All Forum Posts by: Josh Wallace

Whole Life or Permanent insurance is the only type of insurance I am aware of that you will get your money back plus interest. Term, auto, home...it's money down the drain unless you need to file a claim and that is always associated with more money out of pocket to meet a deductible. With whole life, your beneficiaries will get the total amount of the policy much the same as with term. Like was mentioned earlier, if you kick the bucket one day after the term policy is expired, your beneficiaries get ZERO. Now your payments will in whole life will be there, gaining compounding interest for life. It is a time game and in the end, it pays off. You can spend down your other retirement accounts (401K and the like). Spend those down to a zero balance while your permanent life policy continues to grow. Once you deplete your other retirement accounts, you can take money out of your whole life policy and it's pretty much tax free (after tax dollars fund the policy but you get the power of compounding interest). Disney Land was built because Walt Disney used his whole life policy as collateral. Just my 2 cents.

Well how about them apples.  Thank you

I love hearing about the BRRRR method and how it can be executed. I am wondering, can anyone breakdown the Refinance R? I have heard that it generally takes about 12 months before you can refinance and cash out the equity if the property but how does one go about refinancing a property? I am guess it is more than just asking a lender if you can simply refinance the property. Any feedback would be appreciated.

I wanted to get advice from people here about house hacking in LA. I feel that house hacking might be my best option getting started in REI. I live in LA and would like to continue to do so but prices are a little beyond my reach at the moment. I want to find an area with a great renters market but in an area I feel safe to call home as well. Is there anyone out there that has had success purchasing a multi unit (4 or less) where they lived in one and rented out the others?

@Eric Dowling I am trying to get a direct answer from lenders (so if any lenders are out there, please chime in) as to what the cap is. I am being told that if you go beyond a certain limit with the VA loan, it turns into a Jumbo Loan but again, I am having a hard time getting a verified answer.

There will always be competition but persistence and hard work is bound to pay off.  Thank you for chiming in though.  If anyone has anything else to add, please do so.

Hello Bigger Pockets!

I am currently in the market for a four-plex on the west side of Los Angeles or Burbank/Pasadena/Valley area. I will have this as an owner occupied property starting out my investing portfolio. I am not afraid of putting forced equity into the property but if a turnkey is out there looking for a buyer at the right price, I will not turn that down. I am looking to use my VA Home Loan on the purchase (sorry, no cash offers).

If anyone knows of any deals currently out on the market, about to hit the market or if there are any investors looking to liquidate, I would love to have a conversation. 

Take care!

Josh

Sorry for not monitoring this thread better. Thank you to everyone that has provided feedback, there is a lot to think about on here. I would for set up the proper legal team and layers of security to protect my assets (LLC, umbrella insurance - $2 million policy is maybe $20-$30 a month, lawyers...).

@Cassie Sherie, you bring up a great point.  I want to start small for 2 main reasons

1) I want to learn from the ground up.  Maybe not necessarily a single unit but owner occupy a 4 plex

2) If I don't exceed 4 units, I can utilize my VA Home Loan benefits if I owner occupy.

I want the education first but I agree, the more units, the less risk of having 100% vacancy.

Has anyone used a VA Home Loan in order to purchase a four unit building? To my understanding, four units is the maximum considered as a single family in terms of a loan.

Being a new investor, I think some of the best ways to learn would be hands on, at least that is how I usually learn best.  I am curious to see if any investors/flippers/landlords could use a helping hand.  I am not looking for compensation, I just want to spend some time with the people making the deals in order to get the firsthand experience.  I live in Los Angeles (Marina del Rey) so if anyone wants to meet, let me know.

@Brett Goldsmith Thank you for your input! When finding deals, has it been through MLS or other means such as mailers?