All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Burgess

Hi there,

I am writing seeking advice on what to do in this in between time and whether I should buy a primary residence first or a rental property first. 

My husband and I plan to get into buy and hold properties and eventually have enough properties to live off the cash flow from them (isn't that the dream for everyone?). We live in the Modesto area in California, we recently moved back from the Dallas area in TX. We have about 40k in savings (just sitting there not earning me anything!) from the sale of our home, and we are renting an apartment (ugh). The real estate market in our area is way inflated right now, and I have no desire to spend over $300k for house around here right now, and we are banking on the market dipping in the next 1-2 years, and we will buy something then. We have a family business where we should be able to save about $5,000 per month and that we will use for our investment properties. I was interested in the Phoenix market but the more I read on here I see that Indianapolis is making more sense right now numbers wise. So my question is what should I be doing Right Now? I hate that my cash is sitting there not earning me anything, but I was sort of thinking that maybe by next summer I can put about 50K into a buy and hold in the Indianapolis area, and then after that buy a primary residence here for us. I am betting on having to put down large down payments at least at first as we had to jump through so many hoops when we bought our house here as we were self employed, so I can only imagine what it will be like trying to purchase an investment property. Should I keep saving? Should I buy a house for us first, or should I look into buying a cheaper income property out of state? Any advice and input will be very much appreciated! Thank you in advance. 

Jenny

My husband and I are in the DFW area, (Little Elm to be exact) and we are saving about $2,000 a month and currently have $10,000 in savings. We recently bought a home- right before we decided we wanted to get into REI. Originally we had thought by this time next year we wanted to have our first rental property, but the thought of only maybe being able to purchase one property a year discourages me, and so we are thinking of buying a flip in the next year instead.

My thoughts are: Use our own money to put 20% down on a flip, and either finance the rehab from a line of credit on our own home (we put 20% down when we purchased in February) or borrow the money from my parents. When we sell the flip, use the money we put into it that we get back out to purchase another flip, and use the profit to purchase a buy and hold and sort of repeat the process.

We are taking this year to learn as much as we can, and save up (we are trying to live off of one income and save the other) and then dive in next year. Our end goal would be to live off of rental income, and not be flippers, but I think that doing some flips will get us the capitol we need to fund our rentals, as well as the amount of knowledge we would gain from it. 

For our first deal we would be looking for a purchase price of 100-150k in the DFW area. We would do some of the cosmetic rehab ourselves, and contract out things that are out of our expertise.

Do you think we are living in lala land? Or are headed in the right direction? Would love any feedback, good or bad.

Brandon I al in the DFW area as well. I cannot offer any advice because I am new and here to learn as well, but I wish you all the best! How was the investor networking night? I would love to attend such events to network and get to learn from the pros!

I'm in the DFW area as well! I just ordered "hold- how to find buy and rent houses for wealth" because I heard her podcast and she's in Denton! Have you read it yet? 

Hi everyone, 

My husband and I moved to the DFW area from California seeking better opportunities and cheaper cost of living. In this land of opportunity, we have come to realize that no 9-5 job is going to satisfy us and we want more out of life. After reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, Brandon's book on rental properties, and many podcasts, here we are. We sold our home in CA and bought a house here in Little Elm, TX before realizing we wanted to get into rentals. We put 20% down on our home, looking back I wish I had kept that cash in my pocket for future properties! We are planning on buying our first rental property by next winter, whether that means we buy something to rent out or move into ourselves, and rent out our current home. I love the idea of "house hacking", and the home we have now is only a year old so not much value to be added. We are taking this year to do our homework, and save up our 20% for a down payment, and funds for repairs and closing costs. We are unsure of where we want to buy our first property, the metroplex is hot right now but also pricey. We are open to other markets where our money can go further- such as Waco where we could buy something for 100k and rent it out for 1300-1500. 

Anyone in my area have any words of wisdom for me would be greatly appreciated. 

Jenny

I'm in the DFW metroplex as well, and am looking to get started in the SFR rental market. My husband and I hope to purchase our first rental property by this time next year, and are spending this time saving and doing our research.