All Forum Posts by: Jacob Hrip

I’d like to begin my real estate investing career in 2025. I’ve recently finished reading J Scott’s “The Book On Flipping Houses” and found it to be extremely helpful in understanding most aspects of a fix and flip project. However, I still struggle to understand the art of estimating rehab costs. 

I was considering reading J Scott’s “The Book On Estimating Rehab Costs” but wasn’t sure if the information remains relevant 6 years later given how pricing has changed since then. 

Is this book worth my time or am I better off going another direction? Are there any other real estate investing books that the forums would consider essential to a first time investor? 

Thanks for the response, Caleb.

Not a ton of savings that I could allocate towards a BRRRR. Maybe $15k or so. Do you mind sharing the benefits of using a hard money loan as opposed to private money? I've also seen DSCR mentioned on more than one occasion in the forums. Thanks!

While it appears many rookie investors tend to struggle to hit the ground running due to lack of capital / financing, I have the opposite problem. I've never purchased an investment property but want to begin my investing journey in 2025. My wife inherited a duplex from her mother that we have rented out since 2019 and we purchased our own home in 2020. Conservatively speaking, we probably own $70k in equity in the duplex and $50k in our own home.

In the limited research I've done, a HELOC seems like an ideal form of financing a BRRRR property. However, a relative of mine has also expressed interest in investing their own funds into this venture and splitting the proceeds.

Again, i'm as new as can be to the world of real estate investing. can anyone offer advice on which form  of financing might be the most advantageous for a first time investor? Thank you!