All Forum Posts by: Joe Aiola

@Kevin Wilson That's great advice from @Jeff Copeland. If you've never done a deal before, hard money lenders will be a bit more expensive - they like to see a track record. This doesn't mean not to use them, it just means that you need to learn to find awesome deals and need to talk to a few lenders to see who can give you the best terms / who seems the most reliable.

I don't know your experience level, but I wouldn't suggest talking to hard money lenders if you're completely new to real estate. You don't want to waste their time. Educate yourself and analyze a bunch of deals. Once you feel like you're truly ready to buy is when I would start reaching out.

Hope this helps! Best of luck.

@Elijah Bryant In my opinion, the first option is much better because you can still choose to move out after the year and do it again. It usually always makes sense to house-hack and collect some rent to go towards your mortgage. 

You could even rent out rooms instead of renting out units. For example, buying a single family home with 3 bedrooms and renting out 2 bedrooms as you live in the other. May be a bit harder to find a tenant that way because people prefer their own space, but there are a ton of people who do it.

Best of luck!

@David New I think the two biggest questions are how much money we're talking about and how soon you plan to use the money. For example, if the amount was 20k, how much could you really earn on that in the next 8-12 months? If you were to receive a 10% return on that money, it would only be 2k. To me, that wouldn't be worth the risk of having your money stuck and not being able to purchase a property. 

If you're confident that you're going to use the money within the next 8-12 months, then I would leave it in a savings account like you're doing so you know it will be there when you need it.

Just my opinion though! Best of luck.

@Eugene B. Hey Eugene, have you found an agent yet? 

Let me know if there's anything that I can do to help.

@Zachariah Hays Referrals are a great place to start. Ask other investors in your area how they finance their deals. Once you get a few names, give the lenders a call to see what they offer. You're goal is to try to build a solid relationship with the lender so that you both can benefit from each other.

Best of luck.

@Debashish Majumder Congrats on the first flip! Glad to hear it went well and looking forward to seeing more posts like this!

Best of luck.

@Brad Haughton Hey man! Real estate can be broken down into several different professions (wholesaling, flipping, sales, etc.). I would recommend starting by getting a basic understanding of all your options, and see which one might be the best fit for you. You can learn a ton from this website, podcasts, and books.

Let me know if I can help in any way - best of luck!

@Lorraine Y. Marquez If you're brand new to real estate, I would strongly recommend investing in some education first. Just jumping into a property is a bit more of a gamble. Real estate, like any other investment, comes with risk. It's our jobs as investors to mitigate that risk as much as possible to limit the chances of getting hurt.

With that said, buying a multi-family would be a great way for you to get started! You can find a ton of information on here about house hacking and FHA loans. That might be a good place for you to start.

Best of luck!

Hey @Cedric Caldwell! Congrats on joining BP - that's a great first step.

@Marlen Weber is spot on. I would just add that it's extremely important for you to consistently add value to them. If you're just always asking for help, they won't always be overly motivated to help you. But if you can find a way to help them, then there's a much better chance that you will have their attention.

Hope this helps! Best of luck.

Hey @Jonathan Washington - look up "subject to mortgage" and that might be what you're looking for.

Best of luck.