All Forum Posts by: Dyanne C.

I would continue making payments on the car and save extra cash for a down payment on a house. Your on time payments on the loan should improve your score.

Also there are several services like credit karma or credit sesame that let you see your score so you can see if its improving. It's also a good idea to run your credit report and make sure there are no errors on it that may be bringing your score down.

I'd be interested. Keep us posted!

@James Barnes

 For whatever reason I couldn't get this mention to work on my previous post, despite attempting to edit it a few times. =/ 

@james barnes The process itself didn't have many issues. Financing process was great after I finally found a great banker. I had worked with others in the past that were terrible and were part of the reason I gave up in the past.

My condo was a foreclosure that required some work, I had no idea where to start but at least the experience helped me find a good plumber and contractor. So now I'll know who to call if I need some minor work on a new place. Cosmetic rehab I did myself over the last two years.

I can definitely rent it out for positive cash flow, I'm just unsure if I'll be able to move into whatever property I purchase next. I guess it depends on where it is.

 @Jacobo B. Thank you, I'll check it out! :)

@Dmitriy Fomichenko I need to set that up, one of those things I keep telling myself I'll get to. :)

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome. I'm glad I found this site again. So much more content than I remember.  And a fantastic community too!

No experience as a landlord, but I do live in a condo with an HOA. At my community there are major parking issues, luckily I resolved my own issues by purchasing an additional space from another owner.

As far as fees, mine have been stable, and from I hear from other owners, the fees haven't changed much in 20 years. That's pretty unusual but you do sometimes find those great communities that keep their costs down. With condos it's really hit or miss, if you are still interested in getting the condo, you may want to reach out to other owners who have been there awhile.

Looking forward to this!

Glad to see more people from Miami!

I'm also not sure if this is the place to start investing, especially not now that the prices have recovered so quickly. Some areas are almost to the same prices they were at before the crash.

Hi everyone, my name is Dyanne and I'm from Miami, FL.

I have been interested in getting into real estate investing for several years but I didn't feel financially stable enough until recently. I actually found BiggerPockets 2 years ago, right around the time I bought my first home (a condo). I felt at the time that I needed to wait a little until the "dust settled" on my own primary residence before moving onto investments.

Although I haven't been active, I did continue reading finance books/blogs and some real estate books and continued saving money so that when I felt ready, I would be able to proceed.

Since coming back and becoming "active" I have read the ultimate guide (again!) and have started listening to the podcasts. I have decided that what I'm interested in is buying and holding rental properties for cash flow. I have set a goal closing on my first investment by the end of this year. Now I'm just looking for the right property, and thanks to Podcast #73 I'm open to investing outside my area.