All Forum Posts by: Matthew Jones

@Aaron K. all valid points my man! Although, I dont believe that carrying a small balance negatively impacts your credit score. As far as I know, anything below a utilization rate of 30% will either maintain or improve you credit score, as long as you make on time payments. I dont actually use credit cards that often, as I like to live at or below my means. However, I will use them for big purchases once or twice a year. For example, we renovated a kitchen in one of our rental units and we had the cash to pay for it, but I put it on a credit card because it was interest free for 18 months, plus 1.5% cash back, as well as a $150 bonus....so now ill just let that balance linger and make my monthly payments and then when the intro period is close to over, ill pay it off and maybe never use that card again, or maybe pay it all off except a couple hundred so they can get a few bucks of interest on me.

One thing I have noticed is that if they never earn any interest off you, they wont let you open other cards or give you anymore good offers.....they will reject your application.

Really, I treat credit cards like a game....which is how I treat everything in life. It is all a big game, and winning can be done in many ways! I make them work for me the way I use them, but everyone uses them difference. My credit score is in the 820s and I am happy with that. Everyone just has to figure out how to use them to their advantage!

I look for the cards with the longest 0% interest free periods, and then any cash back offers on top of that are a plus. I currently have a Chase Freedom Unlimited which was 18 months 0% interest with 1% cash back on everything. I dont really care about minimal cash back or travel points....I think borrowing free money for 1.5 years is worth way more than 1% cash back. More money in your pocket = more deals to fund! 

However, I usually have the money to pay off the balances on my cards at any time, and usually pay them off right before the introductory period. Once in a while, I will let a balance of $500 or so linger and let the credit card companies collect a little interest off me, so they will keep sending me better offers.

If you actually want to become a real estate investor, you need to take action. Seminars, books, networking all have their place, but becoming an investor takes real action.

So on that note, you should take start looking for a 1-4 Unit property, finance it with an FHA loan or a Freddie Mac Home Possible Loan (There are others as well) and really dive in. If you run the numbers and it makes sense and you are a hardworker, its hard to lose on a multi family like that. You can live in one unit for free while the other tenants pay your mortgage. You will learn how to become an effective landlord, and by living in one of the units, you are closer to any issues that arise and you will learn which issues to handle yourself and DIY, and which issues you have no interest in doing yourself, and you hire those out.

You can spend all of your money on books, seminars, etc, but NONE of those will actually help you get a deal done. You have to want it. I think it is far more valuable to submerse yourself in your first deal or two. Read every word of every contract and agreement. Read every work of all the boring financing documents. Google everything related to being a landlord! If you do that on your first deal or two, you'll feel like a master of the low level deals and youll be ready for more complex deals! 

Good Luck!

@Tramaine Pride Congrats! My fiance and I did something very similar. We bought a townhouse in Cornelius with the plan to rent it out in a future, lived there for a little under 2 years and then we bought a 3 family property in the University area where we currently live. 

The best thing you can do to prepare yourself is read as much as you can, and ask people that have experience. It is definitely a little nerve wracking at first, but as long as you have good intentions and treat people with kindness and respect, you will do great!

I would definitely recommend IKEA cabinets. I just fully remodeled a ~ 10 x 13 kitchen with IKEA cabinets, and did everything myself....and it turned out amazing! I looked at all the RTA cabinet sellers around me, but I actually thought their quality was inferior to IKEA's cabinets. Either way, IKEA or another RTA cabinet will be your best bang for your buck. 

I evaluated IKEA vs RTA in pretty much 2 categories.....Cabinet boxes and doors. For cabinet boxes, I would say the winner was IKEA. They seemed much sturdier and assembly seemed easier. But for doors, I would say the winner would be an RTA supplier. They seem to have a handful more options. 

For my 10 x 13 kitchen, the IKEA cabinets cost me $2,800 and that included a lot of their "upgrades" such as lazy susans in every corner, the better model of pull out drawers, etc.

In the end, I would pick whichever of those two best fit your styling. You will hear people vote for both, but a lot more people will vote for RTA simply because IKEA's arent in every city.

Good Luck!

Hey @John LaVecchia, you dont need 20% down. You can look into an FHA loan for as low as 3.5% down, and also Freddie Mac HomePossible Loans for as low as 5% down I believe. However, in financing a multifamily, I believe you need to have a certain amount of reserves built up as well. I just bought a 3 family property in Charlotte and had to have 6 months of reserves built up for them to give me the clear to close. However, they will let you use pretty much any investment account as reserves, so if you have money in a 401k or something like that, they can consider that as reserves.

Feel free to PM me. I do almost 100% of my own remodel work, including plumbing, electrical, etc. Id be glad to offer you any advice.

I checked those out at a supplier down here, and they were more expensive for my setup and I didnt think they were as nice, but I also bought my IKEA cabinets during their 15% off sale.

Im not sure if this is an option for you, but I would definitely check out IKEA cabinets. I just installed a whole kitchen of IKEA cabinets, and they are farrrrr superior to the lower and even some of the mid level cabinets offered by Home Depot and Lowes.

The downside is you have to assemble then, but they are much sturdier than the other big box store cabinets. They also have a 25 year warranty.

Would love to make it, but I cant make it at 5pm. If this started at 6 - 6:30, I would be there! Maybe next time!

Hi All!

We have a Corporate Rental Townhouse near Charlotte, NC and it has been doing very well since the day we listed it.

My current tenant initially booked this property for 65 days (we had a 30 day min) and he now would like to extend the stay for another 90 days which is great! We haven't talked about the details yet, but I am under the assumption we would both like to do this extension outside of VRBO.

He stated that if we are to extend his stay, he would prefer to pay us at the beginning of a month, for each month he will stay going forward, instead of paying one lump sum like he did on VRBO. I think I am ok with this, as long as he gives me proper notice before he decides to terminate his stay so I can make the rental available on the VRBO calendar

My questions are:

1) Is there any reason I shouldnt do this outside of VRBO?

2) If we work out the details, and proceed without the help of VRBO, should I make him sign a simple month to month lease?

3) Are there any legal ramifications I am not thinking of?

Any advice would be great. This tenant has been amazing, and I have no concerns about him not paying us or damaging the property, but I just want to make sure I am protecting our interests.

Thanks!
Matt