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All Forum Posts by: Ethan Slater

Ethan Slater has started 1 posts and replied 8 times.

Quote from @Drew Sygit:

@Ethan Slater here's some info we hope you find useful:

Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.

Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.

If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.

If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

Similarly, if you put several Class D tenants in a Class A 4-plex, what do you think will happen to the property?

So, when investing in areas they don’t really know, investors should research the different property Class submarkets.

Here’s our OPINION for the Metro Detroit market (use as a template for your target area!) that we’ve learned in our 24 years, managing almost 700 doors across the Metro Detroit area, including almost 100 S8 leases:

Class A Properties:
Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, 3-5 years for positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation.
Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% the more recent norm.
Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 680+ (roughly 5% probability of default), zero evictions in last 7 years.

Class B Properties:
Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, decent amount of relative rent & value appreciation.
Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, 5% should be applied only if proper research done to support.
Tenant Pool: Majority will have FICO scores of 620-680 (around 10% probability of default), some blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 5 years

Class C Properties:
Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, high cashflow and at the lower end of relative rent & value appreciation. Can try to reposition to Class B, but neighborhood may impede these efforts.
Vacancy Est: Historically 10%, but 15-20% should be used to also cover tenant nonpayment, eviction costs & damages.
Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores of 560-620 (approaching 22% probability of default), many blemishes, but should have no evictions in last 2 years. Verifying last 2 years of rental history very important! Also, focus on 2 years of job/income stability.

Class D Properties:
Cashflow vs Appreciation: Typically, all cashflow with little, maybe even negative, relative rent & value appreciation
Vacancy Est: 20%+ should be used to cover nonpayment, evictions & damages.
Tenant Pool: majority will have FICO scores under 560 (almost 30% probability of default), little to no good tradelines, lots of collections & chargeoffs, recent evictions. Verifying last 2 years of rental history and income extremely important to find the “best of the worst”.

Make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.

The City of Detroit has 183 Neighborhoods we’ve analyzed.

DM us if you’d like to discuss this logical approach in greater detail!

Thank you for sharing that insight! I think it will prove to be especially important as I evaluate possible properties in the future. I just started reading all about the real estate investing realm a few weeks ago, and I want to continue to dive into it and learn as much as I can in the next few years. In 1.5 years, I will be moving to a large university town to start a dental residency program, and I am viewing this as an opportunity to invest in my first property. When analyzing a market and breaking it down into property Class submarkets, do you find it helpful to complete this division at the city-wide market level, or do you find it also beneficial to additionally break it down by suburb, and even neighborhood? For example, I imagine in a market like Detroit, a neighborhood, at-large, may be filled with mostly Class A properties (in comparison to the rest of the surrounding suburb and/or city); but, I would think that the quality of these properties can be further subdivided within themselves too.

Quote from @Charlie Cameron:
Quote from @Ethan Slater:
Quote from @Charlie Cameron:
Quote from @Ethan Slater:

Hello everyone on BiggerPockets! I am excited to introduce myself as I continue to learn about the world of real estate investing. 

I am currently serving in the United States Air Force, so as a military member, I will be moving around during my career. I am looking to learn and grow from different perspectives in the real estate investing space. As I continue to gain more knowledge, I am intrigued by the opportunities that real estate investing can afford while on active duty. 

Experience: Beginner in real estate investing
Goals: My primary goal is to learn more about real estate investing opportunitiesI desire to connect with individuals who have had experience investing in real estate while serving in the military on active duty. At this stage, I am interested in house hacking, short-term rentals, and residential assisted living (though I hope to continue to learn more about other opportunities as well).

I appreciate this community and the opportunity to learn from others. I am excited to get to know other investors, as I continue to grow in my knowledge and skills in real estate investing.

 Hey @Ethan Slater! I'm an Air Force vet and reservist that got my start investing in real estate part time and eventually swapped to full time! I also run a mastermind on residential assisted living. Done multifamily, SFR, STRs... and finally found the niche that I love the most and believe has the most potential for decades to come. If I can help at all, let me know!


