All Forum Posts by: Michelle E.

Hi all,

I'm looking to invest in the Norfolk, Hampton Roads area. I'm originally from Maryland (close to DC) and currently live here but willing to move to be local to Norfolk/Hampton Roads if necessary. I don't have that much cash and find that I'm priced out of my area. Looking to network to understand the market more. I'm looking to do a house hack and open to doing STR, mid-term or long-term rentals. I have some experience doing mid-term rentals. Also looking for ideas on financing since I have $25-30k for down payment but if I can do it with less, that would be ideal. Looking primarily for cash flow. What does the rental market look like for STR, mid-market and long-term? Can I cash flow with a house hack here? Would love to connect with agents and other people who are familiar with the house hack model in this area.

Thanks,
Michelle

QuickBooks should be able to produce the income statement, statement of cash flows and balance sheets. I'm thinking those are the financial statements you'll use to present to the court. However those are unaudited financial statements prepared by the bookkeeper/accountant (unless you have an auditor who has gone through to audit them). Can you explain a little more by what you mean regarding downloading client's data to an excel file? Does the court have an auditor that is planning to audit the financial statements?

Hi everyone,

Wow! What a surprise to get so many responses - it shows what a great community BP is so thank you for making me feel so welcome! Sorry for the delayed response - I have been holed up for the past few days studying and taking the CPA exam.

@Jimmy Nguyen – thanks for the warm welcome! I look forward to checking out Roger’s meeting. Hopefully see you at one of the meetings!

@Joe D. – thanks for the warm welcome!

@Ingrid J. Ledingham – No problem at all – I’ll look into Honolulu when the time comes and thanks for the heads up about the crime stats!

@Joseph England – thanks for the welcome! I'll definitely take your advice and look into REIA meetings!

@Robert Crozier – thanks for the warm welcome!

@Michael Paris – hello neighbor! Glad to hear about another person who grew up in MC! Thanks for the well wishes!

@Queen Sheba – Thanks for that great info. I’ll let you know when I can make the meet up. :D

@Manly Souza – That’s a good thing to know. I’ll probably have to do some research in what I want. Appreciate your input.

@Alex Day – Thanks for your valuable input, Alex! I have only been to Hawaii once but it seems like it would be nice to own an investment property there. Do you know if it's better to buy a SFH or condo to rent out?

@Justin Lenk – thanks for the warm welcome!

@Elizabeth Colegrove – Thanks for the warm welcome! It’s great to connect with you. I actually read one of your articles and doing long-distance is something I would consider once I get more experienced and I plan to listen to your podcast when I get a chance :D Hope to see you in Maryland :)

@Anil Samuel – thanks for sharing your experience! I really want to change my life and I know amazing things will be coming! I’m looking forward to going to REIAs.

@Russell Brazil – I just joined the meetup group. By the way, I was wondering if you might know anything about the duplex market up in Frederick, MD or the rental market up there? I read some threads about Frederick being a good place to do rentals and I was thinking of doing some form of house hacking to get started.

Thanks for all the warm welcomes! I'm really looking forward to interacting with each and every one of you on BP. I have an entrepreneurial spirit and am eager to get started and do something cool so I really appreciate all of your input and help! Oh by the way, something I forgot to mention in my intro is aside from my interest in real estate and my work in accounting is that I really enjoy languages, video games and playing in orchestra.

Fun fact: Part of the reason why I'm interested in the entrepreneurial side of real estate is while I was in college, I founded the first collegiate-level orchestra solely dedicated to video game music and now there's more than 10 similar orchestras around the country inspired by this orchestra, which created a community of amazing people, just like you guys that I'm meeting on BP. So, I'm hoping I can create value again for others and I look forward to learning with each of you!

@Russell Brazil– thanks so much for the link!

@Ned Carey – Thanks for the referral to the NOVA group – I’ll check them out!

@Elizabeth Nourse – Thanks for the warm welcome! I’ll definitely listen to a ton of podcasts and keep learning as much as I can in Bigger Pockets. Thank you for your willingness to help out and your encouragement!

@Roger Lin – Thanks for the info! I’ll be in touch with you!

@Queen Sheba Owusu-Hassan – I bet there are great gems in Baltimore! That’s one of the areas I’m open to investing in. What Baltimore resource groups can you point me to? Thanks!

Hello @Russell Brazil - thanks for the warm welcome! When are the meetings for BP? I'll try to make it out to the meetings!

Hi @Ingrid J. - It's nice to meet you! Right now I'm not sure where in Hawaii but I read on one of the threads about Hawaii that there are some places near military bases that can cash flow quite nicely. If you have more information I'd love to learn more!

Hello @Terry Beall- thanks for your well-wishes! I will check out the book that you recommend!

Hi @Mark Nolan - great to meet you and thanks for the welcome to the BP community. I look forward to learning about real estate!

Hey @Brett McCurdy- it's great to hear that you are close and thanks for offering to chat about MoCo!

Hello @Account Closed- thanks for the encouragement! I definitely know there's a lot of people renting and especially a lot of my peers in the millenial generation. Hope there will be great opportunities in rentals!

Hello everyone,

My name is Michelle and I'm a new investor, located in Montgomery County, MD. I'm a young professional working at a large accounting firm in the Tyson's Corner area of Northern Virginia and currently live at home with my parents. 

I'm really excited to find the BiggerPockets community and look forward to starting my real estate investment journey! I've looked around a bit on the forums and read some stories. I've also attended one meeting of a real estate investment club.

Right now, I'm thinking I might like to buy a property and rent it out as a cash flow property, but I'm also considering a situation where I buy a property with a couple of bedrooms and have roommates instead. It's pretty expensive in this area either way but I'm also open to buying my first home elsewhere. I have seen suggestions to buy a duplex or triplex which would be great, but I'm not sure any in the area are close enough to my work. I'm currently saving up for a down payment and I'm hoping to start looking at places summer of 2016. 

I'm looking forward to building my wealth through real estate and be able to generate enough passive income to achieve financial freedom and the lifestyle I want. I'd like to have a portfolio of rental properties and expand from there. I think I'd be interested in multifamily properties as well, but it seems a little daunting right now. I'm open to other opportunities as well. Eventually, I think it'd be really great to have properties all over the country, including Hawaii, and internationally as well.

Aside from my real estate investing goals, I hope to use the money I earn from real estate to finance entrepreneurial activities, including my interests in music, the arts, education, as well as philanthropy to make the world a better place.

Looking forward to hearing from you!