All Forum Posts by: Matt Smith

Hello BiggerPockets friends. I'd like to ask for advice on an upcoming move. I made a post two years ago when we moved from Alabama to Ohio for an assignment asking advice on our return move to Alabama. Was wondering about options for looking at houses. We have decided to build a house in Alabama now so we are trying to understand our options for renting/ buying temporarily. 

I would like to understand from the experts on BiggerPockets if this would be a good opportunity for me to buy my first rental property and live in it for the 7-8 months that the house is under construction. My concern is about trying to get too much credit at the same time. Do banks typically allow this to happen?

Would it make sense to try and do this? Are there any members here that have done this in the past and, if so, was it successful? Were you able to turn the house you bought and lived in temporarily into a rental? 

Any advice would be appreciated and sharing any actual experiences doing this would certainly be welcomed. 

Thanks

Hi Bryan, do you need an official notification of attendance or can I just show up? I am just getting started and want to understand what people are doing. I am in the Powell area but am fine with coming to Lancaster to meet up. Please let me know. Thanks.

Thanks for the reply @Art Mimnaugh. Unfortunately, I am locked into a 2 year lease on the house I'm in now or that would certainly be an option. Outside of the house hack idea, are there other options that would be a little lower cost than being in the $290- $350k range in Dublin or Powell? My thought is, for the first time I do this, I'd like to start a little bit smaller to get to know the process and then maybe go bigger. 

Hi all. I posted a thread several months ago about selling my house in Alabama and moving to Ohio for a two year assignment. I got alot of good advice at that time about what to do with the equity from my home sale, etc.. Well, now we're in Ohio and everything is going fine. I am renting a house and have banked the equity (~$65k) from my house sale in Alabama. My original plan was to just put that money in a mutual fund and let it make a little money until we're ready to go back to Alabama where I would use it for the down payment on a lake house. 

A colleague at work has discussed some of his rental properties and another one has come up that he doesn't want to use any more of his 401k to fund so he told me about it. It's very similar to his other 2 properties that he's making money on but I can't seem to make the numbers work on it. If I could work it out, I would think about investing my equity in a rental property instead of having it sit in the bank and this would, hopefully, get my REI career started.

So, what I'd like to get advice on is whether I should bite the bullet now and try to find a different (good) property in Columbus and get started with my equity money or not. I can't think of another time when I'll have this money available. But, if I do this, I'll be using the money that I need to use as a down payment when I go back to Alabama. I know that I can use a much smaller down payment on my primary residence when I go back (5% I think) so that might be helpful. 

Are there any investors in the Columbus area that could give me advice on the rental market here? Maybe outside of Dublin where the houses and the property taxes are very expensive? There are several things that I am stuck on:

• Should I go for a smaller, cheaper house in a less than stellar neighborhood or go with a nicer house in a good neighborhood that's also in a very good school district? 
• Do you always have to put 20-25% down on a rental home mortgage? 
• What about property management? I think I can do the property management now until I go back to Alabama but what about after that? I have big concerns about living in Alabama and having a rental house in Ohio but I know the market is good here so it's attractive.
• When I move back, are there any additional expenses for being an out of state investor (taxes, insurance, etc...)?

I'm really ready to do this but I haven't been able to pull the trigger yet. It's like I just need someone to tell me that I can do it and tell me where to start but I know it's not that easy. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks

 Thanks for the reply Oliver. You've listed several potential ideas for my house (fixer upper) hunt when I return. I'm not familiar with any of these processes but I'll start to take a look at them. I'll have over a year to get familiar with them before I'm ready to start looking. If I start looking and have questions, I might hit you up for some advice. Thanks again.

Matt

Robert, thank you for the reply. As mentioned, we did come up and look at neighborhoods last weekend and have selected two as possible areas to live (Powell and Dublin). We really like both areas. The homes are very nice, tons to do, great schools, etc... We have looked on a few home rental sites at houses but not sure if all houses that are available will be listed on those sites. If you have connections and would be able to get me set up with someone to view houses in a couple months, that would be great. Actually, I guess it would be good if I could connect with someone, give them my information (what we're looking for, budget, etc...), maybe they could contact me as properties come available. 

