All Forum Posts by: Joseph Ryan

@Vaishanavi Mirapurkar As an old saying goes, the best time to invest is always 10 years ago. The second best time is now. Run the numbers on lots of deals and try to find a base hit for the experience to start your real estate investing journey. That way you'll be ready to jump on great future deals. Many find it east to Invest in markets they know/have connections with when they start investing.

Hello @Melissa Casaretto. MLS usually gets the highest price for a property and if they haven't been able to sell, then the price is too high. Investors want a deal. Your in-laws need to factor holding costs into their price. How soon do they want to sell? Are they motivated? If they are not motivated then yes they may be set on a price. Maybe offer owner financing or other incentives.

Great answers above. Yes, commercial lenders will want to know you have enough skin in the game (down payment), enough experience, and capital reserves for vacancies/ when things break. Finding a partner makes a lot of sense for this deal at your current experience level. Maybe cash out refi, or line of credit from your 2 sfhs (single family houses) as backups. This may be a lot of leverage and is up to you/your family to decide what you are comfortable with.

@Milan Villarreal I hate to sound like a broken record but it depends on what you mean by "doing well." I have a good buddy who has a 4 plex in the valley and he has been transitioning to arb bnb and making good money but he is there cleaning and managing his online reputation so it is pretty time intesive. I have a long term 4 plex where I initially set up the systems (I self-manage), got year long leases signed, and only occasionally have to text my handymen to do certain things. I have more time for my more lucrative professional career and to spend with my wife, 3-year old and my10 month old. Air bnb with good systems def seem to have higher returns.

Great advice above. Also, find local real estate investor meet-ups to connect with investors in your market.

Lots of the answers to these questions are it depends on you & your wife. Do you want to leverage (debt) to grow or not? If leverage yes, then consider heloc or cash out refi. Then it depends on what kind of portfolio you want. Do you want to buy and hold/ maybe brr, then consider cash-out refi. If you wish to buy, fix and flip, then consider the heloc. If you don't want to hire a property management company/ deal with them or deal with self managing from a distance, then sell the house in the valley. If you moved recently and it was your main house then the sale proceeds should be tax free and you can keep it to do with as you wish. I hope that helps.

Lots of the answers to these questions are it depends on you & your wife. Do you want to leverage (debt) to grow or not? If leverage yes, then consider heloc or cash out refi. Then it depends on what kind of portfolio you want. Do you want to buy and hold/ maybe brr, then consider cash-out refi. If you wish to buy, fix and flip, then consider the heloc. If you don't want to hire a property management company/ deal with them or deal with self managing from a distance, then sell the house in the valley. If you moved recently and it was your main house then the sale proceeds should be tax free and you can keep it to do with as you wish. I hope that helps.

I agree with Jake. There are good tenants in the RGV but a lot goes into it. A lot of people in South Texas don't have a lot of credit history (they like to pay cash when they can). Where is the property located, North McAllen vs Rio Grande city, what type of property do you have, A,B,C (A would have better tenants than C's generally). Price your unit competitively with the market, do your diligence as Jake says with background/credit checks, and use good software to manage your leads (I like turbotenant and FB marketplace). Get references for the applicants then verify with the references about the applicants. Do phone interviews with the tenants then meet them at the properties if it seems to be a good fit to sign/hand over the keys. Look inside their cars when they show up at the property if possible. How they treat their car may be an indicator of how they treat your unit. Knowing some Spanish helps but is usually not a deal breaker. Think of this process as hiring an employee...

@Todd Primmer Same with our cold calling.

Hello and welcome to McAllen! You can consider money market funds or online banks like ally bank where they currently have a 0.50% APY for their savings account. FDIC insured up to 250k. No minimums. I hope that helps, good luck!