All Forum Posts by: Jacob Willett

Hello BP community! I am working on getting the pieces in place to hopefully secure my first deal. I have been analyzing properties and I have come across a few that I think would work nicely with my planned strategy.

I know it might seem like a dumb question but how do YOU purchase a property? At what point do you make an offer? I am not sure whether I should put in offers before or after I have walked through the property. Should I wait until its under contract to worry about an inspection? Should I obtain loan pre-approval before making an offer or make the offer and then search for financing?

I would love to hear a rundown of your standard purchase process/ timeline or what has worked for you in the past!

Well for starters, $65 cash flow per unit + appreciation is certainly an upgrade from pouring $1500 down the drain paying rent to someone else every month. Aside from that, I think your target property just simply isn't a good deal. If you want to have great cash flow, you can't be super picky about the neighborhood, and if you want to have a great neighborhood you cant be super picky about the cash flow. You need to re-evaluate what is most important to you in this deal and decide if living in an area you love is worth taking a little bit less cash flow.

Whatever you do, own the property. Stop paying rent to someone else.

Hello BP Community,

As a bit of background: I am currently 20 years old in my 3rd year of college. I have been learning and researching for a few months now and I have determined I would like to get into a house-hack before I finish school. I am in a co-op program which means I rotate between classes and in-field work each semester. My current roadblock is financing, both in terms of loan approval due to my inconsistent income and just lack of capital. Coming out of my current co-op rotation I will be going back to classes during the fall and I will have much more free time on my hands to work towards building some more capital. I had considered pushing more time into my resale business, tutoring, or looking for a part-time job but I feel like there is a more productive application of my time.

My two main ideas are:

1. 1.) Find a real estate investor/ agent to work for in my spare time
   1. Pros: Gain experience in real estate field, network, possibly earn capital
   2. Cons: Difficult to find someone who will be willing to work with me

1. 2.) Get my real estate license and work part time as an agent. My co-worker does this and his brokerage is known for training new agents so I was going to check out their programs.
   1. Pros: Gain experience in real estate buying/selling, earn money, network, obtain real estate license
   2. Cons: I have to pay for training, etc.. so I risk losing money if I cant do any deals

I would love to hear what you guys think about these two options, do they sound like something I could realistically do?. I am really interested in trying to kill two birds with one stone this semester by earning money and getting involved with real estate in any way possible so if you have any other suggestions please let me know!

Hello,

I am new to the real estate investment scene, I have yet to do my first deal. I am planning to do a house-hack while I finish college but I am held back currently by lack of consistent income due to my student status, which heavily limits financing options, as well as a general limited amount of available cash.

I came across the idea of rental arbitrage. Renting a property from an existing landlord and sub-leasing it on Airbnb. From what I read it seems this good be a good strategy to get into with a much smaller capital requirement. I would hope to utilize this to generate some capital to move into more traditional buy and hold rentals.

Does anyone have any experience with this strategy? What major considerations should I take into account? How would you get started?

@Evan Zeigler I am 20 years old in my 3rd out of 5 years studying mechanical engineering in Cincinnati

@Caroline Gerardo Interesting, I had not thought to do it like that. Thank you very much for the idea!

@Caroline Gerardo A co-op program is not housing subsidy. It is short hand for cooperative education in which the university partners with employers to get students into real world jobs while in school. So yes I have a W-2 job through the program but it is based on semester rotations so I only work one semester at a time, hence the issue.

Hello,

I am at the very beginning of my real estate journey. I have been researching via forums, books, and podcasts for a couple of months now I am ready to start getting into the next steps. However, I am currently a college student in a co-op program which determines my employment. Because of this I am unable to provide proof of consistent employment which certainly presents a roadblock in obtaining financing for an investment property.

I am looking for a loan officer/ mortgage broker around the Cincinnati are that would be willing to help me figure this situation out. What can I qualify for now? Could I qualify for more with a co-signer? What should I look for in a co-signer? What recommendations would you make in terms of loan type? (I am currently planning to go with FHA but I am open to other suggestions)

If you are, or you know, someone who may be able to help me figure this out, I would love to connect with you!

@Brad Hammond Yes, I was referring to just not doing the deal if it seems the inherited tenants will be a major issue. I have heard many reasons to seek out an investor friendly agent and it seems I will be adding this to the list!

Thank you for the help

@David Kelly Exactly the perspective I was hoping for. I am currently in college so I am certain my income will fall within 80% of the median in my area. Seeing as there is a variety of these programs, I will definitely have to look into this more, as I was not planning on living in this property long-term which would eliminate many it seems.

Thank you very much for the information and should you make a post on the subject, I will be sure to check it out!