All Forum Posts by: Jordan Sutherland

         The way you worded that question was very flattering @Jacob Hinojos, but keep in mind I am fairly new in real estate. However, I have spent a LOT of time researching REI on BP and several other resources, and have several family members and friends that have served as mentors to me. I feel pretty confident in my knowledge of the Lubbock market. Not so much in most other areas, but i'll give you my two cents.

        The cost of living is very cheap in Lubbock, compared to most other areas in TX or in the U.S..  Naturally this makes the cost of Lubbock real estate lower, which in turn makes the rents relatively low compared to some other markets. It's all relatable. So the rents may be considered low, but you can buy property for so much less than in other areas like the DFW area.

        Some U.S. markets are "cashflow markets" and some are "appreciation markets". The great thing about Lubbock is that it typically has a little of both. I chose to invest in Lubbock not only because I've lived hear for 20 years, but because I truly believe it is one of the best markets to invest in. It is very easy to meet the 1% rule in Lubbock and have good solid properties, if you know what you're doing. (Both my properties are around 1.5%). So in my opinion, this makes Lubbock a pretty good cashflow market.

        On the other hand, some investors may be looking for some appreciation. Lubbock has steadily appreciated. From what I've studied and what my mentors have told me, the Lubbock market has been minimally affected by recessions, when compared to other local markets. With Lubbock being such a stable market, I think it makes a good place to invest.  It really is true that Lubbock doesn't rely on outer influences as much as some of the rest of the country. It is kind of a self sustaining micro economy. We have Texas Tech University, the best hospital within a few hundred miles, and produce the majority of the U.S.'s cotton all in Lubbock. All of these things contribute to keep the local economy booming and the city growing. My family owns a property management company, and we have many clients from all over the country. There are a lot of people that see value here.

Some people may not be impressed when they consider investing here, but if they take a deeper look at the local economy and growth that we have, it makes our market look great. There are deals to be had, cashflow to be made, and lots of speculative appreciation to hopefully exist!

congrats on joining BP, @Jacob Hinojos! There's so much knowledge and experience in the podcasts and forums. I'm about your age and have lived in Lubbock my whole life. I'm a Lubbock Realtor and property manager,  and I started Investing in rentals last year. It's always exciting to see other people from Lubbock. If you want any questions answered from any of the locals, just mention Lubbock in your posts. Many people from this area, including myself, will chime in and give you our two cents. Nice to meet you on BP and good luck on your future in real estate!

@Terry McAllister @Leslie Brown I took my real estate class online through "real estate express". It cost me $800 and the course takes 180 hours in Texas. I passed the licensing exam on the first try, but the course was a pain in the butt. It took me the full 180 hours to complete the course, but I did learn a lot. I think the first 12 months of realtor association dues, MLS access fees, etc costs about $1000. It takes a lot of time and money, but will completely pay off after your first deal! @Leslie Brown there is a company called TARREC in Lubbock that offers classes. I think it's around $1200, but you can finish it in just a few weekends. I've heard good things about it. 

Hey @Terry McAllister! I'm a firefighter from Lubbock, Tx. I've been a career firefighter for 4 years now. I've done my fair share of odd jobs on my days off, but never had anything to substantially increase my income and make it worth working on my off days. We have a 24/48 schedule. After getting my second rental, My heart was really set on real estate. I decided that getting my real estate license would be very beneficial in my future investing and hopefully supplement my income as well. I recently got licensed a few months ago. Getting licensed was very time consuming and expensive, but it was definitely worth it for me! I've made a few commissions already that are way bigger than my FD paychecks, and they came with a lot less work. I've been lucky so far on that aspect, but it is also so nice to be able to look at the MLS and go look at houses whenever I want. I plan on acquiring my third rental this summer with money I've made with my real estate commissions. The best part is, I'll instantly get a paycheck on my next purchase, or can have it go towards my down payment. I think if you have the time (most firefighters do) and if you are really serious about REI, then you should go for it! I think it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made. It's definitely not easy and its not for everyone, but it could be very beneficial to you. Hope this helps!

Hey @Steve Shedd! Welcome to BP! It's always nice to see other people from Lubbock on here. I'm an investor, real estate agent, and property manager here in Lubbock. Bigger Pockets is definitely the BEST place to learn about all aspects of REI. Congrats on your promotion and good luck on your future REI endeavors!

