All Forum Posts by: Paul H.

Hi Jessica, 

Like others have said, $55K probably won't do much in SD. 

You'll likely need to invest in a lower priced market. The hardest part of that is building a team you can trust from afar. 

Personally, I'd say find a market you want to go after. 

Start to build a TEAM. People often say "TEAM", but honestly, if you can find an Agent who is also an Investor, they probably already have a team in place on their own projects, so it's more like finding that one person you can TRUST. (I did this here one time with an investor out in California with a few flips they were doing in Pittsburgh)

And start with a rental property that needs updated or minor renovations/fixup (definitely not a BIG renovation on your first one). 

After this first one, or maybe two. You have 1-2 rentals and are able to show EXPERIENCE when it comes to buying, renovating, managing the renovation, etc. And with this EXPERIENCE you can go to a hard money lender or a potential partner and get some help to go after a FLIP. Right now, with no experience this would be hard to do...

Best of luck!

 I would say yes, absolutely. 

Just having TIME is very important with credit. So even just having a couple in your name, even if you barely use them will help significantly. 3, 5, 7 years down the road it'll really help your score. As long as you're careful and NEVER miss a payment. 

Hi Corey, 

So I'm not your accountant or legal advisor here... and people may not like what I'm going to say. It may not "technically" be the best practice. 

But I've been accepting Venmo & other forms of online payments that go into personal accounts for 10 years now from dozens of tenants. 

I simply have a spreadsheet that I update a couple times a month. Typing out EVERY SINGLE income and expense in my life, personal or business. And I label them as such. Personal Item, Rent Income, Rent Expense, Flip Expense, etc. 

I have a personal bank account, two LLC's each having a bank account, about 10 credit cards with 2 of them being business cards.

And guess what?!? Personal and Business transactions run through ALL of them. 

So people can start bashing on me for this, but I don't see a significant problem and haven't had one. 

My thought is that if the IRS audits me, I'm perfectly capable of showing how "Joe Smith" paid my venmo $1K, I transferred it to my personal account, I also have a lease agreement identifying that $1K and Joe Smith's name. I've labeled it Rent Income on my spreadsheet and it matches to my Tax Return details of Income/Expense. As long as the IRS can track it and see I'm not hiding anything, recording it and paying the appropriate tax, I doubt they would have an issue...  

Additionally, over the years I have re-financed over 10 properties with local banks. Yes, they ask for Rent Rolls, Bank Account balances, etc. But not once have I ever had an issue with how I accept, move and track this stuff. I could see some banks not liking it... but I've dealt with 4 or 5 now and it hasn't been an issue. 

So... I'm sticking with my standard practice for now. 

Hey Jake.
I’d say just go for both the Chase and Discover. Seriously. 
It gains you experience with two solid CC companies. When you travel, you can choose to use the card with the best foreign fees. 
And most importantly in my view. Credit is built very well simply through TIME. The sooner you have them in your name the better. Your credit profile needs time to grow. And credit balance will slowly increase with time. 
So. Just get both is my opinion.
As long as you’re careful and track them and pay them off : ) 

It's tough to generalize. There's like 3 sections of Beaver Falls. Bad/Okay/Great.

Personally I wouldn't touch downtown Beaver Falls. If it's up the hill from downtown, the college hill/Geneva college area, then it's "okay". I have considered places up there. Or if it's in Chippewa/Black Hawk school district (still has Beaver Falls postal address) it's in a great school district and worth looking into. 

Hey Alec, we should talk. I grew up in Beaver County and have been working with real estate here for the last 8 years. Rental properties, Flips, Renovations and as an Agent. I've lived in the town of Beaver for several years and our guys are currently doing a flip in Monaca. So I know this place well.  

@Scott E.

Hey Scott, we sort of went on similar paths. I grew up in Beaver County, and then went to Yuma for a few years (Marines) and then came back to the area. I DO NOT miss those Yuma summers...haha, but other parts are amazing and I still head out once or twice a year to areas like Sedona/Flagstaff, Zion and St George for mountain biking and hiking trips. 

Anyway, we're currently doing a flip in Monaca! We're solely focused on Beaver County. Have done a few in Center Twp area, but this is the first one in the town of Monaca, it's sort of up the hill from the main business stretch. 

If you ever did want to do something out here let me know. My partner and I do contracting work. It's 90% for our own stuff (flips and rental renovations), but we're open to working on or project managing other people's projects. I'm also an agent which often helps on the buy/sell side. 

Enjoy Arizona!  Paul 

Hey @Jose Antonio Flores, I invest up here in Beaver County and very familiar with Beaver Falls. It's not exactly a town I like to buy in... parts of it are a little rough, but still very familiar and can help out if you want to chat. Would need actual addresses versus property size and BR's, etc. There's different parts of Beaver Falls and rent will change based off downtown area, versus near the College, versus in the "chippewa" section that's in a different school district and much more valuable, etc. Send a message if you'd like - Paul 

Hey Jayson, 

Becoming an agent will have no effect on this, just purchase it with a formal sales agreement between you and your mom. Will it be a cash purchase ? If you're using any kind of financing they'll probably require title insurance which costs more. But if it's simply cash right now, I know in PA and I assume other states.. you can have an attorney do a title certificate. Same title research process, just not adding insurance to it. Besides that, to do it correctly, you'll still have the deed recording fees, transfer tax fees, document prep fees, pro-rating taxes, etc. So they'll be closing fees, but should be minimal. Also, I wouldn't use both title company and lawyer. I know for myself here in PA I can go directly to my attorney and he handles the entire process. Or vice versa with a closing company. 

Hey Patrice, there are many factors to consider and unfortunately there's no easy answer that anyone here can give you. If I were in this situation these are several items I would be thinking about. 

1.) Do you want to build a rental portfolio ? And is your strategy more focused towards cashflow or appreciating areas? Because right now you won't see cashflow from this after Capex, maintenance, vacancy, etc. 2.) In looking at the areas you want to invest in, can you achieve better deals than your current place? If yes, might be best to sell and get a better producing asset. 3.) How much equity do you have in this home? I see purchased 180k, but downpayment, paydown, etc. Is there a good bit of equity to pull out where you could put a downpayment on a different rental property purchase or towards a flip if that's the direction you're going? 4.) Why are you moving? Is keeping this property going to hinder your next home purchase for yourself ? 5.) How connected are you to this home? For some people, if they have an emotional connection, seeing it rented out and tenants possibly not taking care of it can be tough mentally.

Like I mentioned, there's no perfect answer. Probably best to consider all the pro's and con's this would have for you financially right now, mentally/emotionally and which direction would be best to achieve your long term goals.