All Forum Posts by: David Y M.

@Bruce Lynn Thank you and everybody else for your perspective. I figure I still have some time to talk to her about it since our timeline is pretty flexible. She is also planning on moving from LA to Dallas later this year with me so we will see how this goes. Our finances are both pretty good. We don't have any debt other than our credit cards, but we pay those off timely so it's a nonissue. 

We both want the same size house. Our target is around 2000 sq ft with 3-4 bedroom and 2+ bath. The only difference is budget - you hit the nail right on the head. She's looking for houses 300k+. We have attended a couple open houses above 400k. It's been a struggle finding a place of compromise on that aspect.

I know one of her friends also actively invests in real estate, so was hoping to see what his strategy is. If it's BRRRR it might be a lot easier to convince her since it's somebody else we know that is pretty successful.

Also for my third question, does anybody know how I can learn more in person experience with rehabbing? I do not mind working in dirt and grime for free in exchange for knowledge.

Hi Everybody, 

I'm pretty new to this space, but I've been researching this year in preparation to make my first purchase in Winter 2020. I am in my early 20's currently renting right now, and my plan was to move into a 3 bedroom/2+ bathroom for around 200k-300k in the Irving, Farmers Branch/Carrollton, Addison area due to a lot of development in the area/vicinity to work.

I recently finished David Greene's book on BRRRR and bought into a real estate investment course (slightly regret but too late now) and have a few concerns that some of you might be able to give me advice on.

1. My main issue right now is getting my significant other on board with this idea. She is a person who would rather buy her dream house (imagine stereotypical millennial design aesthetics) a little farther away from the city instead of a BRRRR in a C class neighborhood. What would be the best way to try and convince somebody to get on board with real estate investing to build some wealth in the long-run - or at least try and get to a place of compromise. I've been trying to ease her concerns with running numbers... but she's also is not too crazy about the idea of house hacking/living with strangers.

- I did some comps, and used rentometer and it seems I can get around a .8-.85% rent to property value in these areas after renovation costs of 40k-60k (~20% ARV value). I figure this wouldn't be terrible if I also live in the place, but it also isn't ideal.

- Cash flow seems in best case scenario seems to be about $300 a month, but more likely in the $200s for a full out rental based off current houses I'm looking at on Zillow.

2. I also figured that this is my first property I should probably do a 20+% down conventional as opposed to like a FHA loan to save mortgage insurance, but would want to hear your thoughts on this. It would definitely financially hurt more to do 20+% down, but I know it will probably be easier to close. What other factors would you consider besides rate?

3. My background: I am not too handy, or familiar with contractor work but my plan is to perform some work myself to save on costs (probably piecemeal one room at a time over the course of a couple months). Doing a full BRRRR seems pretty ambitious at this point in time. I would like to know more about renovation work, but am unsure of what I can provide to somebody else in exchange to learn about their systems for rehab work. I can provide free labor on weekends - I know this may be something that could be enticing since a lot of people are hemorrhaging money right now.

- Also are there book recommendations specifically geared to this for modern design elements and ways to save on cash?