Thanks,

Matt

Hi all, I need some advice from any members that might have experience in this subject matter. I have been planning to get started in REI for several months now but a recent job relocation has put this on hold. I wasn't sure what area to post this in.

What I need advice on is the sale of my current home and then what to do when I return from the assignment. I have been in my current home for a little over 8 years. I will be moving from Pell City, AL (40 miles east of Birmingham) to the Columbus, OH area. My plan is to sell my house in the early May time frame. I hope to make about $40-$50K on the sale. I will be renting for 2 years in Ohio and then I will move back to Alabama. 

My questions are:

1) What would be the best thing to do with my equity while on assignment (I will also be adding $2-$3k per month to the total for the two years). 

2) About 18 months into the assignment, I will be looking for properties on the lake back in Alabama. I want to find a fixer upper for ~$250- $300k and have an "All in Budget" of about $450k. What is my best avenue to look for these fixer uppers? I'll be in Ohio while looking for the properties and hopefully I'll be starting the renovations prior to moving back. 

3) Is this type of transaction where the 1031 can be used? If so, how would I do it?

I probably have many more questions as I get into this transition but these are the ones I'd like to start with. 

If anyone is a real estate agent in the Dublin/ Powell area near Columbus, I'd love to make contact and understand what the rental market looks like there. We went up last weekend to check out the neighborhoods but we'll need to find a rental by early to mid June as we'll be moving up by July 10th. 

Any help/ advice would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks.

Matt

Thanks for the reply @John P. You are exactly right, Pigeon Forge used to be nothing but it has really become a tourist attraction over the last 10 to 15 years. There's actually alot more to do there now than there is in Gatlinburg. There is Dollywood, The Island, several campgrounds, anything you want to eat, many hotels, etc... But, as you mentioned, there's nothing like Gatlinburg for the setting. 

@Christopher Hartwell, the Westgate Resort is awesome. That's where we go each year at Christmas time. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of cabins there now along with many pools, a miniature golf course at the top of the mountain and the water park (that my kids absolutely love). I love staying there and it is packed every time we go no matter what time of the year. This is what makes me believe that a vacation rental in this area would be very successful.

Hi @John Cohen, thanks for your reply. I agree that this site is absolutely amazing. I have learned so much over the last several months. Thanks for offering your input on multifamily. As I mentioned in my initial post, I am interested in this area the most and would really like to get started here. There are so many questions I still need to get answered. Not sure what your market is like but where I am and within about 20 miles of me, there are very few multifamily units that I've found and none on the market at this time. If I expand to Birmingham which is about 40-50 miles away, it opens up alot more opportunities.  I really need to start to understand my options for financing when I'm ready to pull the trigger on a multifamily property and obviously how to find the units. I'd love to pick your brain about this soon.

@Brad Sanford, thanks for your reply. I think you confirmed my fears about a beach condo. It's probably going to be a big challenge to find a unit at the right price and then be able to cash flow with it considering all of the extras like HOA, maintenance, PM and any other expenses that might pop up. I think that once I get established and am comfortable with the ability to find deals and cash flow on the properties that should cash flow, I might attempt to get a unit on the beach (my wife would love it).

Thanks @David D'Errico. I have set up several keyword alerts for my interests now and hope to get a lot of good information from them. I have also read the Ultimate Beginners Guide. It was a very good introduction to REI. I am excited about everything I learned.

@Steve B., I'm glad to hear that there are other people interested in the Gatlinburg/ Pigeon Forge area. Hopefully, as you mentioned, we can get some good responses from investors that have had success there. I am definitely interested in hearing what areas are hot for rentals, what the typical vacancy rates are, what the normal rents are for 1BR/1BA, 2BR/2BA, etc...