All Forum Posts by: Erin Church

@Josue Rivera Have you looked into the Bigger Pockets calculators? Free members get to use them 5 times and pro members get to use them an unlimited amount.  They're pretty cool really.  @Brandon Turner shows off how to use them quite often with the webinars. :)  They may help with the numbers and let you double check behind the realtors since you don't know how working with them would go. I suspect the cost of the pro membership would be worth the peace of mind if nothing else... and if it saves you a bad investment... :) 

Good luck with your future findings! :)

@Cristina S. It's quite easy to set up an LLC in GA - fairly cheap (under $250 between name reservation and license) and it's quick.

I'm a newbie, but I've been trying to listen to as much as I can about investing and the part to be concerned about with condos are mostly the HOA's. If they decide they need a new pool, to resurface the parking spaces, someone mishandles the money, there's a rash of foreclosures and people not paying their dues, then the dues can go up significantly. This can't really be predicted as far as I understand, so it's a risk. With a SFR, you have a little more control.

I'm a newbie, but have sold several SFR that were my primary. One that sat on the market the longest was freshly redone and empty. The market was bad, but it was still being shown some with no offers. The problem was a long living room. When I lived there, it was a living room and sitting room with a properly placed couch and a couple of cute chairs behind it. When I bought a couple of pieces of furniture to leave in the house, the next showing bought it - the buyers needed to see how to layout the living room. I think this sort of issue can happen with open floor plans quite often too. I think @ScottCarr is right with his suggestion. :)

Also, I agree with @EugeneKemp that if you think the problem is the yard, drop the money on the sod and watering it. I know you're concerned about not making much profit. However, you mention that you'll have to essentially sit and wait for a year to be able to get another property.  If you break even and start over now (a bit smarter about the rehab process I'm guessing since you mention it was tough), and can do two flips in the next year, does it make more financial sense for you to break even and flip some more or sit and wait?

Hey Kevin - I'm super new, but have been trying to gain as much knowledge as possible. I attended a local Meetup last week (which was amazing - I highly suggest it if there are any in your area) and @Jered Sturm 

@Jered Sturm talked about paying back a loan over time. The idea was that $1 is worth less as time goes on. Because inflation happens, a $1 buys less than it did.  I always hear about how my Pops could go to a burger joint and eat for (under) a $1 way back in the day.  However, now $1 will only buy a soft drink and an equivalent meal would be around $7.  

The same way a $1 has less food purchasing power now is exactly why paying back over time is a great idea.  So, if you borrow $100,000 now and your P and I payment is $500 (the cost of say, 72 fast food meals), as you're paying the money back, the value of the dollar decreases. So, in 10 years, that $500 payment may only be the equivalent of 51 fast food meals. Just as the idea holds true for the monthly payment, it holds true for the loan amount - as you're paying it back, you're paying it back with many less valuable dollars.  I'm guessing Jered can add some insight and perhaps a better explanation :)

Also, congrats on your first deal! :) 

Hey @Sygonia Sampler , 

Welcome! I'm also a GA newbie and wanting to learn as much as I can. I went to the Monthly MeetUp for the first time last night and it was fantastic! Being surrounded with so many knowledgeable people that have a similar passion is amazing! 

Here's some info about it:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/392511-monthly-northern-atlanta-real-estate-meet-up-mastermind  

Hey @Ryan Johnston - Thank you! I appreciate you offering of help and suspect I'll definitely end up with questions for you. :)  The MeetUp was fantastic!

@Dmitriy Fomichenko 

Thanks for the welcome and tips! 

I'm actually going to the Monthly Northern Atlanta Real Estate Investment Meet up tonight! I'm looking forward to spending time with knowledgeable people that have the time to chat! I went to a foreclosure auction and asked questions of the investors as I could earlier this month. That was a ton of fun, but all conversations were fairly brief (understandably) because there was so much going on.

I've set up several keyword alerts and have started devouring the podcasts like they're my favorite ice cream. :) I'll definitely be reading the beginners guide and finishing up the UBG video course. 

If you ever need help factoring polynomials, I'll be glad to help. :)

Hey Maggie! I'm also a newbie that is trying to soak up as much knowledge as I can. I love your potential plans as I think I've convinced my husband that our next house should actually be at least a duplex. :) 

Hey Everyone,

I'm Erin Church and I live just above Atlanta in the Roswell/Alpharetta area. I recently found Bigger Pockets because of my answer to a simple, every day question my best friend (a recruiter) asked: If you could do anything, what would it be?  

I didn't hesitate. I knew my dream career would be in real estate. This is the one area that I have been excited about for over a decade, but didn't do nearly enough about. 

I have always seen real estate as an investment, even when I purchased my first home at 24. I bought a foreclosure and sold it for about 40% more than I paid about a year and a half later (and learned to keep it for 2 years after that). My second house had a similar increase in value. My third house, I purchased from a friend and my profit from that deal was a giant life lesson. :) 

After moving to GA from SC about 6.5 years ago, I wasn't sure what the following years would bring, so I rented. I finally felt settled enough with the area and life to purchase again a couple of years ago. My husband and I hope to make a nice profit on this house as well and then be able to start purchasing investment property. So, I'm currently in the "soak up all the basic knowledge I can" phase. I love learning, so that statement will always be true with only the word "basic" being substituted out for things like "BRRRR", "Foreclosure", "Rental" and so on.

Right now, I think that foreclosures and residential rentals are the direction I'm heading. I feel like balancing my current job (online math lecturer) and rentals go together well. Hopefully the same will be true with foreclosures. 

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone! The more I dig into Bigger Pockets, the more I feel like I've found "my people". :)

This sounds fantastic!  I'll be there! :)