All Forum Posts by: Nathaniel Cherubini

@Joe Splitrock Yeah I totally saw the post topic after I posted...the content of the post had nothing to do with homeless people and the comment made ridiculing him was very unnecessary which is all I was pointing out. I never weigh in on differences as that is just healthy dialogue when done with good intention...the post I am referring to was not debate or differing opinion, it was just trolling in my opinion.

@Account Closed  I typically don't weigh in on comments that are not helpful to the OP but in this instance I find your post to be wildly insulting and unnecessary. This site is about a community that helps each other out, not calling each other out or in your case, making things up and being insulting. The OP never mentioned "homeless" so I don't even know where you came up with this ridiculous post. Bigger Pockets is better than this. I do not pay and renew my Pro membership to deal with hateful people that are looking to drag others down. Please find another community to harass.

A few things for you: with your most pressing issue being where you currently live/rent, have you considered house hacking a small duplex? Possibly getting a larger 4 bedroom home with nice amenities and doing some form of STR with the extra bedrooms? Something to get you started with owning & land lording at the same time for starters to limit risk since you will need a primary regardless.

Secondly, I would carve out a desired investment market and do a deep dive analysis of the area. Cost of taxes, insurance, flood insurance, avg cost per square foot for homes, cost to build new per square foot, vacancy rates, rent rates per bedroom, school districts, crime rates, top ten job providers and dig into their trends (growing, expanding, contracting, single source, etc), find the type of investment properties you want to focus on and learn all about that demo. If it is 3/2's in a good school zone then you should look at everything that has sold in the past few years, rent rates, current "on the market times" to really start to know what a good 3/2 deal looks like vs a bad or average one. I usually spend 10-20 hours doing my market analysis before I feel comfortable putting in any offers.

Lastly, run conservative numbers. Make sure you are factoring in vacancy, repairs, maintenance, capital expenditures, property management, taxes, insurance (plus flood if needed)...all these may look like overkill when it takes a $600 monthly cashflow down to $150 but over the long term you will be able to hone your estimates as you experience turnover and normal repairs and such.

Take action! Best of luck!

Regards,

-Nate

@Chavis Kendrick I think the best way to start off any two year plan is with a ton of market research, schools, market rents, local trends in jobs, housing demand, any defined cycles you may be able to take advantage of, contractor availability, etc. The list of research is really endless but I recommend you think through the first year and what could really derail you and identify risk mitigation measures for those scenarios...you cannot eliminate risk but you can be prepared for it and make informed risk decisions. Then I would find a place to buy with a value add opportunity via rehab, addition, or buying the smallest/ugliest property in the nicest neighborhood you can...something along those lines. I would avoid bad neighborhoods as they can be a handful and my personal opinion is to target good school districts and sacrifice a little of the potential cashflow for a more enjoyable experience which has a value to me. Then execute the plan and make a purchase. Nothing fancy, just smart evaluation followed by action. Best of luck to you!

@Jessica McCoy If you know the tenant's command you can try calling and speaking with the Sergeant Major or Executive Officer. More times than not, the chain of command can make life very unpleasant for the service member until they settle their dues/debts. This can also impact the service members clearance or ability to obtain one and also their deployability. I would try finding the offbase apartment but also try contacting the unit for assistance on the matter. Hope this helps. If the unit is not helpful please PM me to explore options.

-Nate

The largest benefit to purchasing a 2-4 unit to live in is the ability to use the VA loan program allowing no down payment or PMI if you choose you do not want to make a down payment. This requires that you intend to live in the property so you fit that requirement by living there until you PCS at which point you can rent out your unit. This is a great advantage for those of us in the military over typical lending programs. I would explore this strategy while looking into potential markets where you want to be stationed next.

-Nate

@James Holmes Welcome to BP and congrats on getting your start in RE even if it involved a purchase that maybe was not an ideal move, it is still getting in and starting. If you are ever in the Annapolis area hit me up and we can grab a beer and chat.

SF,

-Nate

@Jacob Masters Welcome and good luck with your move up here. Since you are new to REI, the obvious start is with education but I would suggest making some 5 year, 1 year, 6/3/1 month goals with the end in mind (retirement and lifestyle). Once you know that and your goals you can start drawing down actionable steps to get you to your first property. A trap I see for many is starting with education and never moving past that. There will always be something new to learn and mastery takes a very long time. With clear, measurable, goals and timelines you will not get hung up in analysis paralysis. Make goals, start learning, execute, continue learning and refining your goals along the way. Best of luck to you,

-Nate

@John Lee interesting question and as an active duty Marine officer I have some insight into this situation. War will not necessarily impact housing demand/costs. From 2000-2005 we went from a peace time military to full combat operations in two different countries and due to that congress approved increases in military manning and the Marine Corps grew from 183k to 202k. During the previous administration and the withdrawal from Iraq the Marine Corps was cut down (179-185k range). This was determined to be not sufficient to carry out the demands levied against the service so the USMC numbers have been growing over the past few years and thought it appears to change yearly, the actual authorized manning numbers are approved and projected forward several years so any short term war/crisis will have to be handled with current manning and reserves. It appears to me that the USMC will grow to about 195k by 2025 so I would say the Jacksonville market is looking pretty stable for the foreseeable future. Nothing short term will impact the base area demand in a meaningful way.

My $0.02...best of luck to you.

-Nate

@Sharon Hayes welcome and what an exciting time for your family! One of the main discussions I have with my wife is "what will we do when I retire and where the heck will we live?" It looks like you have those questions answered which is half the battle. Seeing as you are from KS you should already have decent knowledge of the market. I only have a handful of years left before I can retire so it is always interesting watching newly retired military couples and how they approach REI. Best of luck to you and thank you for you and your husbands service during the past twenty plus years mostly during a time of war. Keep BP posted on how your endeavors shake out.