 I have just started listening to "Physicians and Properties" by Dr. Alex Schloe (an active duty Air Force physician), and he has definitely turned me on to investing in residential assisted living! He has talked about some of the deals he and his partners have recently completed, and they sound like awesome opportunities. The combination that this niche offers first-class care to those that need it most and the potential for it to become profitable for many years to come definitely has me interested in learning more about opportunities investing in RAL.

We are renting in our current assignment, but we will PCS in about a year and a half. I am working over these next few months to learn as much as I can to develop systems in order to analyze the next market we will move to. I hope to invest in a SFR or small multi-family unit (i.e. house hack) at our next assignment to dip my toes into real estate investing. Eventually, my goal is to continue to use this knowledge to start investing in RAL too.

 @Ethan Slater must be fate! @Alexander Schloe is my business partner and bro. He and I host the RAL Room assisted living podcast as well! Do you know where you will PCS to? Where are you currently? 

 No way, that's crazy! I am sorry that I didn't put the connection together right away. Like I said before, I have been consuming as much of his content as I can lately (I just started listening about 2 weeks ago) and am thinking of possibly even joining the RAL Room mastermind too. Dr. Schloe talks a lot about how amazing of a team he has found, so congratulations on building a group that is a win-win for everyone involved!

I am currently stationed in Minot, ND. It's unfortunate that I am just now finding out about the community and resources Dr. Alex Schloe offers because I just PCS'd from Colorado Springs in August. I would have loved to have tried to meet up with him in person (if his schedule would have allowed). I am super honored and grateful to have been selected by the Air Force to attend orthodontic residency. I will be applying to schools this upcoming summer, interviewing in the fall, and, Lord-willing, finding out late fall where I will be headed. It will most likely be a big university town in the midwest (e.g. UIowa, Indiana, UMinn, etc.). Residency will start in summer of 2026.

Quote from @Todd Anderson:

@Ethan Slater, Thank you for your service and welcome to BP.

As others have said I think your thought of house hacking in your stage is great. I have worked with a number of new investors that use this strategy to get started. As others have stated using a VA loan gives you quite an advantage to get into the deal. Take a look at what markets you are planning on starting in and make sure it is a growing market where the appreciation is obvious. This will let you capture equity as well as make it easer to cashflow. It will also alow you to use the equity as it grows to add to your portfolio.

Best of luck


 Thank you for sharing your thoughts! You mentioned the following: "Take a look at what markets you are planning on starting in and make sure it is a growing market where the appreciation is obvious (emphasis added)." In a year and a half, I have an opportunity to attend an additional residency program. I do not know where it will be at this time, but it will most likely land us in the midwest. I have the desire to purchase my first property during that transition (we are currently renting and will only have 8ish months left at our current assignment before we will move). I have heard that, historically, midwest markets generally are considered cash-flow markets, as opposed to appreciation markets. Would you avoid investing in strictly a cash-flow market? If so, why? I understand that appreciation certainly helps an individual build equity, but I also am attracted to consistent cash-flow with a steady (albeit possibly slower) appreciation growth. Note: I'll caveat: I believe that other factors should be considered when analyzing the market as well (i.e. economic growth/stability, low crime rate, affordability, etc.)

Quote from @Charlie Cameron:
Quote from @Ethan Slater:

Hello everyone on BiggerPockets! I am excited to introduce myself as I continue to learn about the world of real estate investing. 

I am currently serving in the United States Air Force, so as a military member, I will be moving around during my career. I am looking to learn and grow from different perspectives in the real estate investing space. As I continue to gain more knowledge, I am intrigued by the opportunities that real estate investing can afford while on active duty. 

Experience: Beginner in real estate investing
Goals: My primary goal is to learn more about real estate investing opportunitiesI desire to connect with individuals who have had experience investing in real estate while serving in the military on active duty. At this stage, I am interested in house hacking, short-term rentals, and residential assisted living (though I hope to continue to learn more about other opportunities as well).

I appreciate this community and the opportunity to learn from others. I am excited to get to know other investors, as I continue to grow in my knowledge and skills in real estate investing.

