All Forum Posts by: Jacob Flores

Does anyone have experience with multi-family near Dallas Texas? I have had my eye on areas of Arizona for my first investment but I am keeping an open mind to other states and cities. What previously caught my attention was the city of Dallas. I have just started looking at the market and I am trying to get a general idea of how much properties cost and rental prices in the market. 

I wanted to ask the experiences you guys have had that have invested into major cities in Texas for multi-family. Nothing super specific, just questions like "is there high turnover or vacancy? is the local market appreciating quickly? is there a large gap from living expenses to minimum wages? is weather something you worry about? etc." Any input or small tips would be appreciated! Thanks!

Hello everyone,

I am in the early stages of house hacking a small multi-family property, most likely a duplex or triplex. I wanted to ask what or who you would recommend as the first lender. I plan on investing in Arizona, hopefully a bit outside of Tucson or Sedona. I went to Bank of America just to ask a loan officer some simple questions on how I can set myself up to be easily preapproved when I decide to pull the trigger on a property. He told me where I am at after I told him my income, debt, and general credit score. But I have read that it is much better to get a local lender as they generally have better rates and less interest than the big banks. 

Wanted to read some of your opinions of the pros and cons of big banks compared to finding local lenders, and maybe some experiences you guys had. Thanks!

I haven't gotten my first property yet but I am currently putting a lot of effort into preparing for it. Yesterday I went to a lender to talk to a loan officer on how to prepare myself to get qualified right away on my first property. He told me that I need a little bit longer of a credit history (I am 21 and didn't start building credit until last year), to keep my debt to a minimum (I essentially have 0 debt except the $50 I keep on credit cards to build my credit each month), and to study the market I want to invest in. 

Other than that I am reading every book/listening to every podcast I can from Bigger Pockets and others. I am putting together my "plan of attack" as a landlord. By "plan of attack" I just mean what I would allow and now allow, how I would screen my tenant, how lenient I would or would not be, etc. I also have settled on what strategy I would like start with, but I am still trying to pinpoint the exact area I want to invest into. I am thinking either Arizona or Texas. In a month I am taking a road trip to Arizona to see as many cities as possible in person, along with as many neighborhoods as possible to start narrowing down my options. 

I am still in the learning phase as I gather capital for a down payment and build my credit history, but I still keep my brain open to multiple strategies and ideas as I learn about real estate. I went as far as living in a trailer to decrease my expenses as much as possible. Just trying to make use of every extra bit of time I have in order to get my first property as quickly and reliably as possible. I have never been afraid of taking action, so actually getting the property doesn't scare me. I am more on the excited side if anything. 

Hi everyone,

In a bit of a situation at the moment. A good one but also scary one. My girlfriend and I have decided to try and find a property in Arizona to have a stable place to live and have the ability to get a stable income. I am looking to purchase rental properties around the big cities of Arizona, but it is difficult to do that when I live on the coast of California. It would be difficult to see the properties in person, and make the right choice for my first investment, so we decided to move to our own place in Arizona first. 

We currently pay about $700 in rent living in a trailer in California, so we are no stranger to sacrificing a few commodities in order to save as much money as possible. We found a few houses built on 10 acre plots of land near Flagstaff that look pretty nice and are around $100,000. The houses are about 30 minutes from the city of Flagstaff and are self sustainable, (solar panels, water tank, septic) though like I said we are not afraid of sacrifice. The mortgage on the property would be the same if not less than what we pay for rent here in California so we figured we might as well have our money go towards some equity than be thrown away towards rent. A big plus is that our wages would basically be the same, so we could save the same amount of money if not more because the lower prices to live in Arizona. 

THE PROBLEM is the loan itself. I wanted to ask for some advice on how to approach a lender for a loan. I have made multiple calls asking about USDA loans as the 0% down would be helpful in the move. Though I would also do an FHA loan if necessary. For the loan, the lender wants my income to be stable and constant, but moving from another state means I would have to find a completely new job and try to get an offer letter before I even get preapproved for the loan. I am 21 years old and essentially have no debt to my name other than the $60 I keep on my credit card balance for my credit score to grow, which looks good because I don't have a substantially large annual income.

So I wanted to post this and see anyone's opinion on how to attack/approach this situation in the most efficient way. Should I purchase the property while still living in California and just pay the rent and the mortgage at the same time until I can make the move? Should I try and find a job ahead of time and get an offer letter for the loan and then get preapproved? Should I try and get a cosigner? This is my first property purchase so any advice would be good. I apologize if I am lacking necessary information in this post or if the post is a bit mixed up but this is all still very new to me. Thanks!

Hello everyone, hope you had a good productive day today! 

I have been looking for a real estate club or some person gatherings in Northern California but haven't been able to find any yet. I live in Sonoma County but I am not afraid to commute so anywhere nearby or the bay area would be perfect. I joined a few Facebook groups but what I am really looking for is a place to gather in person and meet some investors with experience to start networking and gathering knowledge. Thank you in advance!

Hello everyone!

Had a quick question. I currently live in California and I am looking to invest into a more affordable market. I am 21 years old and I am thinking about moving towards Arizona or Texas to do my first house hack! I am excited but I don't know anything or know any place in those two states so I wanted to ask you guys some recommendations of cities to take a look at. 

I plan to take a road trip to both states and take a look around and get a feel for not only the market to invest but a nice place to live. This is going to be a big step in my life, I have been living with my girlfriend for the past few years for only $700 of rent in California (we live in a 26 foot trailer on a nice piece of property with a full hookup) split between both of us to cut expenses and save as much money as possible for an investment. So if you guys had some recommendations of cities to see on my road trip it would help me narrow down my search a lot!

Thank you!

I also live in California and decided I want to invest into a market out of state. I am thinking about moving to Arizona or Texas after saving enough money to make a down payment on a house hack. To prepare I am saving some money for the down payment (plus extra in case of any issues or necessary rehab), and building my credit as much as possible because I am only 21 and started my credit history only 5 months ago. I will most likely be searching for a small multifamily unit to be my first investment. Anyways, thanks for taking the time to post about your story! It motivates aspiring investors like myself.