All Forum Posts by: John O.

I got into a discussion last night concerning the stability of various investments during extreme economic downturns. My mother in law - a custom SFR developer almost lost everything during the last recession when the loans were called early.

I am personally a part time buy and hold investor pursuing long term rental units with full employment outside of my investments. 

What factors or reasons are there that would cause a bank to recall a loan (whether cash out refi or mortgage or HELOC? What can an investor do to mitigate this risk? How often does it occur?

Thanks for any help you can give.

John

@Russell Brazil - I actually have family down in Charlotte and have thought about looking there for deals down there.  Seems like a good market.  But I would need to do some serious homework.  I honestly worry about managing long distance, even with people I trust.

MoCo seems to always be a hot market, but an expensive one to buy into. That being said - I only see growth for Rockville for sure.

@Denny Kisner - I could jog, but it might be a pitiful sight.  While I believe my MBA will pay off for my career, I have actually found it incredibly useful for analyzing and directing my own investments. While a street MBA is incredibly valuable, I think the ability to experiment within the confines of an academic institution as well as the ideas that you are exposed to really shifts your perspective.

@Anil Samuel - will do! Thanks!

Thanks for your input @Ashley St. Gelais - I very much agree and have built my business plan upon your second line. As for the bulletproof aspect - do you have numbers that you go by for your market?  For example - if you are 50% below the median rent, do you have to build fort knox?  Your point is very true about kitchens, but it is also hard to distinguish the overall effect.  I often find that a house with a nice kitchen often has a lot of other nice things.  I think the kitchen is often the last thing people renovate in a house because of the sheer expense of it.

Thanks @Larry Turowski.  I find that the best businesses learn from their mistakes.  While we hope that we can navigate this dynamic world of investing, I think we stand to learn the most not from what we do right, but what we do wrong.

I was just curious to see what mistakes other people had made in their RE investing and what they learned from it.

@Account Closed - I am lucky!  It is better than my former commute from Baltimore to Columbia!  Average 30 minutes now compared to 45 minutes before.  

Thanks @Ned Carey.  I signed up for your deal alert today actually.  

I'm a numbers guy.  I look at a house and I see its numbers, specifically cash flow. However, I recently did a deal that bit me a little bit.  Honestly, I was so focused on the numbers and projections that I neglected to look at the problem staring me in the face (see my post in another form about this deal here. Essentially, I looked at the trees and never saw the forest.

There is this soft side to evaluating a property that I am actually unclear on. Perhaps this is where the art in our craft comes into play, but my question is this:

When you are looking at a property in which the numbers appear to work, what criteria are you using to evaluate the non-quantifiable aspects of a potential rental property?

For example, how do you evaluate the floor plan? The finishes? The feel of a property? What are you looking for?  What do you avoid? How do you know there is a diamond behind all that foreclosure rough?

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

@Russell Brazil - my properties are all located in Baltimore City for right now.  Working on the foundation for my business before looking elsewhere.

@Account Closed - thanks!  You have to find a balance between the level of risk and reward you want to achieve. I think my goal fits within that realm. Its not a moonshot. I 'probably' wont own 100 doors.  But I wont risk loosing my house and endangering the financial stability of my family either. I am comfortable with that.  Honestly, the income from my properties actually enables me to take bigger risks within my own career.  At worst, I take a risk and lose my job but I can still meet all of my financial obligations. At best, we have substantially more income and freedom. I am finding that this freedom is enabling far more success professionally than would have been likely otherwise. 

Hello BP Community! Im John Oliver (not the famous one... I didn't cultivate nearly enough British Humor while I was growing up).  I am a part time 'passive' income investor working long term buy and hold deals anywhere from Baltimore to DC.

I currently own 3 rental properties, with plans to expand that to 10 in 5 years or less. I believe that the consistent cash flow rental properties 'can' provide is one of the best hedges against the volatility of the stock market, and is the single most reliable way to ensure income into retirement.

I actually work full time as a Regulatory Specialist / Environmental Compliance Manager for a large chemical manufacturer based in Maryland. I am in an MBA program through Johns Hopkins University focusing on Management and Risk Management.  I am a father, a family man, and a believer in constantly working to improve yourself.  I am an active member of my community and the communities my properties are based in.  I founded a non-profit to help my community (BeMore Photography) and transitioned it to a fully elected board last year.

I look forward to being a member of this community and have already found the vast amounts of information on this site endlessly useful.

Thanks!