All Forum Posts by: Kyle Press

Hey, 

Congrats on even making your first post in a quest for knowledge. I will recommend "The book on rental property investing" by Brandon Turner for starters. A friend of mine gave it to me, and I used what I learned from it to buy my first house, which is doing good, and has enabled me to double my bank account in a year. Granted I don't have a huge amount of money but still, it has made my life significantly better. Aside from that, youtube has a ton of great videos, this website has a bunch of great posts and people willing to give advice, and finally never be afraid to call people just to ask questions. I was on the phone for 30 minutes the other day with the county Sherriff's office trying to understand the process to buy foreclosed homes. In today's day and age people are very used to simple information gathering on the internet, or having immediate feedback and understanding. What I think 90% of people don't understand is that most people are bored out of there F*cking mind at work, and would love for a call to come in that gets them talking about themselves and their jobs. So don't be afraid to call and ask tons of questions. I think it's the best way to go, and it's completely free! Good luck.

Hello all. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is looking forward to the new year. I'm on bigger pockets today to see if there is any input that can be shared on a recent initiative I've thought about pursuing and it goes like this: I recently came across the practice of buying tax foreclosed property at the county auctions. These auctions are held once a year. While browsing I came across a really nice piece of beach front land on an island community that is selling for quite literally dirt cheap. The land was assessed to be 200K plus and the opening bid is 11K. The land is surrounded by properties that is 2 million + in value. The GIS record on the county website looks good, and I am going over there on Saturday to look at it with my realtor (who would be selling the property later, and is extremely helpful to me as a part of my team). The goal is to obtain the land, build a really nice house on it, something that'll drastically increase the value of the property, and sell it all. This isn't a "get rich quick" scheme, but it is a get rich scheme. Here are a few of my roadblocks: First and foremost I am in the military. That is a blessing and a curse. If I fail, I'll at least be protected better than your average joe because of my job. On the other hand, work has a tendency of getting in the way of a lot of personal ventures, seemingly no matter what. Secondarily: I do not have a lot of funds available. I bought my first house in September of 2022, and since then have been doing quite well. I finished the basement, and live down there now while renting out all 5 bedrooms to other military members for a total of 4300 bucks. My mortgage is 2866, and I rounded up to 3K to start paying down principle. I also pay all of the utilities so its an average of 3500/3600 I am shelling out every month. I keep my BAH and the cashflow from the property. With that being said I only have 26K total in savings. I thought about pulling out a personal loan, as well as asking one of my tenants to front load all of the rent for the rest of the year now if possible to gather some funds together for bidding. The third and final obstacle is that even if I did get the winning bid on this land, I have no idea how to develop it. I could try to sell the land straight up, but I'd rather develop it and do it right. This would be something spectacular that could set me up for the rest of my life. So that's it. I am 26 years old and doing this primarily by myself, but I guess I have the biggerpockets community to turn to for advisory purposes. I also think that I see the opportunity available, I'm just in the classic scenario of "not being able to afford it" right now, although I am figuring out ways to see how I can. I think with a little bit of luck, a little bit of preparation, and a solid plan I could make this work if I really wanted to. I have the big picture down and the first step is getting the land. Nothing else happens with that and I feel like once that happens, then I can actually hash out the details of the greater deal, and if worse comes to worse just sell the land off. Let me know what you guys think, and if I am missing something, or if there is any way that I could make this deal float. Thank you, and again hope yall are doing alright out there!

This is a great post thanks for sharing. Seems like you took a big risk but it all paid off. If you could, what type of Business license should you go with for real estate? What is the difference between an S corp and an LLC?

Hello,

First and foremost congratulations on taking the first step in doing better for yourself. I had a hard conversation with myself and thought my hard reset was going to be enlisting in the Navy. It did just that and I have been doing well ever since. I bought my first property almost a year ago to the day and started "house hacking" (living in a place while simultaneously renting it out). Seeing as how you're selling your old house, this seems like the idea you could benefit from. If I had to recommend anything to you, it would be to use your VA loan to purchase a Quadriplex. The reason you should do this and not anything bigger, is that the VA loan is a residential loan, and anything quad and below is considered "residential" while anything 5 or more is considered a multi family. I house hack out of a single family house, renting all the rooms out to other Sailors on my boat. In your case, you would live in one apartment while renting the others out. A VA loan also guarantees 0 dollars down. So you're significantly saving more money, and investing less of your own. You want to get to a point where you essentially "live for free". Seeing as how you live in DC that is a great location, namely because of all the government contractors and military members looking for a place, but not willing to buy. This is my niche and I am going to continue it. You could even test the waters at AIRBNB and furnish one whole apartment to see how well you do with that, from what I hear its lucrative especially near business centers and hospitals. I'm going to recommend you read "The Book on Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Turner. This is the book that taught me how to do it, and contains lots of useful information for a first time property buyer. Use your VA loan, house hack, and build from there. The only way you can go wrong is if you do not get tenants, however that is highly unlikely. Housing, food, garbage, transportation, and death are the only business... that never go out of business. Good luck!

