All Forum Posts by: Jason Meadows

@Frank Hinck thought of that too. Seems like a smart way to go. Was going that route any cheaper than it would be to have a tiny house on wheels built? Obviously the answer depends on how much you spend on the tiny house but if you have a ballpark sense I'd be interested to know. What I hear most tiny house owners say is it cost somewhere around $70k - $110k.

@Stephen G. Wow an ADU podcast and everything! Thanks for this. My girlfriend and I are going to nerd-out listening to this later.

Like you said, I was thinking more from a cash flow perspective than as a long term BRRRR.

@Frank Hinck yes I've heard about the challenges of getting utilities to the ADU. Certainly sounds like a major take fraught with red tape. Have you done it successfully or know someone who has?

 Great point Sandy. If it's in as bad shape as you say it's probably detracting from the value rather than adding to it. Best of luck with the project!

Like many people, I'm intensely curious about the tiny house movement. I don't know about you but I can't get enough of those YouTube videos. Recently, I started to wonder whether adding a tiny house in the backyard of, say, a SFH or a duplex could be a unique value-add opportunity. Turns out some urban or suburban municipalities allow this but I've never seen it done in real life.

Does anyone have experience doing this?  Do you think this a worthwhile strategy?  

@Katie Miller my answer is different today than it would have been yesterday.  Yesterday, I listened to one of the recent podcast episodes where David and Brandon eloquently explained their philosophy on giving.  In short, giving feels good, does good, and, crucially for an investor, frees you from a scarcity mindset.

- $100k to Medecins Sans Frontieres.

- $900k to BRRRR deals.

BRRRR will maximize the velocity (and therefore growth) of that money. If there's a more efficient way to allocate I'm all ears.

Love this. Where would you place HELOC in this hierarchy?

@Mary Baccellieri I'm at the beginning of my BRRRR journey in NYC too. Congrats on the house hack. Like you, I have a lot of reservations about HML given the high interest rates and seasoning periods before most lenders will refinance. Private vs all cash sounds smart. If your parents own in NJ, had you thought of partnering with them to get a big enough HELOC to start investing now?

@Trey Rittenhouse this is an important question and one that many have struggled with early in their real estate journey.  Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to make connections with people at all stages of their journey.  Here are a few I recommend:

1. Read and reply to discussions on the BP forums.  Congratulation, you're already doing this!

2. Join a real estate group on meetup.com.  Even with the current health crisis, many groups are still meeting virtually.  If a group doesn't exist, you can start a real estate newbies group yourself.

3. Search other BP members in your area.  A quick search of your home state of Ohio returns 2000+ results:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/search/users?utf8=%E2%9C%93&term=ohio

You can narrow your search based on location (even as specific as your own zip code), interests, and other criteria using the options on the left. 

4. Attend events posted on BP:  

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521-events-and-happenings

5. Attend open houses in your area and talk to people.  At the very least, the seller's agent will be a captive audience since they are trying to talk to everyone so they can sell the property.  Sometimes you may also meet other investors and agents who are also viewing the property.

6. Search social media for real estate investors.  Lots of investors post on their instagram, twitter, and facebook accounts about what they're up to and it can be a great way to network.

7. Search youtube for real estate investor channels.  Both the channel owners and the people posting comments are people you could potentially connect with.

The one caveat I will add is that when you are connecting with new people, always try to think how you can add value for them.  People you connect with will want to help you even more if you are offering to help them in some way.  Brandon and David talk about this a lot on the BP podcast and I highly recommend making them a regular part of your podcast diet.

@Timothy Boyd I'm at the same stage in my investing journey too. A million podcast episodes, books, and articles later, it's time to pick your strategy. To quote Brandon Turner paraphrasing someone else's quote: "It is more important that you decide than what you decide."