All Forum Posts by: Mike Moles

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/business/owning-...

@Amanda Sutherlin , congratulations!  It's inspiring hearing from newbies who have taken the plunge, I look forward to finding my first deal in the not too distant future.

In my local area where I am looking at properties I found 2/1's that will cash flow at just over $100 per month with a CoC return of around 14% and that's what I decided to buy. Then I found out there is a local non profit that is similar to section 8 I guess (state funded) that pays 20% premiums for rent. I need to look into this program some more but if it holds water then cash flow triples. If it doesn't pan out I can always fall back to my original plan, I figure I will build up higher reserves to account for potentially higher maintenance/repair costs.

Congrats @Kyle Kelley , here's to more good deals to come.

Hi Maura, welcome to BP.  I love the Adirondacks and I took a look at one of your properties, beautiful!  I see a booking in my future :)  

I am just getting started in REI myself and joined BP only a couple of months ago, I just finished listening to all 86 Podcasts, not sure what I'm going to listen to during my commute to work now.

My plan is to buy and hold locally near where I live in CT but the idea of vacation rentals appeals to me very much, some day!

Best of luck to you.

Thanks all for the great advice, a lot to think about!

Very nice!

@Jean Bolger , good advice, the more I think about it waiting 5 years for maybe getting better CF is probably not such a good idea, plus I don't think I have that much patience.

Thanks @Nick B. , what you are saying makes perfect sense. Understand though that I am only comparing multiple small investments in SF/MF's over say 5 yrs vs. saving for an REI in an apartment building at the end of 5 yrs. I don't expect to live off of just that, I'm only looking to diversify and supplement other sources of retirement income. I'm just considering which option would potentially provide more cash flow.

Thanks @Hai Loc  , I've heard arguments both ways, some say there is a lot more time required on an apartment building vs. like SF or small MF investments.  

I only began educating myself a couple of months ago here, I have learned a lot and I know I have much more too learn (there is always more to learn!).  I have been fairly successful in my W2 career, not always happy doing what I am doing but the rewards have been decent.  I do want to retire early enough to enjoy myself more, I have an okay work/life balance now but in say 5 years or so ideally I would like to quit my day job and have a few different sources of semi-passive income streams to enable me to spend more time doing what I like to do most (travel, spend more time with my wife and kids etc.).

So in developing a plan, I was thinking today about my current goal of buying several SF and/or MF properties with reasonable CF over then next 5+ years to supplement my "early" retirement.  I calculated what that might look like, of course a lot of what that looks like depends on how good I can buy.  I need to learn more about that and spend a lot of time researching deals in my area.  I have listened to most of the podcasts and it seems like most people start this way and then graduate to apartment buildings or commercial development deals.  And I wondered what if I defer buying those SF/MF properties and save for the large apartment complex instead. I know that not doing those smaller deals will rob me of the real life education, so that's one drawback.  But if I keep learning through BP's and possibly invest some money in the shorter term by partnering on flips or in tax liens or something I could potentially still have the liquid capital I need to invest in the big deal down the road.  I am thinking that having several (5-10) SF/MF houses might have a lower CF when I am ready to retire than the larger apartment complex deal.  Of course both depend very much on the deal(s) and how well I buy, but I'm just thinking that having more capital could net a higher CF deal.

Obviously I have no experience investing in RE yet so any thoughts or advice on this would be greatly appreciated by those who do.