Hello all,

I've been a BiggerPockets member for quite some time now, and on SEP 30 marks my one year anniversary of being a homeowner. For all intents and purposes you can call me a "military investor". I am a Submariner based in Washington state, and I am enlisted. I am small time but I am looking to change that. Here is the story so far: When I made E5 I promised myself I would do what a buddy of mine was doing which was house hacking. He bought a beautiful home back in the the golden age of 2 percent interest rates, and it had 3K square feet and a number of tenants. He told me about the book "The Book on Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Turner. I read it, and was immediately infatuated with the idea, especially about using a VA loan. So that is exactly what I did. I bought a 5 bedroom, 2 bath house and set out. I rent all 5 rooms out to other Sailors, and I have invested into the basement, currently in the process of finishing it, I live down there as well. I keep all of my Basic Housing Allowance (BAH) AND my rental income cashflows after all of my operational costs are covered. I'd like to think I offer a great deal to Sailors too so everything is peachy-cream. The story right now: The property has been extremely lucrative, and I intend on refinancing somewhere down the line to re-up on my VA loan, and try to secure a lower interest rate as well. The point of finishing the basement (and now paying down principal as well) is to have that 20% equity I need to get out of my contract. I'm reading "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. I'm also studying and learning about how to start building my tiny empire and achieve financial freedom. I am not trying to get rich quick, nor am I operating under the fallacy that I can make this happen quick. However, I do hear stories of people buying properties once a year, and expanding rather quickly. So far my plan is to refinance, re-up the VA, buy a quadriplex with it, repeat this process, and then move onto multi-family properties if possible. My question to you guys is: What advice would you have for me? How do I make it so that my properties are under LLC's that provide safety from liabilities, and how do I expand in a financially stable manner? What would you do if you were in my shoes? Mistakes you've made that I can learn from? How do I get more financing for conventional loans, and do you know any good loan officers? Would you advise using a FHA loan as well? Anything really. I am getting out in 2 years, and intend on going to California Maritime Academy, or SUNY Maritime to pursue a license to drive ships and eventually become a Captain. I figure that is the perfect time to invest and house hack, as well as get a good job so that I bolster my income. Thanks for reading my novel! Have a good day!

I would say this: understand that at 18, you think you know a lot more than you actually do. I realized that when I was 22 and I thought I had figured it out then. Now I’m 25 and I look at my 22 year old self sometimes with amazement. I would say if you are definitely serious , don’t get distracted. That comes in the forms of sex, partying , drugs , etc. Very easy to fall into the pitfalls that are associated with those things. I’m not saying to live a sheltered life, bud dedication comes with sacrifice, and responsibility. Without those two things you’re done for. If you’re close with family, let them help. That’s all. Good luck 

Hello, I would like to say I’m not the most experienced at this, however I may bring something to the table as a newbie, so I’d say my statement has a fair weight to it as is: Beginning is extremely hard. Posting something on the internet and wanting something is extremely easy, however doing it requires dedication, persistence, all that. If you want to get into real estate investing I would purchase the book by Brandon Turner and treat it like a bible. Quote from it, study it, even give lectures to other people from it. I will say that anything worth doing, is worth planning for. Buying property is a huge decision especially when you’re putting everything you have into it, so you need to be sure you are accounting for everything, and planning well ahead of making a decision. Work on your finances, come up with a plan, and execute on it. Good luck 

Hello, I came across the idea because I need to find a place to live soon. I'm currently active duty and once I make rank , I'm getting kicked out of the barracks and into town. With that, I thought why rent , and just save money, when I can utilize a VA loan and earn some money via an investment. The overall cash flow isn't much more (after accounting for mortgages + operating costs ) than if I just saved , but it is, just that much more. Plus it is exposure to what it's like being a landlord. I've ran the numbers on two separate properties and taken numerous things into account from broken water heaters to selling the house and how much I would make overall , and how much I should save should an emergency happen. I would be living in the house as well, (house hacking?) so I would basically be living for free. My question is this: is there anyone who has experience using a VA loan and would be willing to part some knowledge. That, and when you were young in the business, whether you were trying to become a full time real estate investor, or simply becoming a landlord (like I am) to make some extra money, what did you learn? What are things I should be cognizant of? What are some of the things that you didn't do, which would make me better if I did. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to reading what you all have to say.