Hey @Leslie Brown. My family owns John Nelson Realtors and Kendra Sutherland Realtors. 

Wow! What an awesome gift from your grandmother! It's funny that you said living in West Texas is so expensive. I'm just up the road in Lubbock and cost of living is pretty cheap. I know it's a different story in the Midland/Odessa area because of all the oil. It's pretty crazy how much difference a two hour drive makes. Anyways, this is a huge opportunity for you and how you handle it could greatly impact the rest of your life. You definitely want to use this opportunity wisely, and since you're on BP, I'd say your mind is in the right place. There are so many different things you could do, but I'll give you an idea of what I wouldn't personally do if I were you. First off, you talk about fixing up your house a little and getting it refinanced to cash out 80% of it's value. It might work better to try to fix it up and then refinance it, if you have the resources to do that. But if not, there's no problem with fixing it up after you get the money from the cash out refi. Then I would make this house into a rental after everything is good to go. Next, since you will still have a lot of money leftover, I would highly recommend househacking a small multi family property. You will have plenty of money for a down payment on a very nice duplex, triplex, or fourplex. I'm not sure if you have any type of income or credit because you're so young, but if you had trouble qualifying for a loan it sounds like you have plenty of people you could convince to consign with you. So you'd have a rental house bringing in a little bit of cash every month AND househacking a small multi family, you could be living for FREE! Depending on the deal, you could even be living for free and cash flowing every month from househacking. At the same time you'd be paying two mortgages down every month and hopefully having two separate properties appreciate every year. Many older people wish they would've househacked or wish they could now, because it is such an awesome strategy, but it's very different when you're married and have kids. If you're 18 years old, it just makes so much sense! I wish I could do the same, but I'm 23, married with kids, and my wife won't even let me think about it, because we've become accustomed to our cozy SFR. So i would definitely recommend what I just talked it. After the rehab of your house and the down payment of the small multifamily, you should still have a good amount of money to keep for an emergency fund and maybe enough money leftover to do some more investing. Obviously this isn't the only strategy out there, but given your situation, I personally think it would work great and give you a good start to a lifetime of real estate investing. Whatever you decide to do, BP will help you tremendously. Good luck!

@Patrick Hein You are totally correct about me being afraid of debt. I have never had a single dollar of debt, besides my 3 properties. I have 2 credit cards and I've never used them! And my credit score is 790! I really don't want to open Pandora's box and start accumulating debt in non-assets. I just feel like we've done very well so far, because we have avoided all types of debt, except good debt. I don't want to dip our toes in the water now and then next thing I know we're waist deep in debt. But this forum has made me consider getting a small car loan with a much lower interest rate than the ROI I'd get with another property. But another thing, I really want to get her a good, reliable minivan, because compared to full size SUV's (which is what she wants), a minivan is soooo much cheaper and efficient, and just about the same size. I talked to my wife about that, but she will not budge! She say she only wants a full size SUV and that you can't find a good one for near $10,000. She just will not budge on the matter and i don't know what to do. From what I've looked at, a few year old minivan with 100,000 miles on it as compared to a full size SUV within the same parameters is literally HALF of the price!!! It just makes so much financial sense. I don't care if we don't look cool driving it. My cool days are over. I'll be a father of 3 in a few months. But my wife doesn't care. She is very firm in not wanting to drive around a minivan. I want to make her happy, because she deserves the best, but I don't think we should give in to instant gratification. I'm still so torn.

Hey David, nice to see a fellow firefighter on here! I'm relatively new in real estate as well. I acquired my first three rental units last year and my strategy is buy and hold. I don't know much about flipping and wholesaling, etc. I'm curious what experienced people with that strategy would have to say about doing one of your first deals on a house that caught fire. What exactly are you trying to do with the property? And to answer your ethics question, in my own opinion... since you were off duty and didn't respond to the fire, I think there should be no conflict of interest. When making some type of offer to the owner, I would give him a day or two and then go for it, so you don't lose the opportunity.  I definitely wouldn't lead off with telling him you're a firefighter though. 

Wow! It is just amazing to have 75+ people respond to this and give me their 2 cents. I didn't expect more than a few replies, but you guys just overwhelmed me with great opinions. BP community, you guys are the best! Me and my wife are definitely going to sit down and discuss all of the different things y'all talked about. Thank you all very much for all of the help!