 Hey @Ethan Slater! I'm an Air Force vet and reservist that got my start investing in real estate part time and eventually swapped to full time! I also run a mastermind on residential assisted living. Done multifamily, SFR, STRs... and finally found the niche that I love the most and believe has the most potential for decades to come. If I can help at all, let me know!


 I have just started listening to "Physicians and Properties" by Dr. Alex Schloe (an active duty Air Force physician), and he has definitely turned me on to investing in residential assisted living! He has talked about some of the deals he and his partners have recently completed, and they sound like awesome opportunities. The combination that this niche offers first-class care to those that need it most and the potential for it to become profitable for many years to come definitely has me interested in learning more about opportunities investing in RAL.

We are renting in our current assignment, but we will PCS in about a year and a half. I am working over these next few months to learn as much as I can to develop systems in order to analyze the next market we will move to. I hope to invest in a SFR or small multi-family unit (i.e. house hack) at our next assignment to dip my toes into real estate investing. Eventually, my goal is to continue to use this knowledge to start investing in RAL too.

Quote from @Jorge Vazquez:

Hey Ethan, first off, thanks for your service! After 20 years in real estate and working with a lot of military investors, I can say house hacking is a great fit for you. With VA loans, you've got a huge advantage to get started with little to no money down, and military bases are perfect for long-term or short-term rentals. The key is building systems and finding solid property management to handle things while you move around. If you ever want to chat more, let me know—I'm happy to share what I've learned!


 Thank you for your response! Yes, I am very interested in house hacking. We are currently renting right now, but will be moving to another assignment in a about a year and a half. I want to develop a system to be able to analyze deals to purchase a property that we can either house hack or flip at our next assignment. When you speak of finding solid property management, what are ways in which you've had success with this? As we will likely be moving to a new place for our next assignment, I may have to start from ground zero making connections.

Post: What to do with savings

Ethan SlaterPosted
  • Posts 8
  • Votes 1

Charles, as others have said, thank you for your service! I am currently active duty myself, learning as much as I can about real estate investing and the opportunities that it can offer. Here are a few things that I have learned recently:

1) Keep crushing your personal finance. It will open doors for you in the future to accomplish your goals!

2) I think it is important to remember a key part of the VA loan entitlement. While others above have highlighted the ability to purchase a property with 0% down, there is one large stipulation: you must purchase a property as a primary residence. This doesn't mean that you can't purchase a multi-unit (duplex, triplex, etc.), but I do not believe that you will qualify for VA loan entitlement if you purchased a property that is not your primary residence. See source: https://www.veteransunited.com/valoans/occupancy-requirement... You could certainly invest in other markets (that are not your primary residence), but you just are not allowed to use your VA loan entitlement.

Happy to connect and continue to learn about real estate investing opportunities together!

Quote from @John Mason:

@Ethan Slater Welcome to Bigger pockets.. I can help you get a start by sharing some notes


Thanks for reaching out! Yeah, I'd love hearing about your experience as an investor in the Tampa area. I am looking to learn more about LTR, as I believe that there is great potential of LTR in military communities (as I will be moving throughout my career).

Post: New Member Joining BiggerPockets

Ethan SlaterPosted
  • Posts 8
  • Votes 1

Hello everyone on BiggerPockets! I am excited to introduce myself as I continue to learn about the world of real estate investing. 

I am currently serving in the United States Air Force, so as a military member, I will be moving around during my career. I am looking to learn and grow from different perspectives in the real estate investing space. As I continue to gain more knowledge, I am intrigued by the opportunities that real estate investing can afford while on active duty. 

Experience: Beginner in real estate investing
Goals: My primary goal is to learn more about real estate investing opportunitiesI desire to connect with individuals who have had experience investing in real estate while serving in the military on active duty. At this stage, I am interested in house hacking, short-term rentals, and residential assisted living (though I hope to continue to learn more about other opportunities as well).

I appreciate this community and the opportunity to learn from others. I am excited to get to know other investors, as I continue to grow in my knowledge and skills in real estate investing.