All Forum Posts by: Kyle Smith

@Monique O'Dell I'd add ‘How to win friends and influence people' by Dale Carnegie to the list. Not a REI book but probably in line with what you're looking for. 👌

@Salome Ditmars I guess my initial thought is that if you want to be so hands-off, why not invest passively in a syndication? Depending on the deal, it‘d probably tick all the boxes you’re after from a returns perspective.

Of course in many syndications, you have to be an accredited investor, but if you own two SFHs here in SD that you bought 5yrs ago, there’s a decent chance you’d qualify. Just a thought...

@Brent Cline keep the townhouse and look at a cash out refi to pull out some equity. Renting it out won’t go perfectly, as things always come up, but you could potentially do well with it.

The cash flow you’d get in KC absolutely pales in comparison to the appreciation you’ll see in the next few years in our market.

I’m up the road from you in Mission Hills and will ‘never’ sell this house. Not never, but you get my point...

@Dennis M. Those sores are called ‘speed bumps’ haha

@Mark K. C’mon man! You’re also required to disclose the fact that you have knowledge of these degenerates cooking meth in your property when you decide to sell the place. If that’s not cause enough to not even consider renting it to the gf (who absolutely knew about it), I’d strongly reconsider being a landlord at all

Hi @Eli Gilbert. With the limited info from your post, I assume you did HML on the property you got under contract because you agreed to pay all cash, fast close and no contingencies? This is a pretty risky way for a newbie to get involved in REI. Typically, these kind of transactions are done by people who know the ropes really well. I'm sorry to hear you've gotten in this mess, but chalk it up as an expensive lesson and move on.

With that said, @Charlie MacPherson is right though that you could get sued and this will tarnish your reputation a bit. Both are recoverable if you remember that REI is a long-term game and that most deals that are too good to be true, usually are...

Hi @Christian Ortega and welcome to BP. What stands out about your post so far is how divided the responses are. Some favor the house hack, others the OOS investing approach. I've done both and understand the merits of each strategy. 

Either choice would work for you. Continue to live at home while finishing nursing school and invest OOS. Or find a place here in town and find some roommates for the house hack. I'm sure there are some other nursing students who need a place to stay? 

The point of all of it is that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to REI. Everyone's goals, ambitions, risk tolerance etc etc are different. Pick one of the routes, dive-in to learn as much as you can and then just go for it. REI is pretty forgiving in the long term if you've done your due diligence up front.

@Steven Haughey you’ve proven to yourself that you can save a large amount of money so you’re already ahead of the game. Everyone is afraid of the horror stories they hear when they’re just starting out. The fear doesn’t ever totally subside, but as you learn and grow, you understand how to mitigate the risks more effectively.

In the end, fear is what holds 99.9% of people back from REI. At some point though, once you've done your due diligence and limited your downside, you have to take that leap and go for it

@Stephan Kraus I say go for it! Just kidding, I read the whole thread 😉 While I like your thought process and willingness to look for alternative avenues to make the deal work, it seems like there are a bunch a red flags that make this one a no-go. Otherwise, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas for 17yrs of negative cash flow

Hi @Christopher Beloud and welcome to BP. Your strategy is sound, but the tactics to pull it off might be tough. In many areas of LA and down here in San Diego, your expenses won’t be completely covered by your rental income. House hacking will help of course, but it’s unlikely that you won’t be out of pocket each month.

Remember when you're analyzing properties, you have to include estimates for PITI, Repairs and Maintenance (5%), CapEx or Capital Expenditures (10%), utilities and possibly keeping some reserves in the bank as well.

This part of the country typically does very well from an appreciation standpoint but you don’t want to invest strictly based on that. Cash flow is recession resistant so take your time and find something that pencils out well. When you do find something, then lean in and go for it.

Reach out if you have any other questions. Happy to help a fellow FF in any way I can!