All Forum Posts by: Lane Aakhus

I didn't do it that way but if I could go back in time, I would have house hacked through my 20s and 30s.  Now, my wife assures me it's not an option : )   You can definitely buy a property that you plan on renting out before buying your primary residence. In fact, some on this forum would argue that buying a primary residence isn't a good idea ever (which is a whole other issue).  I wouldn't go that far but if you are locked into a good rental price and your dollars could be better spent on buying an investment property, go for it.  It will get you that first deal that kicks off your real estate investing journey.  Best of luck!

Aloha and welcome Lance!  My wife and I are also located on Oahu. I have been looking for value add Oahu properties (albeit not very aggressively) for the past few months.  Give me a holler if you are looking at anything interesting that may be easier to take down by hui'ing resources.  Best of luck on your REI journey!! 

I wouldn't wait.  You should also be strategic in where you open your account(s).  Although I'm not using a credit union at the moment, I've looked into them as they are often more competitive on lending and savings rates and often more personal/flexible.  

Congrats! If you are cash flowing it's a great purchase to get you REI career started and stay ahead of inflation. If you can self-manage, it will give you some experience for future properties. You may also look into whether or not short-term rentals are allowed to increase you ROI. Best of luck!

I agree with everything that Scott E. said above.  I would just add that you can subscribe to a free credit report tracker like Credit Karma to track your score and monitor for inaccuracies.  I check my scores at least monthly just to make sure nothing odd is being reported.  The key is to utilize credit in order to establish credit.  Having various types of credit/debt (credit card(s), mortgage, car loan, signature loan, etc) with impeccable repayment history will eventually get your score to the 800+ range.  Be a little careful with how many hard checks you allow in a given time period and like Scott E said, don't allow you credit card balances to go or remain higher than 30%.  I just pay off all balances monthly as a habit.  Best of luck!

If I could go back in time I would definitely purchase a duplex/triplex, etc., with an HRA loan and house hack it.  This way you take care of your own housing needs while building equity and living for free or cheap.  My wife and I live well below our means but I don't think house hacking is an allowable option for me at this point.  Welcome to BP and best of luck!

If you will be using an LLC you absolutely should separate your banking. Either way, separating your finances is good practice and will make things easier when you are preparing your taxes.

Aloha and welcome to BP.  In addition to the forums and books, BP offers a bunch of great podcasts that you should check out.  This is a great community to learn from and bounce ideas off of.

Sounds like a great plan, Andre.  How's the market in Minneapolis for duplex/triplex, etc. these days?  

Unfortunately I had to miss this past meetup but very much looking forward to attending the next opportunity.