All Forum Posts by: Michael Wallimann

I agree with @Blake Edwards 100%. Make the calls, and talk to people in person. I invest in that area as well even though I am thousands of miles away and honestly my whole team was built out of an initial conversation with the real estate agent attached to a fourplex I was interested in (and wound up purchasing). From the very start of our first conversation I could tell she was my kind of agent. A complete hustler. Hungry, knowledgable and motivated. Then on top of it you add the old saying "rockstars know rockstars". Of course she was connected to everyone else that became members of a solid team. A team built from conversation. 

@Justin Haleundefined

Yes this community is amazing. Glad that helped a little bit. I look forward to hearing how the winter season shopping turns out for you.

@Julian Addy If you already have 15% and you are able to save the additional 5-10% that you would need for a downpayment I would suggest that you just use your own money to do your BRRRR instead of using hard money. Hard money can be great but if this is your first BRRRR it might be safer to play with your own money because we all know there are just things you don't know that you don't know. HELOCS are great for "lower" interest rates and the fact that you generally only pay interest only while you have the money pulled out. If you wind up doing your BRRRR right you'll be good to pull your money back out and continue to roll it into the next deal. That's just a couple of my quick thoughts. Best of luck to you!

Congrats on getting started on your first property @Darryl Jennings! I personally love shopping in the winter. Things slow down, there's not nearly as much competition, a lot of the inventory starts to get a higher number of days on market going into this time of year and it seems like sellers become more motivated. I bought two properties last winter. One of them was up in your area (in the North Shore). It is true that pre approvals have a little bit of a shelf life but from what I've run across you just need to update the lender with bank statements and pay stubs. No big deal. As far as the tenant scene goes, yes obviously there are less people looking but there are still plenty out there. Even if you have to overcome a month or two of holding costs just factor that into your numbers before hand. There is a high demand in the Boston area and I think you'll be just fine. I would suggest to keep hunting. It takes time to find a deal, make an offer, negotiate, get it under contract, do due diligence, inspection, secure financing, close etc. I'd say just get started. You might not even wind up closing until Spring anyways. Nonetheless, if you buy right it won't matter and a little while down the line you'll be very glad you pulled the trigger when you did. Just get the ball rolling. Best of luck to you in your future endeavors!

Congratulations @Michael Becker it sounds like you and your family are making moves in the right direction. Are you planning on living there for a year and then finding another small multifamily and doing an FHA loan house hack again?

@Ryan Miller I don't have investments in either town but I have been shopping around Vegas. I am very familiar with Pahrump and I have seen good prices out there. I personally would be a little hesitant to do rentals there just because of the demographics. It doesn't really strike me as a good rental market. Although it might be good for a 55+ mobile home park. Just a thought.Best of luck to you moving forward!

@Kevin Urena I have some investments outside of Albany. I have definitely looked at (and thought about) quite a few properties between Albany and Schenectady but haven't pulled the trigger on anything. A couple things to keep in mind is that the property taxes are pretty high and there is practically no appreciation. Will it be the next big market? I highly doubt it but if you can find the right cash flowing property I think it makes a good area to invest in. Best of luck to you!                  

@Wesley W. thank you for that link. It sounds like something we all need to know about. I'm going to go read that article now.

Welcome to BP @Samantha Ruiz. You are joining quite possibly the greatest community of helpful people the internet has ever known. I completely understand your time being a valuable asset. A quick thought after trying to envision myself in your shoes...maybe something like a turn key 4 unit multi family run by a property management company would make sense. Just factor in property management costs when you are analyzing the deal and running all of your numbers and it seems like that could be a pretty passive way to invest while still holding onto the thing that we all treasure...time. Best of luck to you in your future endeavors. I look forward to hearing where the road takes you!

Thank you @Sandra Lei M.!

@Chris Munichiello congratulations on pulling off your first deal. I am about to close on a duplex in the next couple weeks too and will be in the same boat. Searching for tenants in November. It's not the ideal time to find them as people tend to move less in the cold months but I have had quite a bit of interest via craigslist, zillow, trulia and hotpads. I agree with @Account Closed's advise... Make sure to do your due diligence and get the right tenant in even if you have to eat a month or two of rent. It can be a lot less costly than getting the wrong tenant in the end. Congratulations again and best of luck to you moving forward!