All Forum Posts by: Joshua Schmidt

No cash flow and where I am at, any sort of foundation issues if the home is on a slab. For what it costs to do foundation work and the unreliability of the repair, foundation issues just aren't worth messing with.

I'm about to start a refinance on a BRRRR house in Central Arkansas. I'll let you know if I find a mortgage lender that is financing/refinancing locally. I know we just bought this house in early March and it funded, however, that was just before everything got bad.

Absolutely great information! One of the reasons I love bigger pockets, you get to find gems like this! Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread as I'll be looking into rolling my TSP later this year!

Finally finished the original book today. I would say both are worth the read, but there is definitely a little bit of the same information in both books. There are some great ideas in the original book, things such as "A clever way to write off your kids", "writing off every penny of your vacation", bookkeeping, home office and setting up your legal entities the right way. Both books are chalk full of great info! The second book flows better, but the first one has a LOT of great content as well!

Originally posted @Kris :

Personally, that’s what drew me to this market.  IMO this is the type of market you want to be in for times like these.  If the real estate market pulls back a bit elsewhere, I may look to diversify into another market.  For now, this is working well.   

Completely agree @Kris Mead, as I love this market we are in.  You can buy in a down market, you can buy in an up market, the market here is almost always STEADY!  You can't ask for a better market for planning in my opintion!

Oh, and I forgot one of the biggest factors in my opinion, slow job growth and wages here in Arkansas.  That, in my opinion, has slowed the appreciation rates the most...

If you are buying in Arkansas with the hopes of appreciation, you are buying for the wrong reason. Will your REI appreciate, more than likely, but it will not be a process that happens fast. If you can buy a REI and force appreciation, that is your best bet for appreciation here in Arkansas. Yes, NW Arkansas will appreciate faster than most of the rest of the state, but the prices are not as good as the rest of the state. I have lived in Arkansas my whole life, worked in the Real Estate industry for over 10 years now. We have hot spots that pop up here and there, ie Conway, NW Arkansas as well as a few others, but for the most part, appreciation is a long game here. In my opinion, the reason we have such great prices is because of the low rate at which the state's population is growing. Basically, supply and demand....Yes population growth has been steadily rising, but the needle moves pretty slow. I have noticed over the years we are starting to get more transplants from other states, such as from CA and some of the more NE states. People can sell their house for 1mil in CA, move here and buy a newer/bigger house for a 1/4 of the price and live well off the rest of their cash, plus their pensions usually go a lot further here as prices on everything haven't been inflated like some of the other states. Throw in the great hunting, fishings, boating and golfing thoroughout the state and you have a great little hidden gem in the middle of America.

@Eric Galley funny you asked, I'm actually starting the original book today as I read them out of order.  I don't think you have to read the original to get a LOT out of the advanced tax strategies.  I'll let you know in a few days if it would benefit you to read the original first.  However, I feel like I learned a lot from the Advanced book without reading the original...yet.

Well, finally had a chance to finish the book and let me tell you, it is PACKED with great information to help just about every real estate investor save money on their taxes.  The sections on accelerated depreciation, 1031 exchanges and retirement funds are absolute gold!  Well worth the money!  Definitely pick up a copy as I highlighted a LOT of information I will be using in the future!

That is awesome @Mark Rogers, always good to make a sale that quick at full list price!  Good luck with the closing!