All Forum Posts by: Dylan Robinson

Sent you a message !  I would love to help if you're still interested in the Norfolk ODU area,  great place to invest if you know the market well,  can be terrible if you don't know the right neighborhoods.. 

 Welcome Dylan and thank you for your service! There's a lot to offer on this platform. If you're hoping to move back to Alexandria, the DMV is a great place to invest. There's some differences in each state depending on what you're looking to accomplish with your investing goals, but overall you can't go wrong. The traffic is always heavy in these areas which makes turnover a bit easier than more rural locations. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!  Goodluck!

@Dylan Robinson I've got buddies that used their VA loan to secure big beautiful plexes in DC. They then did the STR model (with permits) and are able to cashflow a substantial amount.

However, this only legally works while it's your primary residence.

I've got other friends that used their VA loan to secure the rare plex in Alexandria. They also did the STR model while househacking and are doing well.

It can be done, but you may need to get a bit creative with your tenants, not just relying on the LTR model.

Best of luck!

If you are new and out-of-state, you are behind the 8-ball for sure and need to be very careful. Agents, for the most part, like 99%, know nothing about rehab costs. The photos online won't be of much use to you as the photos where the money spend is at are in the basements, attics, and the exterior of the house, and every corner of those if that helps.

You can not do it if you don't know the numbers yourself. It takes a very long time to even get in the ballpark. This is why most wholesalers are terrible because their numbers are never even close on the repair costs. You can read The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs by @J Scott as a guide, but the current numbers for your area will be different.

Don't let someone tell you that you can just do per square foot. That does not work and is only for experienced renovators who know their buy box and know they will always go to the studs and redo everything.

Just get out in the field, see every dump on the market, take sneak photos to show to a contractor, and get some investor and contractor friends who will be in the ballpark on the costs.

Welcome to the community Dylan!

Feel free to ask some questions! And if you are interested in out-of-state investing, I'd love to talk to you and give you some information!

@Dylan Robinson

I don't think so, I think its just a matter of if the numbers make sense there isn't too much more to think about in my opinion without ending up in analysis paralysis. I was able to connect with a property manager out there through someone I heard on a podcast, and I knew worst case scenario I could have just sold the property if I ended up not liking long-distance 

Welcome @Dylan Robinson! 

Seconding what @Jonathan Greene said, you have a powerful tool for house hacking when you get back. Also, I would definitely read that book by David Greene! I read that book and bought my first out of state property right after. Definitely some good tips in there! 

@Dylan Robinson Welcome to BiggerPockets. Definitely take advantage of your VA loan on your first one. You can do as little as 0% down and maybe even get money back at closing if you can implement seller credits into your offer during the inspection period or prior to going in contract. If you can use it to house hack a duplex, triplex, our fourplex to start out somewhere you wouldn't mind living - you'll learn much more quickly. Treat it like a stepping stone.