All Forum Posts by: Nathan Brooks

@Jonathan G. Cool ... hope it was helpful.  

And listen, the best advice I can ever give is get a great mentor.  It's a life and business changing thing.

I mean that for instance, you buy at $100k, and within a certain period of time you believe the house would be worth substantially more, therefore you could cash flow for a period of time, and then sell.

The other issue here to consider is, even if it DID become worth more, you can hypothetically sell it for more, doesn't mean that someone would want to make even lower return.  

You always have to separate things that you "like" ... deals that you are emotionally driven too, and be able to walk away.  I am not saying this is it, but if you have become too emotionally invested in this, you should walk.... I have made this rule for myself, and I have never once been upset after.  I am sure I have missed a few deals, but the no and moving to the next was much cheaper than the deals I said yes to, and then had to live with my decision.

There is a killer podcast on these ... I can't remember which one, but I believe it was in the lower 70's ... this guy is doing like 7-15 deals a month.  A lot to consider, understand, and cover your self legally ... make sure you do your homework!

And go listen to that podcast! 

You could try the lease option or subject to, but just make sure you really have a clear picture of what you are doing with the house, and what your exit strategy is.  If you don't have any, or much cash ... I would be even more careful.  

Consider working hard to find partners who can 1. look at deals with you 2. help fund them ...

I have found the best relationships I have with private money lenders are when I come to the table with both a solid deal under control, and the ability to have some "skin in the game" ... 

Hey @Jonathan G. ... 

I agree with @Mark S. 

Unless you really feel there is a lot of appreciation on that property, it sounds like a pass for me too.  I just would want a much larger return on your money.  After your expenses its going to be tight making anything on it cash flow wise, and thats before anything breaks.

I'd look at areas you know, and ask realtors/investors who know the areas well that have great rentals, and see what people come up with.  Look on zillow or other sites where there are a lot of rental options (for renters) as well, and then look at those areas and see what they are renting for.

Also, you can buy a less desirable house you have to put some money into, and get more equity/cash flow that way.  Hope that helps.

@Tyler Knott what areas in KC metro do you loan?  Do you do Wyandotte/Johnson county? 

Find a new lender.  Not worth the hassle ... 

@Warren Chadwick 

I think you have a great opportunity here. One of the things I wish I would have done when I started was not try to buy so many properties at once, specifically because of my cash flow from my income, as well as my cash reserves. Now, I am not usually someone who likes to sell assets, but I am wondering here if you can put roughly $30k or so into the house with your initial refi, and it would appraise for $300k or so, why not just flip the house, take your $180-200k and at that point you can have a good chunk of money for cash reserves (3-4 months... let's call it $20k), pay off your $20k debt, then buy your quad-plex home with VA or FHA loan.

Now you have the personal credit card debt gone, you have substantial cash still left to buy another rental house if you like, or hold for a year or two and buy another quad-plex.

My concern here is you build it correctly from the beginning, don't be saddled with the debt and things that are a burden when you can start fresh with a much more comfortable trajectory. Hope that helps.

@Kenneth Huddleston 

I love your passion! I think the best thing you could do right now is connect with a really, really, really ... really awesome mentor.  If you want to be an investor that buys and holds, find one that does that.  Work for free, clean out houses, put up fliers, birddog deals, start negotiations with anything and anyone who will ... and learn.  The books are great, but real life is always just a little different.

You could totally get out of high school with a couple rental properties depending on your area, and your effort.  You probably need a job making money somewhere because 1. It will remind you why you don't want to do that for your life 2. There are always skills to learn like management of money, people, and business operations 3. You would need money to buy something ... and show that you have money to PAY for that house.

So, I would start saving like a maniac ... find your mentor, work as many hours as you can, get paid on everything you can, and maybe even have a goal for buying a house your senior year of high school. A fixer upper that you could do an FHA mortgage on ... 3.5% down I believe, and then you can do the same thing a year or two later.

Remember ... it's not about having them all by "25" ... its building a sustainable business that works for you, for your family, and generations to come... 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Seriously though. Don't do it.

Think about the number of days/weeks off your life going through eviction, and the ... I should have not done this conversation with yourself.

NOOOOO! :)