All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Cheng

Adam Geike Michael Mazzella Michael Borger Michael Gayer Jr so many Michaels lol. I appreciate the offer to meet up, which I do intend to do, however I feel like my base knowledge is very lacking so I need a little time to learn the basics. I'm getting started with the BP ultimate beginner's guide and the Kiyosaki books now. Still haven't made it halfway through yet but learning a lot. I feel like a lot of my questions right now can be answered through these sources and the forum discussions and I hate being spoon fed answers to dumb questions I ask (I have a little dignity left in me). When I feel I hit a wall I will message you for that meet up! Thanks guys, work had me busy the past week.

Michael Borger Michael Mazzella Since I am still new to RE and investing in general, I really appreciate the advice so far from you experts. I agree with the fact that RE investing is a specialty with so many different niches and the only people you should really take advice from are from those who are successful in your market. So I guess my post is best suited to your wisdom: If you were in my situation what would be the first steps you would take to setup a good foundation for future RE investing?

One of the things i'm considering now is sacrificing a little quality of life by buying an apartment in honolulu to offset the loss i would incur by renting our current townhome. Taking into account vacancy/capex/utility for the rental, and if the apartment i bought was about $300k we would probably have an extra $300/month extra in cashflow which would help with loans/investments. Also I'm about 95% sure that my wife would not be happy about it and it would mean a year of grief at least. Definitely not wife approved.

Michael Gayer Jr Michael Borger hey Michaels and thanks for clearing up some misunderstandings! You both made really interesting points. Both of which I do feel represent the Hawaii market. If you use the MLS to look for a deal it is incredibly competitive and requires making dozens of offers regularly. On the other hand if you decide to look outside the MLS you can find a lot of deals. About 6 months ago, before I got accepted into grad school, we were using the MLS to look for deals and try to house hack without much success because we were completely outbid every time. After multiple failed offers on roughly 10+ deals we decided to try look for land to build on not listed on MLS. We found only a few and mailed the owners who all refused to sell. Was definitely fun driving around looking for vacant land. When i got accepted into grad school we spoke with out financial advisor who suggested we wait till after I stabilize in my new job post-grad school to invest in RE.

Michael Gayer Jr hey, thanks for sharing your mentors with us. They seem like very successful individuals. I think one of the thoughts that inhibit me from joining these mentorship programs is that the inventory in Hawaii is so low right now when it comes time to bid against each other, people like the Michaels you mentioned will have stronger offers than me probably involving cash. This could all be just my paranoia, but I can't shake the idea that this is true.

Michael Gayer Jr hey, nice to hear from someone similar, I'm curious who/what you ended up finding on the quest to find successful RE investors on Oahu. All the ones I have met so far are at least twice my age with properties/cash they had inherited from a previous generation.

Evelyn Kop thanks for your input! I'm also reading Kiyosaki books, most recent was tax free wealth by Tom Wheelright CPA, very informative but not extremely useful due to it being aimed at business owners/investors. But I hope to transform my skill set into a business somehow in the future. I also totally understood what you meant about revelations in learning about generating long lasting wealth through RE.

Aaron Y. Hey, i have been listening to the podcasts religiously. These people do amazing things, most of which I feel would not be doable in Oahu's market, but nevertheless opportunities and deals are somewhere everyday. I feel like in Hawaii is in a little housing bubble that is going to burst in the next 5years for low income families. The rate of inflation and cost of living is outpacing the minimum wage so fast. Part of my gut is telling me to wait for this to happen and buy when it's a buyers market with more inventory. But I'm not good at being patient and waiting for something that may never come... tldr lol

Joe Sillaman thanks for the advice, i have found the same things that you described in Oahu's market. It is quite frustrating that the investment has to be so high on Oahu to generate any cashflow. I thought about vacation rentals but I do want to provide housing for those that need it locally. Maybe it's the nurse in me...

Jason I. Hey bud, thanks for the input! All the interest rates on our debts are fixed, and I agree with renting our 2br/1.5ba townhome when it breaks even or cashflows, but after using the rental property calculator to generate the net operating expenses and taking into account depreciation it seems like we'd only be able to do it after 5 years then a refi. As for retirement, the hospital i work at does matching contributions and I've been putting 10% with 3% matching to a 401 roth. I'm planning on using the heloc to help fund my grad degree.