All Forum Posts by: Michael Craven

@Todd Smith Yes, there are definitely downsides like you mentioned; however I think it really depends on your approach. For example,maxing out a HELOC all at once and paying it back over a long period of time may be risky (especially since it'll likely be a variable rate). On the other hand, I treat my HELOC as a short term source of money for BRRRR deals. Essentially it is a lower interest hard money loan that I pay off when I refinance. Hope that helps!

What a fantastic resource! Thanks for putting together; this will be a nice reference for the future.

@Zachary Browne

I’m not sure what exactly the advantages of disadvantages are, but I’d imagine that, in the larger picture, it wouldn’t really matter all that much. I wouldn’t worry too much about that.

As far as how to use the 100k, my recommendation would be to find a duplex that you can add value (adding bedrooms/bathrooms/bigger rehab projects etc). That way, you can pull that money out if you want to refinance the duplex down the road.

@Cory Tollefson I will echo what everyone else is saying. In general, if you are able to afford the 3 bed home, that is likely better for turning it into a rental later in terms of the tenants you’d attract and the potential rent you can charge.

From personal experience, I rent my former primary residence which is a 3 bed 2 bath and I think the third bedroom made a huge difference (at least in that particular instance).

Regardless of which route you choose, it’s great that you are looking to turn the home into a rental down the road! Good luck!

Hello there and congrats on being ready to purchase an investment property! I'd suggest narrowing in your search a little bit within each state. Which cities are you looking at? Ohio, for example, has a lot of options and potential cities that are attractive to investors (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron, Dayton, etc). So I think figuring out the area(s) you want is a good first step. 

To answer your question, though: we invest in Dayton, OH and use Max Wechter from Outside the Box Real Estate. He's investor-friendly and will work with you to find good deals on- and off-market. Hope this helps!

@Marissa Harris there are pros and cons to both, but I prefer owning it personally because banks will provide residential loans versus commercial loans if it is in an LLC.

Best of luck!

^^Could not agree more with this statement. It is easy to get stuck on the specific markets (e.g., Columbus vs. Indianapolis) and not actually take action towards your real estate goals. When we first got started, we were in this position until one day we decided to commit to purchasing a property in the city we were looking at and we haven't regretted it since. 

@Corey Hill this is just my personal preference- but I’d suggest a bigger bank like Chase. The main reason is that there are a lot of branches across the country. When I used a smaller bank I had the experience of being out of state (for vacation, etc) and needing to be at a branch but was stuck. I also had to move to a different state for work and that particular state did not have any branches there so it was a huge pain to have to transfer everything over to a new bank.

@Tim Addai We’ve used Venmo before and Cozy. Venmo is easy to use and quick, but I like Cozy more because it’s made for rent collection and I find it easier to organize myself (especially as you acquire more and more properties to collect rent on)

@Kyle Landreth a little late to this- but welcome! We just recently started investing in Dayton (originally from Springfield) and are finding some good cash flowing single family homes. I’d be happy to chat with you further!