All Forum Posts by: Harry M.

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to introduce myself. I've been reading this forum for about a week now - what a treasure trove of info!

My wife and I are newcomers to the business. We are in the process of buying our first property, a duplex, right now. We are fairly far along - we have an accepted offer, positive inspection, financing. Barring the appraisal coming in lower than expected, or some major surprise, we close mid July.

Our strategy for now is to buy and hold and our initial goal is to build up a small portfolio of properties, 5-10, over the next five years or so. Along the way, we'll be evaluating other options as we learn more, and adjusting the plan accordingly. As we learn more about what to look for, we may start introducing a rehab component. The longer term goal is to generate enough income to ditch the day job, and the motivation for that is to spend more time with my family (though I am under no illusions that what we are getting into will not require work!)

Why did we choose real estate to invest in? We want an investment that we can do more to influence the success of, through educating ourselves, and trying to make the right choices. Stocks and such have always felt like throwing money into a black box and hoping for the best.

Hi All - this is my first post here, though I have been lurking for a while and have learned a great deal from all the great advice on this forum.

We are in the process of buying our first rental, a duplex. It is occupied on both sides, by tenants of 9 yrs and 2.5 years. The tenant of 9 yrs is on the section 8 program. I understand that with section 8, the tenant sends you part of the rent while the govt sends you the other part. The leases will be transferred into our names as part of closing, but what steps are necessary with the housing authority so that they know that we will be the landlords and that they should send us the payments?

Thanks in advance for any responses, and for being patient with my newbie questions! We are in Dallas County, TX, if that helps.