All Forum Posts by: Dominic Jones

Greetings from downtown Wichita! I am so happy to have found Bigger Pockets, as it is truly a learning tree and a great place to share information and advice in the exciting world of real-estate. 

I come from a background of finance, marketing and program management in the aviation industry, as well as an interwoven love for real estate. My first job out of high school was managing a real estate office in Iowa - and i have managed properties and am now a managing partner in a 50 year old firm that we are working to grow in all ways.

I hope to learn from each of you, as well as the network I currently enjoy. You can find me on LinkedIn to learn more of my professional and educational background, as well as being a featured business writer. 

I hope to connect with you and find more owners to do business with as well.  This is a great industry!  Thank you for reading!

Warm regards, 

Kristen Williams

hi, I'm interested in buying a condo for my first buy and renting it out I live in new York but condos in Westchester go for 70 - 100k which I think would give me a good start . For experienced investors is this a good idea? Also what are any cons to buying  a condo 

I live in Brooklyn NY and come from a buy and hold minded family that came to the country about 30 years ago with 0 money and built up a nice portfolio all over New York. The market is not what it was when we initially bought a majority of our properties which led me to becoming addicted to finding creative ways to getting deals and diversifying the way we invest especially with the asset inflation we're dealing with today. I remember hearing creative deals my dad has done that really opened my eyes to looking at deals from a different perspective. I'd love to share creative deals that people have done to shed light on what most people feel like is a real estate market they can't enter. 

@Ryan Rogers, I personally think your plan is sound. I know several others in the Boston RE industry that do something similar. They have renters pay off all their monthly expenses and cash flow little to nothing, but once they own the property free and clear (rent increases aside) should be pulling in $10K+ each month. That's nice income to retire on, especially if you're in your 40s or 50s. And even if the property was cash flow negative, provided it's not "too negative", if the renter is paying off the interest on the mortgage, property taxes, and HOA fees (if applicable), you're paying into your own equity while using the bank's money to yield greater returns on appreciation. (3% appreciation on $50K in your bank account is much lower than 3% appreciation on a $500K property.)

To best maximize your long-term ROI I'd definitely stick with neighborhoods surrounding the universities or burgeoning neighborhoods like Eastie, JP or certain areas of Roxbury. Neighborhoods like South End, North End, Back Bay etc.. (in my opinion) are tapped-out at this point for an effective buy/hold strategy. Just make sure you keep your unit on the 9/1 or 6/1 rental cycles to maximize return.

Hopefully you are having a happy Monday ! 

Currently working in the UK as a Project Manager, working for a large world-wide multi-consultancy firm. Hopefully going to move to New York in 18 months time, once I have completed my Master Degree. 

I have a real interest in Real Estate Property and I am hopefully looking at getting some new exposure/experiences within Real Estate in both the U.K and U.S. I am wondering if there are certain ways in which I can try to begin to establish my self within this industry ? I.e. what should I look to be doing or what should I currently be doing that will provide me with some of those foundations I will need to firmly get into this market area ? 

Any advice or help will be greatly appreciated. 

If you have any contacts that you feel would benefit me please let me know. 

Kind Regards 

Sean Hughes 

Hi BP!  

I joined recently after hearing much about the forum.  I'm an American based in Japan, and finally decided to take the plunge as a personal investor a couple months ago and acquired a 14 unit residential building in Osaka.  Seems like there are quite a number of BP'ers based in Japan, so here goes my first post:

In the U.S., it seems like a 1031 exchange would one of the better methods for building a bigger portfolio while minimizing tax leakage, but it doesnt seem like Japan has such a tax deferment scheme with respect to investment property (but there is such a scheme for self-use residential property in Japan).  In Japan, I understand the capital gains tax to be 39% for ownership less than 5 years and 20% for ownership greater than 5 years.

1. Given the above, how are BP'ers in Japan building bigger portfolios while minimizing tax leakage on capital gains as properties are sold in order to acquire properties?    

2. Or, rather than selling, would it be better to continually refinance and use the proceeds to acquire more property?

3. At what point (in terms of portfolio asset value) would there be benefits to start engaging an accounting firm to structure Japanese legal entities to hold property?

Thanks!