All Forum Posts by: James Bradin

@David Armas. I have invested in the Bradenton area. It’s about just south of Tampa, right between St Pete and Clearwater. For a “beach town” it has lower prices and better deals than most of the surrounding areas. You might have some luck around there.

Is the decrease in population due to a large business or employer leaving the area?  If so I would be somewhat hesitant. With a population that small, they probably have some type of employment that a large percentage of the population lives off of, even through 1st and 2nd order affects.  One of my properties is in a smaller military town.  The military base is a driving factor in rent and housing prices in the area, and if it were to go away the population would decrease (along with my cash-flow).  The opposite is true with large employers moving to the area.  

Based on those numbers I would say that does not look like a good deal. I know that is an extremely expensive market (that I am also not familiar with), but those numbers are rough. House hacking would be the best option, with you doing a live in BRRRR.

I have previously house hacked for the last 4 years, and I should be starting another house hack here shortly.  I have never done a shared living space, they are both duplexes.  These are pretty different in my opinion.  If I were in your shoes, I would essentially treat it like having a roommate.  With that said, I would purchase and read Brandon Turner's book on Managing Rental Properties. I basically used it as my "bible" for managing my house hack.  It will provide you with detailed information and example spreadsheets for everything you might need.  I can confidently say that book has saved and earned me more money than any other book I have ever read.  I would have paperwork for everything just for tax and legal purposes.

What types of properties are you looking at, and what area?  It is important to understand the basics (which should be easy based on you background), but solid educational foundation will enable you to quickly analyze properties and know in a matter of minutes if a deal requires further analysis.  The video below done by @Brandon Turner served as an excellent example of the process.  It is important to learn the basics so that you can quickly analyze a few deals each day.  If the numbers look promising, then dig more into the numbers.  The amount of information available on the internet will leave little doubt for the numbers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBsDXjGzSG0

I personally have never done this on any of my units.  I think there may be issues with "showing" the property prior to actually closing on the property.  It may be different if it is a person you know (ie friend, colleague, family member).  I certainly would not advertise a property that I do not own yet.  Check your state's laws or speak to an attorney. I could see issues coming up if you have them sign paperwork/submit a deposit to hold, and the contract falls through.

This is my opinion:
The single greatest way to get into real estate investing is through house hacking. With an FHA loan you can house hack a small multi family property (2-4 units) with as little as 3.5% down payment. In most cases your rent is "free" and you get to learn the process of being a landlord. I did it for 4 years in a duplex. It enabled me to purchase a quad plex and I am now under contract on another duplex that I intend to house hack. I have a limited knowledge of whole selling, however I lived in Mississippi for two years before purchasing my first property. Not house hacking a multi family there was one of my great regrets in my career. With low prices (compared to the rest of the country), low property taxes, and laws generous to landlords, it would be a great place to house hack. Even if you did it for a year or two, you can build your "financial runway" and purchase more properties.

It will be interesting to see where the economy goes with the amount of money the government is pumping in.  I could see the economy dipping, especially during election season, however I would be surprised if it was the real estate market like in '08.  The market would likely be affected, but not to the same levels.
I am more interested to see what millennials will do following COVID.  They are approaching the population of baby boomers.  Most millennials do not mind paying for higher rent in big cities and living with roommates.  However, the large scale closures in large cities caused many to move back home to mom and dad.  It will be interesting to see if there is a trend to leave the cities after covid and live in some other type of trendy location.

I studied Civil Engineering in school, however after school I transitioned to a job that had nothing to do with my degree.  As a result, I dumped a lot of the information I was forced to learn for my degree.  It has come in handy, although rarely, when talking with contractors.  If I could do it over again, knowing how involved in real estate I am now, I probably would have gone with some form of Finance.  Math for real estate is much easier than the calculus required for engineering.

My biggest piece of advice would be to show that you are hungry to become involved in real estate.  Being active on BP is one step, listen to the podcasts, read the books.  Educate yourself as much as possible.  NYC is probably not the best area to get started, but there may be some Real Estate Investment Meet-ups, go to those.  Introduce yourself and let people know that you want to pursue it.

I know several people that got started simply by bringing deals to other investors.  If you show a drive to learn, people will help show you the ropes.