All Forum Posts by: Michael Volek

Modders, this is an accidental duplicate caused by an iphone crash. the actual post is here:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/455728-investing-while-overseas-due-diligence-and-analysis-paralysis

Side note: -if the modders come across this post, I didn't know it would post since my phone crashed as I was posting it. This is the duplicate post. The originally intended post is here:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/455728-investing-while-overseas-due-diligence-and-analysis-paralysis

@Tyler Mullen, I would love to do that, and I'm all about house hacking and multi-families, but it is downright impossible to do while I'm living in Abu Dhabi. Investing in property here in the UAE isn't the same as it is in the states.

@Zachary Clevenger, I know exactly what you're saying. That's how I felt when I joined the military, I didn't think, I just did it. Since I've been out of the military, it's how I felt every time I accepted an overseas assignment. Again I didn't put too much thought into it, I just went with the flow and each time it has worked out. The problem isn't in the action itself. Being all the way across the world doesn't allow me the same networking opportunities as those whom are stateside. The due diligence part, having feet on the ground, and trusting others when communication is extremely limited makes it impossible to "learn through experience."

Hello everyone,

I've been studying real estate investing on and off for about 3 years now, since 2014. I've listened to almost every podcast, read dozens of books, scoured the forums and the internet, and I tell everyone what I want to do. I've put in so many hours on BP and google just searching and discovering. The BRRR strategy has always called out to me, and I figured if people can invest out of state, then I should be able to do it while living overseas in Abu Dhabi (I'm American). It's all I ever talk about. I have clear goals on what I want to do, and how I want to do it. I also understand my resources and options. Here's the problem: For every new thing I learn, I get this crippling feeling of being overwhelmed. Sometimes, it is so powerful, I get sick to my stomach, and I rediscover just how uneducated and naive I really am. It's the due diligence. Being overseas makes this part VERY intimidating. The legal part, the title searches, documents, contracts, the order of the process, and the importance of the timing--all of this makes me so incredibly hesitant to pull the trigger! I just bought the Book on Rental Investing in hopes I'll find some content to lay my worries to rest. I have been very hesitant to ask for help, because I feel like it's all here on BP! For the sake of being thorough, I humbly ask for any advice the BP community can give. Will you please, please help me?

Respectfully,

Michael Volek

(I can't post all of my contact info, since this is outside the marketplace, but I believe I can in a PM)

Hello BP'ers, I've been studying real estate investing on and off since 2014. I've listened to almost every podcast, read dozens of books, scoured the forums and the MLS, sent countless emails, and I tell everyone what I want to do. I've put in so many hours on BP and google just searching and discovering. It's all I ever talk about. And I do it all while living overseas in Abu Dhabi. I have clear goals on what I want to do and how I want to do it. The BRRR strategy has always called out to me, and I have a clear understanding of my resources. Here's what gets me though. For every new thing I learn, I get this feeling of being overwhelmed. It's so powerful I get sick to my stomach like I'm going to vomit, and I question everything. It's like for every new thing, I feel like I've rediscovered just how naive and uneducated I really am. It's the due diligence part that needs to happen before acquiring the property. It's the legal part, the title searches, documents and contracts, the order, and the timing. I'm so hesitant to ask for help because I know it's all right here on BP, and I just bought the book on rental investing in hopes of learning how to go about doing all this. I know if people can invest out of state, then I should be able to do it while I'm overseas, but I just can't seem to pull the trigger. So now I humbly ask for any advice the BP community can give. Will you please, please help me? -Michael Volek (Edit: I tried to post my contact info and number but it is not allowed outside the marketplace)

Hello BP'ers, I've been studying real estate investing on and off since 2014. I've listened to almost every podcast, read dozens of books, scoured the forums and the MLS, sent countless emails, and I tell everyone what I want to do. I've put in so many hours on BP and google just searching and discovering. It's all I ever talk about. And I do it all while living overseas in Abu Dhabi. I have clear goals on what I want to do and how I want to do it. The BRRR strategy has always called out to me, and I have a clear understanding of my resources. Here's what gets me though. For every new thing I learn, I get this feeling of being overwhelmed. It's so powerful I get sick to my stomach like I'm going to vomit, and I question everything. It's like for every new thing, I feel like I've rediscovered just how naive and uneducated I really am. It's the due diligence part that needs to happen before acquiring the property. It's the legal part, the title searches, documents and contracts, the order, and the timing. I'm so hesitant to ask for help because I know it's all right here on BP, and I just bought the book on rental investing in hopes of learning how to go about doing all this. I know if people can invest out of state, then I should be able to do it while I'm overseas, but I just can't seem to pull the trigger. So now I humbly ask for any advice the BP community can give. Will you please, please help me? -Michael Volek (Edit: I tried to post my contact info and number but it is not allowed outside the marketplace)

Hello Andrew, and welcome to BP. I will be heading to Abu Dhabi in a week for a 2 year contract. I sincerely hope we can meet up sometime and trade stories.

Let's say I have two properties, each acquired using the VA home loan, and I want to keep them both. I want to get my VA eligibility back on one of the homes in order to use it to acquire another home, but the problem is I only have about 8% equity on the home I want to refinance, which is worth 130k. Since I have such low equity, a conventional refi is out of the question as I don't have the money to reach the 20% mark. I do, however, have the 3.5% necessary for an FHA, but I don't know if it's within the realm of possibilities to do that. Is it possible to refi into an FHA?

I wonder, is it possible to refinance into an FHA? I'm eligible for the VA home loan as well, and I always wondered how I can get that privilege back in order to keep using it. And I may be wrong, but I think I remember someone saying a VA loan is a special type of FHA loan, but don't quote me because that info could be garbage. I'll check on BP and maybe post a question about it. Good luck.

I know @Brandon Turner has a book out that may help you. I just listened to the audiobook a few days ago. It has a lot of really useful information in it. It's the No (and low) money down book and he goes over all these different ways to refinance and it may be possible to get your VA eligibility back. Maybe he can help clarify. Best of luck.