All Forum Posts by: Ken Vingua

I am a military investor that has 6 SFR in 5 states and I believe this is the time to move from TurboTax to a CPA. I also created an LLC to begin Flipping and BRRRR investing last year. I live in California and that is only temporary. I'm hoping to find a virtual CPA that can assist with tax filing and strategies for my unique situation. I will need most correspondence to be done online since I can be located anywhere in the world from one year to the next.

I have had some difficulty in searching for this type of support and am hoping for some tips or referrals from investors in similar situations. 

I think you are making assumptions that are limiting your progress.  Why wouldn't you be able to get a loan or a refinance.  You have W2 income and you have a partner that is willing to fund the down payment.

What you need is a good deal that would work as a BRRRR if you are unable to sell. I just completed my first flip with my partner and we learned a lot. I am almost 5 months in and do not have an offer on the house yet. I have a bank lined up to refinance me out of it at the 6 month mark to pay off the hard money lender and recoup my investment. It was not the plan to keep this as a rental but things went wrong on the rehab, the job took too long, and I missed the summer selling season which is putting me in a slower market. I knew my numbers up front were very conservative and a bank would refinance at 6 months at 75% LTV.

We made the mistakes that first time flippers make, but we expected to and built in the alternate exits. Be honest with your partner, go in with realistic expectations on both the deal and your capabilities and be conservative with your numbers. It might take you a while to find the deal that gives you enough room to use hard money, go 25% over budget, and take too long all while falling in under 75% LTV.

We went with a fairly light rehab, $17,000, and issues kept popping up.  I would say that I do not plan to do another light rehab and will be looking for the complete gut rehabs from now on.  The margins are very tight on the light rehabs and the light rehabs can quickly turn into something more extensive.  On the other hand, if you go into it knowing that you are going to contract out an extensive job and account for gutting the place, then there is less to tack on as you go since you planned to replace everything.  I have a contractor that is my partner and trust in his ability to budget a large job well.  If you find a similar situation I would look to go big on the rehab.  Just my 2 cents.

You have a few options but there will be challenges. First, if your plan is to use the IRA as the down payment then you will have to find a lender that will do this. IRA investing will require it to be a non-recourse loan which will require different down payment guidelines from the lender. You could partner with someone who has the better credit and experience to get a loan on a property. If you do not want to partner then you can also look for deals that will qualify for asset based lending. The terms may not be as good as a standard Fannie Mae loan but if the deal makes sense and it is what you need to do to invest then there is no reason to avoid it.

Before anyone can really give you the advice you are looking for you have to clearly know what you want from real estate. If your goal is to generate passive income over time then get into rentals. Use your project management passion to BRRRR your way to a large portfolio or take on multifamily value add deals. If you are looking to pay your bills today then maybe you need to look at flipping projects. Again leveraging your PM skills and passion, you can partner with others to tackle multiple deals and be an active investor to support your living expenses today. There is no best way that applies to everyone but there may be a best way forward for you depending on what you want out of your real estate profession.

I think cash on cash returns allows you to best compare invested returns. The 1% or 2% rules can tell drastically different stories based on the initial purchase price of the property. A $500 per month ($6,000 per year) cash flow can be great but what if that required you to invest $20,000 (30% CoC), $60,000 (10% CoC), or $100,000 (6% CoC). What if you only made $200 per month in cash flow but you were able to accomplish that with $0 down or you BRRRR'ed all of your invested capital out of the deal.

Make sure that you are properly accounting for maintenance, CapEx, vacancy, and management. Subtract out all the expenses and the debt service and compare your cash flow against what your all-in invested capital is. Don't forget to factor in closing costs, legal fees or any other expenses to secure the deal. This will allow you to compare each investment with other investments across investment classes.

I would say that the GC way of thinking can be very beneficial to most people.  10X your goals can be a bit arbitrary and can make your goals worthless but having "realistic" goals can also be extremely limiting.  Most people set goals too low and underestimate their capability, looking for the satisfaction of reaching their goals.  GC is also about 10Xing your action.  10X your daily goals in order to strive for what seems to be an impossible long term goal for example, set out to make 100 calls instead of 10 or make 10X more offers.  As with any self help/motivational philosophy it will not apply to all but there is definitely things to be taken from his philosophy.  Don't limit your capability by understating your goals, challenge yourself to go bigger because your shortfalls towards the 10X goal will probably land you in a position greater than where you were originally aiming for.

Yes, at any rank you will be receive a housing allowance and can move into your own home if you are married, but don't rush things for the benefit.  The Marine Corps will always throw challenges your way and you may find your first duty station to be Okinawa.  Good luck.

That is an odd situation but whenever I am looking at rental estimates of any type I turn to craigslist first.  It is easy to look into what a room for rent is going for in that area.  You can narrow your search to within a tight radius of your zip code and find someone renting out a similar situation.  Good luck.

I have been in the Marine Corps for 15 years and have purchased 5 rental houses, am doing some flips, and am looking for more. You are correct in saying that you will not be given a housing allowance and will not be permitted to live out in town until you are either married or a SNCO, sometimes a senior NCO. That could be 7 to 10 years into your career. That only prevents you from owner occupied VA investing but you can still invest in pure rentals, wholesale, or whatever strategy fits your plan.

When it comes to education you have found the treasure chest of knowledge here at BP.  I would suggest you begin by reading the Ultimate Beginner's Guide https://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/brandonat....  That will give you the terminology, rules of thumbs, and basics on analyzing properties so you can begin to focus your effort towards topics that interest you.  Listen to every podcast on BP and join the webinars.  

Once you have a base of knowledge then you should start analyzing deals.  Use the BP calculator or whatever you find useful.  I use the Deal Check app from my phone for a quick tool at analyzing properties.  Start to save money and position yourself financially to be able to take advantage of your hard work and education that you have gained.  Set For Life by Scott Trench is a good resource for embracing frugality to prepare yourself to invest.

Feel free to connect with me whenever.  The Marine Corps can both provide good opportunities to invest and present unique problems that will make investing difficult.

Persistence definitely will matter because if I quit now then the time I have spent so far will truly be wasted without any benefit.  I make it a point to call or email a few banks a day.  I will try KFCU but have tried with the other banks listed.  I will continue to work hard to find the solution to my financing strategy but it sure would be nice if someone just handed me all the answers.