All Forum Posts by: Jaron Walling

@Ashley Meilunas You mentioned a partner. 

My brother also made sacrifices because we lived in a construction zone for 5 months. Make sacrifices at a young age if you can because it's so much easier. 

@Ashley Meilunas The best way to get into into REI (not the easiest) is by buying a distressed property (aim for cosmetic+ rehab) and renovate it while living there. You can achieve this and put very little down if you buy in fridge areas, do the research, and negotiate a good price. You can add some value and fix it up. You could also rent by the room or house-hack at the same time which is very popular right now do to high housing costs.

Live-in flip, house-hacking, or a combination is basically a REI degree. It requires sacrifice, sweat equity, contractor relations, and property management (like screening tenants). You could live with family, find a roommate, or market the unit of a duplex. It all requires effort. You will gain knowledge from different aspects of the business which is invaluable. When you move out or sell the property is already fixed up. It's a long term win win.

I lived with my brother for 2 years, hired contractors as I could afford it, refinanced, and eventually moved out keeping it as an LTR. If an average guy from the mid west making $60k per year can do it you can too. Cheers. 

@Ryan Sherring Any experience fixing up houses? If you target the B/C class neighborhoods and find a good distressed property you could BRRRR and create your 15% DP via remodel (value-add). You're local and should know what a good deals look like. At a minimum I'd run the numbers in other locations, and see if the strategy works in your market (I'm sure it does).

@Kurt Patrice Do you have experience with real estate? Any family have a RE license? Who's bringing what to the table? Partners have roles, responsibilities, and tasks to complete. Partnering with family to buy deals is no different than renting to family. It's tricky and changes the dynamics of the relationship. 

I would create a clear business plan before going down that path. If it's your first investment property you don't need an LLC. Keep things simple and get it in writing. You need boots on the ground, market research, buy [box], cash/pre-approved loans, negotiation skills, and local knowledge to bring it all together.

@Luka Milicevic Interesting discussion and I believe the changes are already happening in specific industries. We watch YT videos and some of the best content creators typically hire out editing to make high quality videos. They're just the face of the brand with an entire team actually making the videos. They can now edit videos/podcast episodes using A.I software. It can cut, chop, and match up cameras with who ever is speaking in minutes. Videos that took hours to edit now take minutes. 

That's less people needed to accomplish the same goal. The social media and music industry is changing before our eyes. 

@Charoki Raposa-Luther We are primarily value-add investors and look for distressed opportunities (BRRRR) and from a management prospective it's been really easy. It's mainly due to rehabbing each property. Basically everything the tenants use including the kitchens, bathrooms, HVAC, and door locks have been repaired or replaced. We even trimmed the trees and try our best to keep branches away from the gutters. It's made it easy to self manage!

I also think the tenants are not complaining due to lower rent, and possibly fixing little issues without our knowledge. Regardless we're prepared to tack issues. If we have a turnover I'll expect a "reset" of expectations until they live there for at least a year. Ideally it's multiple years creating a win-win situation with low levels of maintenance.

Spend the money upfront, renovate/replace/repair problems, and thank yourself later. 

@David Tuma It's exciting and terrifying to buy the first house. It's bit said above but you really need to establish boots on the ground BEFORE you make any offers. Go out of your way to sit down, drink a beer, and discuss your REI goals. If it's house hacking, value add, or just "I want to live here for 5 years" with plans to move after that, you need a plan. Connecting with local professionals will help you.

If you don't plan to live in the house or stay in the area for multiple years I would not buy real estate. It's not enough time to see the benefits unless you're doing a live-flip deal. Cheers. 

@David Tuma Are you using a VA loan? Hopefully you're taking advantage of it.

You can shop around for different lenders and lock in a rate for 60 days, but it doesn't really matter if you qualify for the VA. 

VA loans offer several advantages, including no down payment, no PMI, and often lower interest rates compared to conventional loans. That depends on you DTI, credit, etc.

As a new home owner at 21 y/o you're basically asking about personal finance. House hacking at 21 won't change you're life, but it's a good step in the right direction! Getting smart with your $$$, living below your means, following a budget, and buying rentals at that age is extremely powerful. If you share some of the numbers (PP, rents, location, property condition, etc.) you'll get more advice. 

@Ryan Porter Speaking of striking out on the MLS... are you spending $$$ on marketing for off market leads? Working with wholesalers? Or simply doing a combination to find opportunities?

We're striking out constantly and it's probably because we're not throwing money at any marketing. Sales is not my strength. Wholesaling RE has not been a personal goal. We're BRRRR investors so it's been tough.

We ran into a somewhat similar situation when screening a tenant a few years ago. The previous apartment complex acted like they needed to verify who we were before releasing any information on the applicate (our tenant). It was pretty frustrating. Why would someone waste time confirming rental payments and payment history for an apartment they don't even live in?? It's not like we requested a unit #, or other personal information. We already had most of those things from our application. 

"I called the HR department of the healthcare organization to report my concerns and ask for verification, but they refused to confirm or deny the applicant’s employment." - Hot take; this is pure laziness from an employee or corporate BS that forces them to give this response. Hospitals are incredibly frustrating to deal with. 

Great call choosing the next applicate. The first applicate lied about stuff. That's a red flag leading to future issues.