All Forum Posts by: Kara Leboeuf

I am interested in finding a broker aswell in the Hampton roads area. Any input would be great!

Welcome Cindy!

I am an investor in the Norfolk area as well. You have picked a great place to expand your knowledge and meet some great people! Feel free to send me a college request.

thanks for the words of encouragement everyone. It really helps to hear other investors approve of my first deal!

@Andrew Machado before anyone starts giving me more credit than is due, I honestly did not have this outcome planned out before it happened. Along the way I learned from biggerpockets a few tips that lead me in the right direction and ultimately to the final outcome. I would say there was some luck involved. My advise to beginners would be, don't be afraid to make the first deal. You can study and try understand everything before you buy but the truth is you will never know everything. Personally I think I know the basics but that's about it, I realize I have a ton of more research to study to do on REI but, I took the leap and made that first deal and now I'm living rent free and having my mortgage paid by my tenants. Possibly most importantly I'm learning the real life lesions of being a landloard, things a book or class could never teach.

@Vince Harrelson thanks! I'm still looking for my next deal, probably another buy and hold but I am interested in doing a flip, just to gain some experience and more understanding of REI.

@Susan P. thanks! Good luck on your first deal, and let us know how it goes. The local FCU I used was Sunmark btw.

good luck, keep us updated!

@Lior Solomon

Hey Lior, like @Justin Ricksonmentioned location is definitely a big part of investing in the Albany area. for instance, personally there is an invisible line that follows Central Ave that I would not consider investing in at all. there are definitely deals out there that allow for a good amount of cash flow, especially some student rental areas.

Troy and Watervliet are also good options that could deserve a second look. I think there is less competition in the surrounding areas than in the heart of Albany.

Good luck!

As others have said, my vote is to buy a multi-fam house 2-4 units. You can either move into one of the units right away or rent them all out for some investment income. Later if you guys get married and want to love together you can always move into one of the units when a tenants lease is up, or just buy another house. The choice is yours, but I feel multi-fams have the most diverse options to the beginning investor.

Good luck!

Hey, Derek Carroll, sorry for the delayed response its been a busy week at my other job!

I do not have the exact number in front of me, but if I remember correctly the lender (a local FCU) was offering a credit of approximately 1.5% of the sale price to be given to me at closing. I did some shopping around and this bank seemed to have the best deal. I think this was a limited time offer type thing, so my suggestion is to just shop around when it comes to mortgages.

Harry M. Thanks man!

I'm excited, everything is going well so far. I move in at the end of the month. i couldn't think of a better way, for me, to start investing in real estate.

Hey Bill Horton

That's the plan! this investment has a lot of room for improvements, but yet is very stable right now (1 long term tenant, and me living in 1 unit means I'm only filling vacancies for 1 unit).

I'm glad i could inspire you man! I learned everything from bigger pockets, and now I want others to know it can be done!

Hey Colleen F., you are absolutely correct. I didn't mean to make it sound like I was walking away with that money, I know it will be returned to the tenants or spent on repairs. what I was trying to say was that I had to take no money out of my own pocket to buy the house.

Thank you everyone for your input, it motivates me to get serious about my next investment!!

Hey guys, I just purchased my first multifamily about 5 mins north of Albany In watervilite. I'm new to investing but always looking to meet new investors and network.

As far as CF, taxes are a big factor. In some places it's nearly impossible to CF, but other cities 5 mins away may have much lower taxes. So it all comes down to finding a good area. From what I've seen Albany has higher taxes, but it gets lower as you move away from Albany into surrounding counties.