All Forum Posts by: Lee Yoder

@Joaquin M Dugan Jr I would echo what some of the others have said; with this being your first investment, I would suggest you invest in your hometown or a city where you've lived previously or have family. I think many novel investors get into a property in a bad area of a good city because they don't know the city well enough. I also think you'll learn so much more if you can be really hands-on with your first investment property. Obviously, this would be much easier if you can drive to the property.

All that being said, you definitely Can invest in an out-of-state market. You'll just need to have a team in place.

Good luck and God bless!

@Dj Hume congrats man! Looks like a great investment! When you can cash-flow immediately, but also have an opportunity to significantly increase the value of the property, you've found a great investment.

Are you currently looking to purchase more properties like this in Cincinnati or other cities?

Early riser. My best tip for getting up earlier if you desire to be an early bird, is to avoid watching TV at night. My wife and I put the kids down around 8/8:30, we clean up and talk for a while, and then we go to bed. We're usually asleep by 10p because we never turn on the TV (I struggle with this during football season though). I try to be up by 4:30a. I start off slow, but after I drink some coffee (decaf) I start waking up and getting active. I always try to get in some good exercise and time in prayer and reading the Bible. I'm still really working on being more productive in the morning though. I often end up reading news which is rarely productive.

@Farida Mostajabi   I'm sorry to hear about this setback. I agree with @Shaun Weekes- your loan officer let you down. I've used Rick Ruehlmann with C4 Financial for two of my small MF properties. He's a loan broker. He was able to provide me with two great lenders for both purchases- one was a 10 unit that was 50% vacant. He does charge a fee, but it's wrapped into the closing costs and my closing costs were still under 3% both times. Good luck and God bless!

Hey Alec, I've used C4 Financial on two of my small MF deals and I was very pleased. They are actually a loan broker, but to my surprised, the closing costs were still under 3% even with their fee added on. They negotiate with the lender regarding incorporating their fee. The guy I've worked with at C4 Financial is Rick Ruehlmann. Good luck!

I was (and still am to some degree) in the situation as you Dave. Luckily my wife trusted me (and God's guiding of me) enough to allow me to pursue something risky like REI. The reason she was so resistant is because she had no reason to trust REI. No book, or spreadsheet, or pretty picture of what the future "could be" will convince your wife to trust REI. Only time and results can do that. My wife did finally agree to read Rich Dad Poor Dad and her takeaway was, "I can see why this book would speak to someone like you, but I don't think like this." And she probably never will. But after three years of results, she's more on board than ever.

@Junix Alcayaga

Welcome to BP Junix! I think you're moving in the right direction. House hacking is an awesome way to get started in any market, because at the very least, you'll save a lot of money on your expenses which helps you build your capital to invest in markets that make sense. I live near Cincinnati, so I'm biased, but I believe Ohio is a great place to buy-and-hold because you can find affordable rentals that cash flow well and Cincinnati and Columbus are economically diverse and stable. Ohio is also landlord friendly. I buy small-medium MF properties in Cincinnati and Dayton. Let me know if I can be of any assistance to you. God bless!

@Oleg Serdyuk 

I'm sorry to hear about you having to learn this lesson the hard way. I'm a MF investor from the Cincinnati area. I've been lucky enough to have avoided this situation so far with my 34 units. I have my properties professionally managed, so I wouldn't be the one working through this, but I'd be the one losing the money. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I have a lot of contacts in Cincinnati.

@Christopher B.  Yes, the equity was split based on how much capital each investor provided for the purchase and rehab costs. I have 50% in all the deals for finding the deal, managing the extensive rehab (and completing a lot of work myself), managing the PM and managing the asset. The investors bring the money and get the other 50%.

Hey Devin, I'm an active investor living in Lebanon. I'd love to connect sometime soon!