All Forum Posts by: Whitney Hutten

@Bhakti Mary, Feel free to PM me.  I can connect you with my lender who rocks!

@Joe A Warner You are getting some great tips on how to leverage your 401K.  However, rereading your post, it looks like you asked should you stop contributing to your 401K and invest in real estate instead.

One could argue if you should contribute up to the match.  While it feels like 100% return, over time, it may not prove out that way.  There is plenty online to debunk that contributing to get the match is worthwhile.  That said, if you don't have another strategy in place for the short-term, it's probably a good bet to continue to match.

If you are going to contribute to the 401K, I'd concur with doing so in the Roth part.  That way you can pay the taxes now and you could pull out your basis later if you wanted (after you leave the company of course).  Work with a CPA on this.

Now to your question, should you stop contributing and invest in real estate?  Yes, you could take control of your monies and invest in an SD or Solo environment, however, you still have to play by the government's rules and the money is still locked up.  You also, can't touch the cashflow now for your personal gain either.  Booo!  That, I think is the question you have to answer for yourself.  Do you want cashflow NOW, build assets NOW, to fund your lifestyle NOW (and later)?  Or do you want to build assets for someday and hope you get there?  

For me, I elected to take the majority of my money into my own control through cashing out and self-direction and build a portfolio of assets that funds my lifestyle now AND later. That is true freedom.

@Colin M. You are getting some very sound feedback from the forum (especially about jumping the gun on the LLC part). Reading your OP, you mention you want to buy and hold MF across the US.  So I'd do a little more pre-work (and maybe you have done it but just didn't share it):

1. Why are you doing the whole real estate venture anyways (dig deep on this)?

2. What type of investment strategy with MF (Size of units, turnkey, MLS, BRRRR, condition, etc.)? Also, line this up with how you want your life to look.

3. What market and submarket are you looking in first that will stack the cards in your favor for investing and offers the type of product and strategy you are looking for (this is where I'd get the LLC at some point when it makes sense)?  

4. Then build your team to help you find that deal.  The realtor/dealfinder, the property manager, the construction crew (perhaps vertically integrated with the PM), and lender.  This is where going to groups can be helpful.  But also look for online groups and conferences.  Comb podcasts for people who are doing the EXACT thing you want to do and learn from them (one that comes to mind is Nathan Tabor who was on the BP RE podcast just recently).

5.  At the same time, get really good at analyzing the type of deal you want.  

6.  Then execute the deal, close the deal, execute your business strategy.  

If you've done steps 1-5, fantastic!  If not, start there and see where it leads you :)

Women Investing in Real Estate is all about empowering, educating and connecting women to create financial independence through investing in real estate.

Have you ever been to a real estate group where you were the only woman in a sea of men trying to sell you something? Not here!

Join us for a night of networking, knowledge and empowerment. Each event will feature a discussion around a Real Estate Investment topic so we can all learn and benefit from each other's experiences.

Our agenda
6:00 - 6:30pm Welcome
6:30 - 7:15pm Discussion
7:15 - 8pm Network and Connect

Welcome @Jeff Purl. Analyzing deals is a skill to master for sure.  My question for you is what is your focused plan. Some questions to entertain would be:

• Do you know your investment goals (is it to replace income, if so how much... knowing this will help you work backwards to success)? 
• Do you know what investment strategy will work best to reach those goals? Sounds like BRRRR and buy and hold. Those are two different strategies... so which one first:)
• What market supports that strategy and your goals? Arlington is getting pricey, but there are still some pockets around the metro.  Are you staying local or distance?  
• Then what kind of team do you need in place to start feeding your deal funnel?  It's all a funnel and if you are going to spend time analyzing deals, why not do live deals (maybe you stumble across a diamond!)?

Good luck!  You are definitely in the right place!

@Lior Golan It all depends on the type of rehab you are doing.  If it's all cosmetic, then the work can be done inside.  If you are doing exterior work that requires good weather (paint, concrete, etc) then the cold can impact it (of course snow, rain, wind, etc).  I have found, contractors love taking jobs that keep them more indoors in the winter time.  So think about starting there...

@Allen Tracy I second @Ali Boone's advice. Other BIG advantages of the BRRRR-key model is you can leverage other people's systems to build your portfolio (being a true business owner) AND recycle part (maybe all) of your capital. IMHO, using your HELOC to invest is now safer, because you aren't locking up that equity in another illiquid investment, rather using it as a true line of credit to accelerate growth. Then it's just a math function of how many projects you can do :)

@Jacob Horn I've used 203K, hard money, private money, and cash for my projects. Out of all those strategies, I like hard money the best. My lender has me put 10% down and will finance 90% of the purchase and 100% of the construction. I can then get a carry-out loan for 75% LTV conventionally OR up to 80% commercially. This allows me to accelerate my money, do more projects (responsibly!) and shorten my investment cycle by avoiding long seasoning periods. I'm also in more control of who does the work and can avoid the red tape using a 203K loan. The only advantages of the 203K loan, I see, are a low downpayment AND that you can live in the property during construction. PM me if you need more feedback or contacts.

@Darren P. There are also ways to become an authorized user on someone else's card and "borrow" their credit history.  I've had several clients do this with either a family member, friend, or pay for like on credit card marketplace.  I can't speak to the timeline or exact logistics, but check that out:) 

Women Investing in Real Estate is all about empowering, educating and connecting women to create financial independence through investing in real estate.

Have you ever been to a real estate group where you were the only woman in a sea of men trying to sell you something? Not here!

Join us for a night of networking, knowledge and empowerment. Each event will feature a discussion around a Real Estate Investment topic so we can all learn and benefit from each other's experiences.

Our agenda
6:00 - 6:30pm Welcome
6:30 - 7:15pm Discussion
7:15 - 8pm Network and Connect