All Forum Posts by: Josh Edelman

Hi everyone, I'm curious if anyone else out there is active military and also doing real estate. I have had my license for almost 2 years and have been doing as much as I can outside of my military duties and travels (deployments, TDYs, etc). 

I did 12 transactions last year and only a few this year so far. I'd really love to bump the numbers up - my biggest piece is lead gen. What do you all do besides sphere of influence? (many of my clients are military as well so it comes from SOI). But I am trying cold calling at night and running ads. Considering door knocking in the evenings/weekends. 

Appreciate any insight! 

Do you dress professional or more casually? Curious on the strategies. Thanks! 

@Jared M Pilarski How are things going now? It's been a year but wanted to see what your update is. 

Christpoher, how are you guys doing now? What did you end up doing? I am active duty and a realtor in Vegas - curious where you bought and how your goals with REI are developing.

@Eric Anderegg I am helping a few folks out with their properties in Pahrump right now. My recommendation first is look at how much money you would be throwing away by renting for several years. Not sure what your family situation is, but let's assume the rent is $2000/mo. That's $48K in two years you could have used on payments elsewhere. 

I think with the equity from the potential sell, (try to avoid capital gains by living in it 2 of the last 5 years), you could put down on a property to live in and then a potential out of state investment. Vegas market is tough. You won't find the numbers that everyone hypes up. Look at $350-450k properties, and focus on finding this  first home in Vegas. If you can househack or rent out a casita or separate room, great. If not, plan to rent it out when you move next. I am working with several clients finding properties with either a split level to househack or with a casita. 

@Eric Fernwood made some excellent points! When I bought in Las Vegas I specifically linked up with an investor friendly and experienced agent, Falisha Rexford - she is crushing the game. Because of her insight and all of the information she provided that  Eric mentioned, I made a great first purchase which helped me start off strong as my first rental property. Needless to say, when I became an agent (and joined her team) I learned from her and realized how much more value an investor friendly agent can be and much more insight one has. 

If your plan is to hold for a long while, I'd look at the cost of the refinance and how long it would take to recoup that costs from your monthly savings from that change in mortgage payment. If the refinance isn't too much it might be a smart move. 

If you use a HELOC it won't cost as much but you will have interest only payments (most likely). It really depends on some other factors. If you have a plan to fix and flip and can payback that HELOC ASAP, it may be advantageous. But if you were to hold that HELOC for a while you will be adding up these interest only payments to where refinancing would have been the better option.

I would recommend the HELOC. I just did the exact same thing you are thinking of here in Las Vegas. I was taking a HELOC out on my primary residence with the intent to make it a rental property (so lenders considered it a rental) but I did find one that hooked it up. But I took out 60k HELOC to buy a SFH, moved into it, rented the first home out, and now I am aggressively paying down the HELOC every month.

I was looking in Texas (San Antonio) and also North Carolina. No success yet but where have you looked and what are calling specifically for? Seller financing?

$100 more per month