All Forum Posts by: Jared Baker

All, thanks for sharing your thoughts.  I still have to finish reading but having your opinion does help me make my choice easier by having access to other peoples thoughts.

I currently do not have any bad debt,  I am fortunate to be graduating with only about $2000 I borrowed from my parents to finish off this last semester, so paying them back won't be too big an issue.  

@Brian Schmelzlen I do like your idea of doing some side jobs, and I was already planning on that.  Hopefully I will make enough to help off set the money I put towards retirement.

@Justine Scheuher I am hoping to finish reading the book by the end of December, before I start working.  I would love to hear your thoughts on the book since you have finished it and what your plans are now after reading the book.

I have been reading @Scott Trench book Set for Life and a question occurred to me while reading that I am hoping to get some insight to.  It says that the first priority after paying off all bad debt is to accumulate $25,000, or a years worth of living expenses.  Based on the reading this book is focused towards someone like me, just graduated from college, beginning my first job making about $50,000.  Now my question is, should I be putting money into some sort of retirement account like a 401K?  I ask this because it does not mention anything about retirement accounts, at least as far as I have read, and if I did put money into a 401K it will take about 4-5 years to save that much with my current living expense, (the largest parts being rent, insurance, and transportation, as mentioned in the book)

Thoughts on this would be great.

Thanks for the responses guys.  So for some clarification, like @Kathy Mcguigan said, I am just trying to get some experience with creating the reports.  I am currently using the rental calculator here on BP.  I do use rent-o-meter and craigslist to find current rents in the area, but the expense section of the report is what I am having trouble with.  So you guys are suggesting that I contact the listing agent to find out who is paying the electric, water, gas, sewer, etc, and what those costs are, even though I am just doing the reports to get some experience?

Hi guys,

I have made it a goal to buy my first property by May 2018.  I would like it to be a multi-family between 4-8 units or possibly larger.  My question though comes with looking at properties right now.  At what point should I contact the listing agent to find missing information.  Specifically, if the listing doesn't have how many units are currently rented, the rent income from each unit, the expenses that the renter and landlord pays, or any other information like that.  I have looked at many listings and noticed they don't share a whole lot of information.

So in conclusion, at what point should I contact the listing agent or the owner to get this information, or should I assume certain numbers?  Right not I am just creating reports to see possible purchase prices and ROIs so I don't want to make them feel like I am interested in buying right now.  I live in Wisconsin, so I would like to stay in this area, but by creating many reports I can see where it will be best to invest.

Thanks

I live in Wisconsin, near the Green Bay area.  I would like to know how one goes about reading the market to determine what is the best investment strategy.

How can I determine if there is a market for single family home rentals vs apartments vs duplex?

Thanks!

I am looking for insight as to what experience investors would do if they could start over. I am 22 right now and have 1 semester of college left. I would like to know, if you could start over, where would be the best place to start? Duplex, SFH, apartment building? Keep in mind that I (you) don't have a ton of money to start with.

Thanks!

I will be graduation from college in December and will be looking for a full time job.  Wondering if anyone knows of any companies that are looking to hire.  I will have a degree in Manufacturing Technology Management, but any entry level management position would be great for me as it will be using my degree.

The two things I keep reading on here are have a w-2 job and get a job in a RE related field.  I would like to do that but need some help!

Thanks!

@Kim Martin What kind of information do I need to know about foreclosures?  Where can I find this information?  Is it worth going to look at properties(keep in mind it is a minimum of a 2 hour drive to the nearest property I was looking at) before I have any information about them other than what I find online on sites like zillow?

@Christopher Phillips Unfortunatelly I don't think I would be able to.  I still have a semester of college so I do not know where I will end up working.  I am hoping it will be close but I won't know until December.  

@Craig Curelop What are some other ways that I could come up with the down payment?  Like I told Chris I don't think I'll be able to live in one of the units.  Are there other ways to reduce the down payment without having to live in the unit?

I live in Wisconsin and I have seen a lot of foreclosed 4-plexes listed on zillow.  Would perusing one of these foreclosures be a good investment in both time and money as a first deal?

I have not gone out and looked at the properties since they are 2 hours away but would be willing to on a weekend if they are worth my time as a new investor.

Thanks for your thoughts!