All Forum Posts by: Josh Teunissen

even electric car parts need to be made somewhere, if the country stops eating meat, lettuce still needs to grow somewhere haha the pipe that pumps concrete to the top of highrise buildings Is made in my backyard. So as long as there is manufacturing in the Midwest and not all overseas...your best IRR also isn't over 20-30years. Just know your market, mine has come back from 08

I would not bet too much on agriculture. I am a farmer, from my perspective farmers are squeezed about as tight as they can withstand before some farms fall and supply/demand equilizes. Margins are tight and milk doesn't pay to produce, I know a lot of farms maxing out their financing as well as investors dumping money into the larger dairys to keep them afloat. Also regulation in rural areas in my area at least are more and at a high cost with no return to comply. Producers in ag as a whole are on there knees however they don't represent the entire industry. There may be innovation that drives the Ag market but the traditional markets are tight. 

Besides all that, In rural realestate markets I think we always need to keep an eye and an ear on the job markets/industry ect. I guess honestly that applies anywhere, metro rural or otherwise. In my area we have a lot of manufacturing, farming the way I know it is not a significant source of jobs (or income lol). We have large equipment today/robots thathe are more efficient and require a single opperator. 

In order to answer the original question I would say that in my market I'm not terribly worried, it's on my mind but for now we have jobs and semi diversified indusries. Always need to reevaluate

I do not have experience wholesaleing, but it can be a touchy subject on this site with the rockstars in real estate. Also it's a lot of work and I think a complex strategy.

If financial freedom is what you're after, are you buying rentals?

I saved $10000 in one year on a low salary. And put up half a downpayment with my fiance. Maybe you can get a second job or look at where you can cut your living/other expenses? I'm 25

take this with a grain of salt because I have one property

First are you comfortable with the risk? Are you willing to be more hands on with managing your investment or do you have a Rockstar management company lined up? 

Real estate itself can be good investment, the numbers have to work, but the other half of what drives returns I think is in how you manage. If there is demand for rentals in the area, can you place in good tenants? Can you cut expenses? 

There are people who own in lower class neighboorhoods that do well but they're very hands on and I assume budget for extra repairs and lost rent. 

You really have to know what you want, and can afford to risk. The rest you learn as it comes, No matter how much you read, this I know from experience haha

you mentioned: 

"the connections I make are mostly with young investors" 

and then later on 

"Is it true that a lot of it is the old boy's club and about the connections you have made 20 years ago? How does one break into that? "

Maybe you could take a step back and look at the connections you've made and what appealed to you about those people when you did not yet know them. Essentially you're reversing the role now, you have to appeal to someone else, and I would say you come with the advantage of experience in different sections of realestate. 

Without a commercial MLS is a challenge, but I'm not even a player in the game and have heard of mismanaged commercial properties from the management of the building and identified other properties in decent neighborhoods that look like they have tired owners. With your experience and existing relationships I have no doubt you could build a list of potential clients and listings without too much extra effort than phone calls.

I know you didn't want to hear from me, a young investor, however I have enjoyed success in other non real estate areas with no knowlege and a lot of naivete haha one foot in front of the other and no matter what you don't know, there usually is a simple obvious next step,even if it's small

Good luck Marcus

What kind of deals are other investors doing in your market? 

I would try to meet with other people in the market you want to invest in, I don't think the question is as simple as cash flow. Your investment goals and your market need to meet somewhere haha

The first thing to do would be to become familiar with all your local, county and state laws. Google should help direct you to these

Second would be to join a landlording association which is on my list to do as well

And 3rd if you have any specific concerns you should review the laws first but then type in the search bar on bigger pockets keywords related to your question, or ask them specifically in the forums. There are some very well versed investors on this site that are very helpful for sure. I would @mention them for you but I don't remember their names and I can't use the mention function on my phone. 

Again, get to know your laws and operate with integrety, we all do our best to mitigate risk but a risk is still a risk haha 

Welcome aboard!

House Hacking has been a great experience for me so far. It teaches you all the nuances of being a landlord, you'll experience a lot of things you read in the forums first hand, if you buy the right deal you can save money and dip your feet in investing with a little less risk than a non owner occupied property. 

Another case for house hacking is that you have to live somewhere. In my case the rent of one unit covers all the principle and intrest of the property plus a little more. 

Although its not adding to my income, my personal housing expenses are less allowing me to save more for future opportunities, and as others have mentioned, as a newbie I cut my teeth on all the nuisances of rental property investing. 

Keep in mInd that maintainence, cap ex and the other costs of owning the property still come out of your pocket as you live there

I encountered this situation specifically.

We put a contigency in for the specific unit we wanted to live in be vacant. The seller bought out the prior tenant  ("cash for keys") and everything worked out. Options our lender proposed if that didn't work out was 30% down 15yr non owner occupied financing + 6mo reserves until vacant and then refinance to owner occupied which we were prepared to do but the former option worked out.

I don't know the legality of cash for keys, but our realtor proposed we put in the contigency and it worked out fine. I'm sure that some tenants may not want to leave and I think you have to be empathetic to that as well and be prepared for alternative financing or move on as suggested