All Forum Posts by: Jarrin Benson

@Jay Hinrichs 

Great points Jay, thank you. I agree with having pride in your home. As much as I want to live like a monk in a studio apartment in a 4-plex until I have 10k/mo in cash flow - I'm afraid it's just not me. Plus, taking advantage of a deal on a higher value home for some positive equity out of the gate feels like investing to me. 

I love these varying opinions. I can see points in both sides. The STR would likely bring $1k/mo or more, as I'm in a great bnb market.

Would love any advice from some long-time investors! 

@Mateusz Maciejewski Welcome to BP! It sounds like you've got goals and mindset, next step is action. As others have mentioned, Portland metro is not the same type of cashflow numbers as other areas, but I still believe in buying here for appreciation and long-term rent increases. As for meetups - I would suggest the RareBird Investor Network. By far the largest and most organized group I've found in the area. Best of luck to you! 

Nice purchase - Sounds promising - My background is in Indy and I'm planning to buy SFR there as well. What area did you buy in?

Welcome Derrick, That's a big market! I'll bet those relationships will really pay off. Keep us posted on your progress. 

Hey Jimmie, sounds like you're doing the right things so far. Imagine this: 5 years from now you'll be 5-20+ deals deep and you'll still be doing the same thing: writing multiple offers and being analytical before finding each and every deal that 'passes'. The only difference is that right now you're losing patience. Dont. Power by numbers. Carry on, push harder, put yourself in the mindset that you'll write 10-20 offers before you land one. You're right on track. Turn your mindset into: "I'm putting in the work analyzing deals and putting offers in right where i need them to be" (it doesnt matter that you don't win them - that's a product of the market), Lose the mindset of: 'I really want to put that first house under contract'. That will trigger a compromise and will get you into a property you don't want.

I'm a bit torn about a primary home purchase and looking for some sage advice. I'm a newer investor and RE broker. The long term goal is to get cash flowing like a madman and then live the life I want, which is really pretty simple - travel, yada yada.  I've been ready to invest some capital into real estate, but also have outside investor capital ready and waiting for a deal too - and starting to feel like there is a lot more where that came from. I am now considering taking my capital and buying a home that I'm really attached to. It's not a castle but its just that perfect mix of everything - location, style. The experience of living there would be phenomenal, especially compared to my current home. It fits my goal criteria for my next home purchase: separate living area to short-term rent as we desire, as well as almost 100K equity built in the day we walk in the door, not counting down money. This house fits within my goals, I just thought that I'd be cash-flowing at least 5K/month before I would consider a move like this. So, it's just a little flip-flopped from what I originally laid out the sequence of my goals to be. 

Key factors: 

1. This would increase my net worth by about 100K, but decrease my personal monthly cash-flow by 1K/mo (possibly neutralized with short-term rental)

2. For my other investing- I am starting to see options in OPM (other peoples money) more and more so I'm starting to be less hung up on having my own bank-roll to make deals happen.

My real questions for you are: 

Have any of you bought your personal residence as an emotional decision and later regretted it - like maybe you wish you'd have been more cash-flow minded than net-worth minded? 

How many of you sacrificed for so long to make cash flow plays, that you looked back and wished you'd have lived a little more?

Hi JT, welcome! I'm in Portland and can feel your pain. Here are a few thoughts: The 1% rule is appropriate when you're talking about properties from 80K-150K, but less so when you are up in the $300k+ range that we are here in Portland. You REALLY have to crunch the numbers by property and then you'll find what works and what doesn't in your area. Also, even the cash flow guys are realistically looking for an initial $100-$200/door after they include vacancy, repair, capex, management, etc. On a $400K property, you don't have to be at 1% to make $100/door. In the markets with bigger dollar amounts you're almost always looking for long term appreciation as well. 5% growth on a $400k property is a hell of a lot more than 5% growth on a $100K property, and in the 1% areas that 5% equity growth might take a while to come around. I hope these thoughts help in your hunt. 

@Patrick Sloan If you are keeping your day job, already have enough earned income, and are just looking to acquire and hold property for the long haul, a buyers broker is free to you. In other words, partnering with an experienced buyers agent to help you find and acquire the deals doesn't cost you a penny (in most instances - the seller pays the combined brokerage commission).  HOWEVER, like @Mike Nuss said above: if you want to be an active investor, and get a charge out of being fully immersed in the business of real estate, I 100% recommend getting your license. I took the latter route and got licensed and wouldn't have it any other way, but I have friends who just want to acquire 1-2 property/year for the next several years and in their case it's just not worth it to get licensed.