All Forum Posts by: Lara White

@Vlad Koz do you have access to the BP state specific leases on here?  

@Jeff Smith Welcome to the BP Forums! You'll find tons of advice/info on here. Just curious, how old are you? (I don't mean to assume you are young, it's just you said your parents are on board, so I thought maybe you were?). I think it's awesome if you are young and already thinking about this! (I'm from Tuscaloosa btw) Alos, whose VA benefits will you be using? (yours, brothers, parents??)

Here's some things that you  might want to do starting out:

1) Read Books (tons of recommended book lists on the forums, do a search), listen to the BP Rookie podcasts, watch BP's free webinars - choose topics you are interested in to help narrow down the sheer amount of information. Become so familiar with the subjects/terms that you don't have to look them up. (you don't have to know all terms, but there are some common ones you should understand immediately, like escrow or PMI for example). There are a couple of podcasts that talk about LLC's in particular, even one by an attorney on the Rookie podcast recently - listen to that.

2) Find a mortgage officer and a realtor that are both familiar with VA loans and also with investors. Start asking them questions.

3) Set up keyword alerts here on the BP forums for topics you are interested in (for example: LLC's, VA loans, Military, first time home buyer, Alabama, Florence, etc...)

Good luck!

@Andrew Dincola  Some of my favorite places in Norman to eat: Hideaway Pizza, Neighborhood Jam, and The Garage burger.  Can't go wrong with any of those! You should tour the OU campus while you are here that weekend... it should be a pretty crazy weekend there even though it's an away game (they play Texas that weekend-big rival).

@Jesse Gonzalez Are you working with a real estate agent? I would start there first, and see if they have any advice for good lenders in your area.  You don't want to get pre-approved until you are really to start (if you have them pull credit).  You can talk to several lenders before starting of course, but don't let them just pull credit arbitrarily.

If you do not have a realtor, then try calling some local banks and credit unions.  Talk to them, find out who engages with you and answers your questions/give you options.  I prefer working with local people who I can call, and who know me (and my clients).

@Debbie Beckford Probably depends on the state you are looking to wholesale in.  In Oklahoma, as of Nov, wholesalers need to be licensed.

@Shane Lafleur Hmmm.. interesting question. I think if I was using an investor, friendly BP realtor from a different state, I would not try to get my referral fee for my own properties from them. I don't think I would blame others for doing it, but for most rental/rehab/BRRRR kinds of properties...they are on the cheap side as it is usually, and the agent won't make that much anyway. Thinking through it..$125,000 x 3% = $3,750 before splits/expenses/time/you know the drill! 75% of that then leaves realtor at $2812 before splits. If starving, they may work with you again... but don't expect a lot of effort. And if they are good/busy agent, they may tell you they are too busy.

If it was a large purchase, then that might be different....($500,000, apartments, etc...)

@Nicholas Durr Destin is a great place! My parents have a STR in Santa Rosa Beach (about 20 east) and it does VERY well for them. They self manage as well, and since they live there and are retired they clean and do upkeep.

I can ask them who they see around/might know as a recommendation.  Do you know what part of Destin you will be buying in (east or west), will you allow daily check-in/out or require a  minimum night stay?  Will it be a condo or a house?

@DeAndre T. Congrats on the first deal - that's the hard part! 

So, are you moving to Dayton, or just interested there for OOS?  How long have you had your other investment? Do you live in it currently?  1031 is a great vehicle, make sure you read all you can on it, know the rules backwards and forwards - no one cares more about your finances than you do - so gather as much info as you can so that way you can protect yourself.   Set up some keyword alerts on here to alert you on topics you are interested in.

@Rhett Tullis Great summary-- I agree!  About a month ago, I felt like it had anecdotally slowed down from the frenetic pace we had earlier in the summer, and I still think it has.... but I've been seeing what it seems like/feels like a faster pace again in the last week or so.  We need Townhomes/Duplexes like crazy here - I don't think any builder could build them fast enough to keep up with demand.  Our affordable (livable) housing is almost non-existent now. I do worry about 'regular' Oklahomans.

@Doug Spence wow $200 per side raise, it probably does need to happen --$695 is super low for just about anywhere here.  Have you told the tenants yet?  Just curious how you will approach such a  large increase in one year?

@Daniel Hayes Welcome to the BP forums!  So much info and good people to learn from. Best of luck!

@Kevin Pillow Welcome to the BP forums Kevin!  Great book list for sure! My husband is AD Air Force currently, and we were both in the Coast Guard.  We love the Santa Rosa Beach area (we have a small property there that was supposed to be a retirement home..now trying to decide what to do with it!)