All Forum Posts by: Joe Garretson

Like the post title says, where is the Front Range headed? The I-25 corridor can be considered built out for the most part in my opinion. Houses are $400k and up between Denver and Fort Collins. South between Castle Rock and the Springs has boundaries that won't allow development so there will always be a gap there. What about east? Is it heading up I-76 towards Fort Morgan, Brush and so on? Does that area grow next? Is it out I-70 to Bennett and Strasburg?

So if you're an investor with $20k burning a hole in your pocket, where do you go? Buy a cheap property out east? Go south to Pueblo? Go to a market outside the state? Throw it on Carvana stock and hope to catch a good run? Forget the metrics we all like to chase... what would you?

@Lee Jacobs, I'm curious why you want to invest in the Denver area in general? Your profile says AZ and there's not a big difference between the areas around Tempe/Phoenix and Denver in terms of value, ability to get reasonable returns, etc... Then when you consider what seems like your lack of familiarity with the area, the other challenges the Front Range brings (radon, settling, snow, etc), what are you trying to gain by investing in Denver instead of Phoenix?

Yes, radon is common around the Front Range. If you're putting in the mitigation system now, you shouldn't have any issues in terms of resale value in the future. It's roughly a $1000 fix and if a home doesn't have the mitigation in place, it'll likely come up on the inspection and the buyer would request the system be put in. Common "issue" around here for buyers/sellers. Not a value problem at least from my experience.

I heard David Greene talking about this very subject the other day. One point of clarification; is the HELOC on their primary residence? His advice and where I tend to sit is that using a HELOC against your primary residence is risky for numerous reasons. In my case, I considered pulling a HELOC against my primary to use as a down payment for my first investment property. While I feel like I've become quite educated and would likely make a good purchase, it's just as likely I'd make a poor purchase and therefore put my primary home in jeopardy by using those funds from the HELOC. Sure, it's a quick way into the market since so many of us have lots of equity (I've got around $300k) but being patient and building my own liquid cash or finding another alternative like a partner or private money is going to be the better path.

Yikes! A burst pipe sounds like fun. Hopefully no more issues with the slight cold we experienced overnight??? Hit 16 below at my house!

Hi @Tyler Solomon, episode 680 of the BP podcast covered this very topic in depth. The guest is a huge proponent of getting away from relying on OTAs like AirBnB and VRBO because as he rightly points out with data, you are beholden to their rules and at their mercy for your income in so many ways. I'd recommend going back and listening to the episode as he has some great suggestions for word of mouth and referral and using that weird feature of our smartphones to do the unspeakable and call your guests after they check out. 

 Hey @Garrett Nuzzo welcome to BP. There's a ton of knowledge and experience on these forums and you'll find some great info as well as tons of suggestions from everyone who do most everything but answer your original question. This has happened to me multiple times. It's helpful but also can cause you to go down rabbit holes with research and so on.

So, to answer your original question, I am on a similar path to saving money for a down payment and to have some cash reserves and I am using Betterment. I have a set deposit go in every two weeks and have that investing into a mix of stocks and bonds. Yes, the market has been rather crappy this year but I have a time horizon of about 18-24 months to save for multiple reasons so I figure it will turn out ok in terms of returns. CDs are an option and you can find some decent rates right now as well as just normal savings accounts are paying higher rates when you get away from the big banks. I'm getting 3% at Capital One on my emergency fund account.

As you've seen from some of the other responses, there are tons of ways to get started without a big down payment but while that might get you an investment property today, that might not be the best path for your specific situation. 

The most important part is to make sure you have your finances in order. If you can't save and be diligent about building a reserve, you have bigger fish to fry than buying investment property. It sounds like you're on the right path so whether you get 3% at a bank or 5-6% in some other form, just start stashing that cash and build good habits. 

It will be irrelevant as the amount of people that will be helped will be miniscule. It's a govt program, the bulk of the funds will end up in overhead and admin. 

Probably the best advice ever. It's amazing how many people don't want to clean up the mess in their own yard. I speak this from firsthand knowledge as I'd created quite a mess in my own yard from '16-'18 and am now in a great position to start investing. 

I'm expecting to take advantage of our winter slow down and snatch up my first LTR somewhere along the Front Range after the first of the year. Where I'm at in Castle Rock, single family homes are still moving when priced right. I have three neighbors who've significantly overpriced their homes and are now dealing with death by a thousand papercuts and lowering $5k a week. Still insane prices at the lower end of the market for condos/townhomes and near zero inventory. I'm hoping that changes as we get into winter.