All Forum Posts by: Kathleen McDowell

I like Housing Wire for news and the BP On the Market Podcast as well as the others already mentioned.

@Kyle SchroederI am a realtor in AZ and there are a lot of good investment areas here at present. Migration is strong, along with job growth. Laws are landlord friendly.  My favorites are Buckeye and Casa Grande. Buckeye is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, thanks to new master planned communities being built. They offer an amazing lifestyle at an affordable price.  Prices are reasonable. Casa Grade prices are still low while commanding good rents, and supply is very low.

Reach out to me if you'd like me to send you more stats on these areas.

I recommend Gary Keller's book The Millionaire RE Agent to all rookies. Its a must read on how to establish your RE business, with a big section on lead gen.  Echo other's thoughts, am reading David Greene's SOLD and SKILL now and find them valuable.

You're getting great advice so far and I will just add a few thoughts:

- assume you're planning to house hack if you go MF. To me this is a great option for young folks with flexible lifestyles

- try going conventional as it is sometimes harder to get FHA offers accepted

- work with your finance to set some goals for what you'd like to get out of your RE goals. Cashflowing properties in better neighborhoods are very hard in today's market and you should be considering other factors such as appreciation.  Retiring in 10 years from RE income may not be a realistic outcome. But if you keep your W2 income and invest your real estate returns into expanding your portfolio, you can build wealth to complement your income.

- the Fed has stated they will continue to raise rates so I would not delay and wait for more income. Sounds like you have done a lot of research and it's time to take action. Get yourself a great buyer's agent who is also an investor and can guide you and reduce the stress!

- BRRR in this market is very risky, especially for a first time investor. Labor shortages and supply chain issues are causing huge overruns and incurring large holding costs. I think would be something that would compound your stress!

- If your local market prices can only afford you something in a less desirable area, consider out of state investing, but be sure to bake in property management costs ~8%.

Best of luck on your RE journey!

Congratulations on taking the knowledge and putting it into action!! 

Congrats on starting your RE journey so early!  Great questions. I recommend all my clients start by talking to a lender or mortgage broker. They will look at your specific situation and explain all of your options available. Some things that will determine the outcome is if you plan to buy a duplex and live in one of the units and rent out the others. This is a great way to build wealth early and should be considered  Once you have that step complete, find a realtor given that its your first investment. Good luck!

I would not worry about an LLC now, especially if you plan to mortgage it - lenders dont usually like lending to an LLC and you likely wont have enough equity built up to need to worry about asset protection at this stage. Congrats on starting your RE portfolio so early!

Hi John. I always recommend clients moving in with boyfriends/girlfriends not to sell their current home. Try renting it for a while first.  Another thing to consider is the volatility of the stock market in an inflationary environment, vs real estate returns which have historically outpaced inflation.  With rising rates it will be hard to get back into an investment property in the future that cash flows should you want to. I know I don't have all the factors, but from what you have shared I would continue to rent it.  I do recommend you run the sale option by your CPA to have more concrete data for your analysis.

 Hi Shane. You can find a contract for your state online and use that. As Randall mentioned, the key is the title company (and certain states require a lawyer, so be sure to check your state laws. Hiring a Realtor to represent you is an excellent idea, as they will act as your fiduciary. Recommend finding one that specializes in small multi-family. Yes, you'd need to sign a buyer broker agreement with them that would state what their commission would be and that you would cover that (given seller is not).

Excellent point Bruce.  There is, and each state's laws are different. In AZ, the seller in entitled to a copy of the inspection report as part of the contract. So therefore, they have received the information and can't claim they were not aware.  I would suggest its less risky to share the entire report than it is to pick out the points you deem to be material. It minimizes risk that the buyer may deem something to be material that you did not, and didn't disclose.