All Forum Posts by: David Y.

All things being equal, probably 1 person. Depends on how this entire deal/partnership is structured, though. If everyone is bringing something to the table, maybe 3 partners is better. If it's just for money and money alone, I think 1 person is easier. 

As others have said, figure out your goal and how you want to get there. I would specialize at first and become an expert on whatever strategy you choose- buy and hold, flipping, wholesaling, etc (choose one of them). The most important thing is that you try to get one deal - any deal- to get yourself started. You're all over the map and mention flipping, SFH, and also multifamily- decide where you want to go and which path aligns best with your goals.

I would suggest reading as many basic books as you can. I enjoyed the recent Turner/Dorkin How to Invest in Real Estate. 

In my opinion, you should not ask for a loan or money from friends or family until you are very knowledgeable and experienced. The risk is high and it would be horrible if you somehow made mistakes that cost you (and your investors) lots of money.

I think a better way to go about it is to partner with someone that you are close with who has interest in real estate investment. Having 2x the funds can allow you to leverage that capital faster. It can be difficult to find partners that are inorganic (ie. not very close friends or family) but it can be done. 

I think that you should have the tenants pay for all utilities of the house (gas, water, electric). We also have the tenants take care of snow removal and lawn care as well. Out of 5 college students, there should be one of them that is able to mow- and if not, you can always hire out and add it to rent. In my opinion, the less you have to do, the better. 

Hi Leigh, I think there are a lot of ways you can go about this. LLC vs. no LLC is a long debate and there are lots of BP posts/articles that argue both sides.

I think it depends a lot on what your goals and how you are starting. For us, financing was much cheaper to buy the house in our own names and then getting landlord insurance and/or umbrella policies was the better way to go. If you buy through an LLC, there are stricter regulations and higher requirements for financing. So I think we'll consider going that route when we have more properties, but not starting out. If you were to buy a big multifamily property right off the bat (like a 300 man apartment complex), that might change things.

Be sure to read about the arguments for and against LLCs and also how it fits your path. 

In my opinion, you should try to invest in markets that you have some sort of connection in- David Greene wrote this in his Long Distance Real Estate Investing book. Figure out where you might have a network/insider information and then go from there. Not saying you can't be successful just going in cold, just that it seems like it would be much easier.  

Any of the Bigger Pockets starting books are very good- How to Invest in Real Estate, the ultimate beginners guide is good for new investors. 

Nobody can answer this question but yourself. You need to do more research and think about your own goals before deciding which you want to focus on. Each have their pros and cons and each will require different skills to manage. 

In my opinion, you should still be responsible for half of the bill of vacancy if you guys are unable to rent it out (if you are buying this as an investment together as partners). If your partner is going to live there full time afterwards (for a long time), maybe you could sell him your half at that point so you don't have to worry about it? 

I would view it as a totally separate investment property and dismiss the fact that your partner is living in one of the rooms. If you and your partner went 50/50 on an investment property and there was a vacancy, both of you would take the hit. Same thing here. If you are going to share in the profits of this investment house when you guys get tenants in there, you should also share the cost of vacancy. 

I think you might have more interest in blockchain specific forums. Platforms like ETH might have more discussion on applications for real estate and other smart contract situations.