All Forum Posts by: Gabriel Martinez

Hi All,

Ive recently bough my first home in the state of florida. I purchased the property with an FHA loan at 5.25% rate but plan to refinance once rates drop (if they ever drop lol). I keep receiving mails from insurance and mortgage companies to protect my home by getting a mortgage insurance. life is unpredictable and this seems like a no brainer. Even though i am 26, employed, have savings, and a stable job - too much protection is never a bad thing.

However, i find it very sketchy and somewhat car salesman-like that all these companies keep spamming me with mail and warning me of "last notice or else i will never be able to protect my mortgage ever again."

At the cost, and given the benefits of most mortgage insurance offerings, is it worth it to pay (however much extra it is)? I plan to purchase a new home which i may use as a rental once rates drop and though i dont know when that will be, it sounds like a nobrainer to save up for that instead of spending on mortgage insurance monthly and limiting potential future appreciation.

Thoughts?

Hi all!

I recently bought my first property - a 2 bedroom 2.5 bath townhome which is also where I reside now. Even though i just recently got my feet went and went through the ropes of my first purchase I'm very eager to network and learn from experienced investors in my city/community. With tampa being such a large and ever-growing community there is no way there are no real estate conventions/clubs/or networking events where i can really leverage my connections and really get to learn from really savvy people. 

Do you have any recommendations on where i should start? ive been mostly looking for conventions but everything ive found is along the lines of "Grant cardone featuring david goggins panel; buy your tickets for $400 and network like never before" - anything more aligned/tailored for local investors? 

Hi all. I am a 26-year-old in the Tampa Bay area. I am unmarried, very frugal (only spend on investing, necessities/essentials, and travel), and I recently bought a house worth approx $320,000 at a 5% interest rate (with $5k in equity already) - I used an FHA loan as I plan to live there for a year, refinance into conventional, and then move on to my next investment.

For my next investment, I am unsure of which is wisest considering the following: I currently owe $85k on student loans, my salary is $85k/year (not including EOY bonus), I have approximately $52k invested (stocks, index funds and CD's), no credit card debt, and no car debt. I am thinking of either investing in a 2bd/2ba apartment/condo near tampa/st.pete's downtown and then renting the current property I reside in (in the suburbs), or investing in a townhouse/apartment in Gainesville Florida - which is a college town, and then renting it out to students at a premium. I've done the math and both seem like they are realistic investments to continue scaling and growing my portfolio.

I am concerned that with the amount I owe in student loans, I won't be able to finance my next property due to my debt-to-income ratio unless I pay a buttload off my SL debt during 2024. Should I focus on paying off my SL debt fast or on piling up cash to invest in one of the two options I provided instead? By rule of thumb paying off your debt is always the best choice, however, at an interest rate of 3.76%-5.05% for my SL's it seems like with the above rental options I can outpace that SL interest with rental properties' cash flow and pay off my SL's after having deferred them for a year.

I am also unsure if for my next investment, I should be financing via conventional 20% or through DSCR, any insights on the latter? I want to avoid putting large bulks of cash down as much as possible, but that will be tough considering how resilient Florida real estate has been lately.