All Forum Posts by: Jordan Budke

@Jordan Budke

Reno is a great area to invest (and live).  We help investors with resources to build a team.  As @Nicholas L. wrote above you will have more challenges the farther away you go.  We have multiple clients living in CA that have given up the midwest investing because of the headaches of long distance. We have knowledge and teams in the Reno Tahoe area that are specialized in working with Investors and it's a quick flight from San Diego. The number one priority is getting your finances in order before taking on more debt. 

My thoughts...Keep the condo for now and work on increasing your income and time at current job. Continue to save as much as you can. In the meantime reach out to your lender and discuss your situation. They should be able to provide guidance on your next steps to get ready for the next purchase. Your condo will continue to build equity. Fast forward and you can either keep the condo and move into a better primary or sell the condo and find a home that has rental potential (ADU, duplex etc). Either way you still have 1 door used for rental income.

 What if an opportunity came where you needed 200K for a downpayment for househack property? 

If you have never heard of the term Delaware Statutory Trust, you probably should not invest in a Delaware Statutory trust. 

Here's the hard truth - you probably only have two options - move or make more money. The idea of taking on a partner is far easier said than done. And who's going to give someone with no experience a pile of money?

1. Make more money. If you make $50k per year, your budget for housing should and will be far lower than the average cost of a home in San Diego County. Even if you sell your condo, you're going to take that cash, level up to a proper single family home, and be house poor with no prospects of purchasing rental property with your current income. 

2. Move. You live in an expensive market. Take that $180k in equity, move to a cheaper market and invest. I have a friend who is from an expensive coastal market that now lives in Saint Louis. She owns a primary home and two investment properties. She is about to buy a 3rd investment property. Saint Louis is not as interesting. That's a fact. To her, the trade off was worth it. To many, it is not.  San Diego County just isn't a good place to establish economic security and build a real estate portfolio as a young family. That sucks. It's also true. It's a great place to live, but there is likely no magic bullet here that lets you have it both ways.

@Jordan Budke One suggestion I would make is don't get too attached to keeping the condo. A lot of new investors understand the term ROI, return on investment, but overlook the term ROE, return on equity. I have many clients I helped purchased a home in 2020, like yourself who have around 200K equity, and ready for the next opportunity. They think if they rent out the property they can break even or +/- $200. But when they realize they can get a better return on that 200K it lights a switch to think bigger.

Also keep in mind if/when you do sale you will not have to pay taxes up to $500K if you lived in the property 2 out of the last 5 years. I highly recommend considering this opportunity when thinking about future investments.  
 

@Jordan Budke congrats! Get your income up and get a HELOC. Maybe house hack a multi family ?

Have you considered doing a 1031 exchange into a DST?