All Forum Posts by: Kaylee Walterbach

Hey Juan! Are you having trouble finding good deals where the numbers work, or are you just not sure which direction you want to go in next?

Some great books for creative strategies if the numbers just aren't wokring:

30-Day Stay (medium-term rentals can bring more cash flow than LTRs)

Long-Distance Real Estate Investing (you can look for properties out of state)

Wealth without Cash (not released yet, but subto or seller financing could be helpful given current interest rates!)

We just released a great new book, Real Estate Rookie, that covers a lot that you need to learn about your first investment property.

For LTRs, you should check out The Book on Rental Property Investing. It's a classic!

For STRs, you should check out Short-Term Rental, Long-Term-Wealth (written by Avery Carl, who actually lives in Destin, FL). With this type of investment, you will most likely see better cash flow IF the occupancy rate in your town is decent and there's not too much competition. STRs also require furnishing, while LTRs typically do not.

And don't forget about MTRs (30-Day Stay)! They are fantastic in certain areas; more cash flow than LTRs but more security than STRs.

Quote from @Grant Shipman:

Quote from @Kaylee Walterbach:

Quote from @Eliott Elias:

You want to be well versed in real estate, you want to be able to see every situation and figure out the highest and best strategy for the property. If you're only good at flipping homes it takes you out of the running for a lot of deals. 

 Agree! Different books for different strategies.

 thanks for sharing.  How many strategies do you think someone ought to learn before they try one out? 

I don't think there's a set number—just depends on how long it takes to find a strategy you feel comfortable with.

For example, say I'm brand-new to real estate, and I pick up a book on STRs today. I'm excited, do some research, then realize I'm not too sure about the current market.

Maybe book 2 is about creative financing, which is great knowledge to have and one more piece of the puzzle.

Then maybe book 3 is about medium-term rentals, something clicks, and—bam! I'm ready to creatively finance an MTR deal!

Granted, all this reading could be going on while I'm sitting back and waiting on a great deal to show up. Maybe I'm halfway through book 2 and see a great deal... so I drop the book and buy the property instead. I can always finish reading it after the closing table!

Great point! I imagine the turnover and vacancy are both higher since a lot of students won't be around during the summer months. Still, in a very expensive college town, I think this would be an excellent strategy—I went to school in both Boulder, CO and Burlington, VT and rent was a small fortune every month in both places. (I even "house hacked" a studio apartment with a couple of people if you'll believe it... would not recommend, haha)

Regarding irresponsible behavior, I imagine it wouldn't be worse than a normal tenant if you screen properly and do your due diligence. For every crazy college student, there's one who is normal and responsible. Just set aside part of the rent for repairs, always.

Still, I'm very curious to hear from others who might use this strategy!

Quote from @Luka Milicevic:

The thing is that one real estate book won't give you ALL the answers. I do agree with reading several, especially when you are getting started so you can learn as much as you can. 

I very much don't subscribe to the "read a book a week" club. I think that reading 1 book 5 times is better than reading 5 books 1 time. Reading too many books, too often won't change behaviour. You won't have enough time to implement what you just learned, you will be on to the next thing, and then the next thing and never have time to actually implement. 

The most important thing though is at some point to put the books down and start taking action....

 100% ^^

This seems like the perfect balance to me. One is too few, but 100 is probably too many. And it's always good to read more than once

Quote from @Bud Gaffney:

There is no limit on knowledge. RE is always changing! We should all be reading and learning constantly.

 Agree! The principles stay the same but the nuances have been changing and will keep changing forever 

Quote from @Grant Shipman:

I love all the thoughts shared.  It seems we all share common thoughts on the important thing for a new/wanna-be investor is to learn in order to act and hands-on is important and relationships are important.  I think Bruce Lee would feel at home in this convo...haha :)  For all you newbies/wanna-be's- be intentional about your learning- in the form of books/teaching, relationships, & execution/hands-on.  Rather than staying in and polishing the tools you've gained- go out and use those tools!  Master a kick and use it!  Rinse repeat.  That's my encouragement.  Let's GO LIVE OUR DAY DREAMS! 

Love it!

Quote from @Grant Shipman:

There's an addiction new or wanna-be investors have called education addiction. They drink books, articles, podcasts, classes, etc until they have a blurry-eyed hangover and then they repeat. I recommend mastering 1 book instead. If you were to master 1 real estate investment book, or recommend mastering only 1 book to an aspiring/newer person, what book would it be? This is in regard to buy-and-hold, b/c this is the passive-income ideal for REI.

I see what you're saying! It's easy to get caught up in "all learning, no action," and as a (semi) newbie I absolutely agree. Still, why not do both at once? Someone can take action AND keep learning at the same time.

It's difficult and sometimes scary to make moves on real-life deals, but by no means is reading/learning taking up so much of my time that it's stopping me from doing it. I listen to audiobooks when I'm driving, listen to podcasts cooking dinner, etc. but I still have time set aside for analyzing deals and looking for properties.

Right now, if I was to master a single REI book, I'd pick something that's suited to the current market. But that could always change, too.

Quote from @Eliott Elias:

You want to be well versed in real estate, you want to be able to see every situation and figure out the highest and best strategy for the property. If you're only good at flipping homes it takes you out of the running for a lot of deals. 

 Agree! Different books for different strategies.

Hey James, it takes 7-10 days with the free shipping option. If you are experiencing any issues or it's taking longer than that time frame, you can reach out to [email protected] to check the status of your order!