance after a certain point.

(Caveat: in some fields it absolutely matters where you went to undergrad and grad school, and will affect your entire career.) 

Another consideration is that while the "education" might be the same at different schools in the same category, it's really about the network of people you develop while at school (probably the biggest downside of the transfer route, because you're missing freshman year bonding.) Some of the biggest things I've done professionally came from relationships built on were video gaming, drunk debating to 3am in the morning, and shared non-classroom interests. 

One last thought, most people change majors/focus when they get further into school, which makes me cringe a bit when you're talking about 100k in undergraduate loan debt. 

What other programs do they have that sound interesting to you? Would you still have the same earnings potential to offset your loans? 

Are you going to be able to enjoy your time at college? What do you value and will you have the money to be able to allocate to realize your dreams and expectations for college life?

I'm not talking about keeping up with the trust fund kids, but what if you want to study abroad for a semester or the summer, can you do that without racking up big loans? (You won't the opportunity time to spend 3 months in Italy, Japan or where ever for a quite a while after school, if ever.) What about having money to join in when people go out every now and again? Or buy the latest Sony or Xbox console? What about Spring Break? (It doesn't have to be the stereotypical Cancun/whatever, but what if you want to go backpacking through Patagonia, Thailand or Australia?)

While it is a big decision, you should be excited. Also, don't sign up for 8am classes. Classic 1st year mistake. 

And generally, when faced with picking classes to satisfy degree requirements, generally you're better off taking classes from professors you like. (You can find other ways to learn anything critical, too. A bad professor isn't worth wasting your time if you can get the requirements satisfied in other ways.)

I wouldn't get into too much of a hurry for HQ2; there's only going to be ~600 jobs in the first wave of hiring. The DC Metro area added 50k jobs last year on its own; it's not like this is 1990s Seattle.

SE makes sense on paper, but Anacostia's been something that's looked good on paper since before I was born. That said, I do eventually plan on picking up property that will be convenient for Amazonians. 

Maybe by then people will have figured out how to deal with the rat problem. (Been a big surge in the rat population over the past year or so, regardless of how pricey the neighborhood is.)

@Ryan Whitcher thanks, I hope so!

@Chad Gallagher A casual breakfast sounds great. LMK details.

@Joe Norman

@Joe Norman Thanks, excited to take the plunge.

Hey there,

I'm a soon-to-be new investor in Baltimore, MD. Originally I joined BP in January thinking I was going to learn about small multi-families and then house hack in 2-3 years. 

Well, circumstances changed and moved my timeline way up, and now I'm closing in 3 weeks on a fourplex rowhome in Baltimore.  The inspection didn't turn up anything deal breaking on an as-is property, so things are currently on track. 

I've been reading and researching a little bit of everything, but I'm focusing on the following areas since this real estate investing is going to be a real "thing" very soon for me:

• Finding an architect and GC who can handle major renovations in a historic district. 
• Determining what degree of historicity* (<--- evidence of student loans) I should stick to for tax credits in the renovation. (CHAP, MD Historical Trust, etc)
• Sound proofing
• Landlording 101 for the student and young professional market
• Figuring out what kind of Home Sense insurance coverage I need
• Tenant proofing units, but also making them attractive and differentiated on a reasonable budget
• Figuring out the right degree of home automation (wiring/full unit audio etc) my owner's unit , public/outward facing cameras, electronic locks etc (Consulting firm? Hours on reddit? etc)

I'll be asking questions here and there, but I'm mostly focused on searching and reading through threads right now, so if you have any good threads saved that would be super helpful.

*I have some personal requirements that take this property and renovation a little outside the norm for a typical investment project. I'll be house hacking (typical), but will be renovating the first floor unit and finishing the basement into an owner's unit that will need to support me hosting small donor development and community building events, as I am active in the Baltimore non-profit scene in my spare time. I'm also interested in using this renovation as a test case for some ideas and materials that my parents might be using in their SFH's renovation. (If you're wondering about my budget, I took a FHA loan instead of putting 25% down in Bolton Hill so I could renovate this property; it needs some love.)