All Forum Posts by: Justin Jones

@Dave Meyer 

Thank you, the link works for me. Where is BP insights available from other than through the link in this thread? I don't see any drop down option to view BP insights. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

Thank you all for your input again!

I recently purchased pro and have set a goal to analyze 100 deals by July. I'm in the middle of school right now so all week I'm studying. My goal is to analyze 3-5 deals/day on saturdays and sundays.

I've been analyzing deals mainly here in pensacola and in oahu.. with a few in columbus ohio too as that's where I'm from.

There seem to be a few really good deals here in Pensacola even if we invested remotely from oahu and didn't house hack here. 

However, our plan was to house hack wherever we go. I've been getting a little bummed because it seems like in oahu that's not feasible without a huge down payment. I don't necessarily want to rent but I don't know if we can afford a place in Oahu that is big enough to house hack, even if it needs a lot of work. We really want to take the opportunity to go out to Oahu though if it's offered (which it most likely will be). If we do have to rent in Oahu we're still planning on investing out of state but that's a lot riskier than house hacking. There are some really good deals to be had here in Pensacola from what I've seen even running some pretty conservative numbers.

I'm going to keep analyzing deals but would really like your input. I'm about to start the audiobook on investing with no or low money down as well.

I've lived in Ohio, Chicago, and San Diego. 

I'm playing it by ear. I'll probably re enlist once but as of right now I'm gonna be done after that.

Jumping on here as there's a possibility I'll be stationed in Oahu within the next year. Is it possible to house hack with a "cheaper" house in Hawaii? My wife and I don't have a TON of cash right now for a down payment. We do have the VA loan though. By the time it comes around we'll probably have around $20K including our emergency fund.

 Thank you for your input! This is definitely a tough decision. My wife and I personally both LOVE the ocean. I regularly go surfing and spear fishing. My line of thinking was if we end up in oahu we probably won't be able to buy a house but we can save and really enjoy hawaii and the nature and even do our part in giving back to hawaii. And then when we return to the mainland we'll have a larger fund for a down payment and some great life experiences!

Also, the surf in pensacola isn't really good at all... more incentive for hawaii. :)

One quick question. As a quick guess what would you say a weekly grocery cost for two people would be in Oahu? What about utilities? I can't find consistent answers on any blogs or forums.

Thank you all for your suggestions!

I'm taking all of this into consideration and will update everyone when the time comes to get my orders. A lot to think about here!!

 The reason we said we would rather do it now than later is because we don't have any children and have relatively few responsibilities so we feel like it would be the best time if we want to go to Hawaii.

It's definitely a tough decision. I appreciate your input!! If we do end up staying in Pensacola we've got contact info for a good real estate agent!

I'm in the Navy and my wife and I are nearing the end of my contract here in Pensacola. I have the option to stay here for another 4 years or move to Oahu for 4 years. I'm looking for investing advice but also for some life advice.

Below is the breakdown of income in both areas as well as a rough housing cost breakdown. Long story short we will still be able to save a good amount living in Oahu but we won't be able to buy a house. Whereas here in Pensacola we will be able to save a good amount AND buy at least one house, maybe two (this would be our first house and we want to have multiple rentals across the country by the time I get out). We're both relatively young (both 22) and we're trying to decide what the best course of action is. Both places we would be able to save about $800-1000/month after all expenses besides regular spending money. We're trying to decide whether the lost time/ money investing in real estate is worth it considering we'll be getting paid to live in Oahu and will still be able to pocket some money. We're young and relatively free of responsibility so if we're ever going to do it this is the time.

Only debt is 13,500 on my wife's car.

Our total NW right now including the car loan is about $1,550 (We saved all of our tax return which brought us above 0!)

Thank you guys for the help and advice!!

Honolulu: 

Total monthly income: 5463.71

Average price of apartments we've been looking at: 2000

Pensacola:

Total Monthly Income: 4122.71

Average home cost 200,000 

We have access to the VA home loan.

Hello all,

I apologize if I come off as ignorant. I'm still learning as much as possible but I'm in school full time so it's been a slow(er) roll with a lot of my time going towards studying.

A quick rundown of my wife and I's situation and then on to my question. If you don't want the background skip down to the next paragraph. We have $8000 saved in cash right now and the only debt we have is her car payment which is low interest (5%) and is sitting at $14k right now (we pay $400/month on it which is $100 over the minimum payment but it still allows us to save a lot into our savings accounts). I'll be getting a pre tax bonus of $10k when I finish my school around July (so post tax probably around $8k). Other than the bonus and our tax return we're saving about 37% of our income throughout my TSP and our HYSA. I actually came to these forums and got turned on to the podcast from the choose FI podcast. Our goal with real estate is to own rentals from the different areas we get stationed and have cash flow and a growing net worth. We eventually want to move back to San Diego when I get out and depending on the market there would like to invest there as well (that's at least 10 years down the line though). Mainly I want to become financially independent so that my wife and I don't depend on a job. If an emergency happens or we decide we want to take time to travel or anything, I want to be able to do so. I don't want the quality of our lives to be tied to how much we work. Obviously we still plan on working (and we understand real estate is a lot of work), but I don't want to HAVE to work for someone else. The way we see real estate is we're in charge of our schedule and we're working for us, not someone else.

We're both 22 y/o.

So onto my question:

When I finish school here there are a few places I could be stationed. I get to fill out a "dream sheet" so I have some say in where I go (some). The places that are normally available are: Pensacola, Florida (where we're at now), Fort Meade, MD, and San Antonio, TX (Oahu, HI is normally there too but we don't want to live in HI. The orders are 4 years at a time. 

We have access to the VA home loan which is a bonus and both of our credit scores are 725+. We're really new to this and don't know much about different markets. Obviously we don't plan on filling out the dream sheet solely based on the housing markets but it's a big factor. Do you guys have any information on the areas I listed above? Not asking for deals specifically but general information about their real estate market and other things that would impact home buying/ home ownership/ owning rentals. We're wanting to either house-hack by buying a duplex or buy a fixer upper to live in while we fix it and then once it's fixed up rent it and buy another fixer upper. The other option is to just buy a ready to rent home which is less hassle but I don't feel it's as good of a deal as buying a home that needs work. We're both pretty handy and I'll be INCONUS 90% of the time so we will both be able to do the work.

Thank you guys so much for the help! My wife and I are really looking forward to jumping in on this journey with all of you! If there's anything I need to be clearer on just let me know and I'll clear up any confusion!