All Forum Posts by: Jeremiah B.

Welcome aboard man!

I live in Portland Oregon, but invest in Charlotte - and it's an awesome market to be in.

I'm by no means an expert, but just let me know if you ever want to bounce ideas off of someone, 

In one sentence:  The team you work with is more important than the market you're in.

My personal take:  DON'T DO IT!

I believe that investing out of state is a great strategy.  It's one that I only started doing about 2 years ago, and one that is leading me to place financially that no other path could have led me to. 

But out of state investing is a skill... and learning new skills has the bad habit of resulting in a bunch of mistakes.  I only invested out-of-state after I had local properties for a few years, and spent 6 months researching the topic.  And even then, I really really messed up my first several purchase attempts, and it's only by luck that I didn't take a bigger haircut that I did.  And while I don't know your finances, there aren't many people who can have a 60 family deal go south and be in good shape financially.

If you want to purchase a 60 door MF out of state, that's awesome - and you have nothing but my support.   I just think that you should do it the right way, and build up that point.  Buy a few SFRs.  Get to know a few agents.  Get to know some PM... get an attorney, insurance, etc. lined up.  Then, when you see the 60 door place, you will have the team and skills to evaluate the deal, and if necessary, manage it.

Best of luck either way - and let us know what you decide/how it goes!

Yes - my bosses know.  But I've found the hard part as keeping it where they don't care.

Most bosses will be good with your investing, even if it takes a little bit of work-time (like an hour a week) - as long as your job is the type that permit it, and your work is being done.  These are two big ifs.

If you're struggling to keep up with your job, or are in a service job where you need to be available immediately while at work - don't do it.  If you're in a high-level professional job with good relationships with your bosses, and can maintain a high level of performance at work, you can do it.

So, I want to provide a dissenting opinion:  You shouldn't invest in Real Estate yet.

I'm among the more conservative investors you'll find, but my personal take is that if you want to hold RE as an investment, that you should have 3-6 months of your salary, plus 10K-20K to cover real estate capital expenses.  I think that this should be sitting in a liquid fund, and should be there AFTER your down payment/closing costs.

Why?  It's what I call the two-wrong rule.  At some point in your life you should figure that you will have two big-bads happen at once - and it's the role of your personal finances to absorb those two-bads without going bankrupt.  If you do any of your three initial ideas - and then lose your job and remain unemployed for 5 months (bad 1) and) have a crappy tenant who doesn't pay and damages the property (bad 2), you will run the serious risk of being bankrupt at 28.  

I think your head is in the right spot.  But, I think that you should pay off your car, maybe decrease your housing expense, and wait until you have more saved up before you buy your first property. 

If you find one that let's you call in from Portland Oregon - let me know :)

I swear by my closing attorney in NC - Tara at Costner Law.  She is centered in Charlotte.

With that said, I can't speak to whether she does double closings.

Hey there,

This is a very complicated question.  Your long-term strategy, assets, portfolio, market review, your connections, etc. etc. should all factor into your decision.

But, assuming that you are in it for the long-haul and are seeking modest cash flow to fund a retirement in the nest 5-10 years...  I would leave it as-is.

In my experience, the best return on rental income rehab is to bringing the house to to just below the neighborhood average condition on most things (but fully functional), and then doing the standard paint/carpet.  Once you get into cabinets and bathrooms, or 3-month rehabs, the math will likely fall apart on the upgrades.

I think this for a few reasons.  First - one of the best thing that we can have as real estate investors is choices/options, which is functionally capital.  The second is that the repairs would probably make more sense to do in 3 years rather than today.  Or in 5 years rather than 3. Or 10 rather than 5.  You get the idea.  :)

If you're willing to leave a little money on the table, and prefer the process of owning upper-end rentals, I think that you can justify that route.  But from a pure investor perspective, I think that leaving things clean and functional (even if they are dated) is almost always preferable.

I think most of us would say that we will take below market rent to keep a good tenant.  How much below rent will vary quite a bit.

For standard tenants (pay on time, moderate ware on house, etc.) - I try and stay between 5 and 10 percent below market.  Financially, I probably leave a little on the table, but it's far far less time, and that is what makes it worth it for me as a part-time investor.

The lowest below market that I have ever gone is 20% - but that was a special circumstance and not something I would advocate.

10K a month in income, in 6 years, is feasible.  10K a month in passive income, in 6 years, is very ambitious.