All Forum Posts by: Kole Kingslien

Hello there,

I am writing this post in search of some advise to help get me started in real estate investing. A little about myself and situation.

I am 22, and my wife is 20 years old, we have about $16,000 saved up, and would like to start investing in real estate, to build wealth for us now, and for our future. I have been doing a lot of reading and researching (on biggerpockets and else wear), but feel stuck/nervous about getting into my first investment. Due to our limited funds, we want to figure out how to get a great deal, with as little of our cash in the game as possible, to allow a "safety net" of sorts. I work in Madison WI, we are hoping to find something in/around that market, I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like I can't find very good deals. Our goal is to obviously have good positive cash flow, to allow us to re-invest in more property for a "snowball" effect.

We want to find an owner occupied opportunity. We have been to a lender, and shouldn't have a problem getting an FHA loan, up to 4 units. I just feel like I can't find any good deals in my area, the numbers just haven't been adding up very well. Not sure what to do, every property I seem to check, has a decent negative cash flow. Should I take negative cash flow, or hold out?

From my analysis, I would be receiving only about 100-300 cash flow with all units rented (-550 to -250 When living there). that doesn't account for vacancies, or capital expenditures. Is this a good deal? My goal is to then invest in another within about a year, with this small of a return, I would not have the cash to do that. You see my predicament? I want to get started, but I want it to speed up my investing ability, not slow it down. I'm not sure if I have unrealistic expectations or not.

Also, in regards to negotiating a deal, I want my first offer to be low enough to allow room to negotiate up to my desired price, but I don't want to be so low as to cause offense, how much give is there when negotiating? The price that would make the numbers work is about $280,000 (lower would be better obviously). Asking price is $325,000. The fair market value, and the price it was assessed at for taxes, is $236,000 (according to the city records). Would it be absurd to offer below the fair market value?

Thanks guys,

Kole

Also,  in regards to negotiating a deal,  I want my first offer to be low enough to allow room to negotiate up to my desired price,  but I don't want to be so low as to cause offence, how much give is there when negotiating? The price that would make the numbers work is $280,000. Asking price is $325,000. The fair market value, and the price it was assessed at for taxes,  is $236,000 (according to the city records). Would it be absurd to offer below the fair market value? 

Thanks again guys, 

Kole

@Debra Grumbach thanks for the advice,  from my analysis,  I would be reviving only about 100-300 cash flow with all units rented (-550 to -250 When living there).  that doesn't account for vacancies. Is this a good deal?  My goal is to then invest in another within about a year, with this small of a return,  I would not have the cash to do that.  You see my predicament? I want to get started,  but I want it to speed up my investing ability,  not slow it down.  I'm not sure if I have unrealistic expectations or not.  

Thanks

Kole

@Michael Henry, thanks for the advice. My wife and I are more than willing to make those changes, and we do want to find an owner occupied opportunity. We have been to a lender, and shouldn't have a problem getting an FHA loan, up to 4 units. I just feel like I can't find any good deals in my area, the numbers just haven't been adding up. Not sure what to do, every property I seem to check, has a pretty heavy negative cash flow. Should I take negative cash flow, or hold out?

Hello there, 

I am writing this post in search of some advise to help get me started in real estate investing. A little about myself and situation. 

I am 22, and my wife is 20 years old, we have about $20,000 saved up, and would like to start investing in real estate, to build wealth for us  now, and for our future. I have been doing a lot of reading and researching (on biggerpockets and else wear), but feel stuck/nervous about getting into my first investment. Due to our limited funds, we want to figure out how to get a great deal, with as little of our cash in the game as possible, to allow a "safety net" of sorts. I work in Madison WI, we are hoping to find something in/around that market, I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like I can't find very good deals. Our goal is to obviously have good positive cash flow, to re-invest in more property. Any advice would me much appreciated. 

Thanks,

Kole

Thank you so much for your advise! I will do my best to follow your suggestions, I'm sure I will more questions that I will post about on Biggerpockets, due to my inexperience, and wanting to be careful. Also, when I interview a lender, do I need to bring documents of prospective properties, along with a "plan Breakdown" (calculations on cash flow and ROI, to show I have a solid plan?). I guess what i'm trying to ask is, what determines how much a lender will lend me, and the terms on which they set? Is their decision determined and will it change with each prospective property, or is it solely based upon my current income and credit? At my young age, how can I make a big investment purchase, with a strong plan, if I dont have 20% to put down on a 350k complex? One last thing, my wife and I are also worried that if we buy an investment property, that we will not be able to get another loan for another investment, or personal house because of our debt to income, even if all goes well and we have a positive cash flow? Again thank you much and I deeply appreciate the advice you have given me,

Kole

Hello, I am new to biggerpockets and new to investing, and have some questions that hopefully someone can help me answer. First, a little bit about myself. I am 22 years old, recently married, and work a full time job as a beer delivery driver. I would like to make a purchase on my first investment property before the end of the year, I have spent a lot of time reading on biggerpockets, and feel like I have an okay grasp on the math and idea of all of it. We currently have $22,000 saved, and are able to save $1700/month. I currently rent an apartment at $500/month, and have never had a mortgage. I paid off a small car loan, and have had a credit card for 7 months, my wife and I both have a credit score of 700. I am interested in house flipping, and/or rental property investing. My biggest questions are on obtaining financing (through a bank), and the difficulty of securing a private lender, and how to secure a private lender. I noticed upon further research, that I do not need to limit my search to one lender (from what I have read, investors can deal with 20+ lenders before coming to an agreement with one). In light of that, I know that to get pre-approved will require my credit to be run, and as you can imagine I do not want to acquire a bunch of inquiries on my credit, which would negatively effect my credit score. I was hoping that you might be able to shed some light on how to go about how to discuss this with lenders, while bypassing a credit inquiry, until deciding on a lender. Can I get fairly accurate information from them (about how much they will approve me for, how much they would require down, interest ect.), without having to take credit hits? Thank you for your input. 

Hello,  I am new to biggerpockets and new to investing,  and have some questions that hopefully someone can help me answer.  First, a little bit about myself.  I am 22 years old,  recently married,  and work a full time job as a beer delivery driver.  I would like to make a purchase on my first investment property before the end of the year,  I have spent a lot of time reading on biggerpockets,  and feel like I have an okay grasp on the math and idea of all of it.  We currently have $22,000 saved,  and are able to save $1700/month. I currently rent an apartment at $500/month, and have never had a mortgage.  I paid off a small car loan,  and have had a credit card for 7 months,  my wife and I both have a credit score of 700. I am interested in house flipping,  and/or rental property investing.  My biggest questions are on obtaining financing (through a bank), and the difficulty of securing a private lender,  and how to secure a private lender. I noticed upon further research, that I do not need to limit my search to one lender (from what I have read,  investors can deal with 20+ lenders before coming to an agreement with one). In light of that, I know that to get pre-approved will require my credit to be run, and as you can imagine I do not want to acquire a bunch of inquiries on my credit, which would negatively effect my credit score. I was hoping that you might be able to shed some light on how to go about how to discuss this with lenders, while bypassing a credit inquiry, until deciding on a lender. Can I get fairly accurate information from them (about how much they will approve me for,  how much they would require down,  interest ect.), without having to take credit hits? Thank you for your input.