All Forum Posts by: Nathan A.

You should by all means seek out and try more vendors of this type, but you should maybe also politely explain to the tenant that while you hear their feedback and are willing to make a good-faith effort to try new vendors, you can't be responsible for how other people behave, there are only so many great repair people out there, and you're also trying to make repairs in a timely and cost-effective manner.

If you're just trying to learn the process, try analyzing a random property in Detroit, which leads Dave Meyer's list of cash-flowing markets. Just don't then immediately go buy some random property there based just on that! This is just a learning exercise.

This may not be the type of money you're trying to solve for, but over the past several years I've been gradually shifting a portion of my household emergency fund from bank accounts into I Bonds from the U.S. Treasury. Those keep up with inflation and are exempt from state and local income tax. The tricks are that you have to hold an I Bond for at least one year before you can redeem it, and you can only buy $10,000 per year per person.

This has come at the setup cost of needing to keep the most recent $10,000 fully illiquid temporarily due to the one-year minimum holding period. That was an option for my household but is unlikely to be an option for everyone.

However, now that I've done a number of years of laddering, buying a new $10,000 each year, I have a number of bonds that are liquid. While I of course keep some cash in a fully liquid savings account and take the inflation hit, the I Bonds that are at least a year old give me inflation protection on the rest of my household's emergency fund.

This solution is really only appropriate for personal emergency funds, which probably isn't what you were asking about, but I'm sharing it in case it helps anyone.

Quote from @Exavier Martinez:

Am I allowed to deny couples or people with children?

Federal Fair Housing laws don't apply to roommate situations when you are house-hacking by renting a bedroom in the same unit as your own primary residence.

Here are some blog posts that might help:

* "A 60-Day Action Guide to Wholesaling Your First Property"
* "Can You Start Wholesaling With No Money? Here’s Your Six-Step Success Plan"
* "How to Find Motivated Sellers & Land Great Deals in 2020"
* "Top 3 Newbie Wholesaling FAQs—Answered!"

Don't base an offer on what someone is asking. Base an offer on the after-repair value, rehab costs, holding costs, transaction costs and profit margin for the wholesaler and the investor.

It sounds like you need to find out from the building department what the inspector actually meant, but if it's an issue critical to issuing a certificate of occupancy I don't see how you could get a renter in first.

In addition, start thinking about your strategy. What kind of property are you looking for -- single-family or multi-family? Which neighborhoods do you want to look in? Are you intending to do a short-term or long-term rental?

Learn to analyze deals. Find an agent and a lender.

You might also find this beginner's guide, this breakdown of steps, David Greene's 90-day challenge webinar, the Real Estate Rookie Podcast or books targeted at beginners helpful.

Quote from @Jake E.:

Thanks for the advice! Trying to read up on HELOCs right now. Most of them I see are 30 year terms? Are there any where I can set the terms say a 5 year term where I pay $5K a month?

It's a revolving line of credit, like a credit card, during the draw period (which is the period of time when you can access the funds). You can pay it back as fast as you want. Where I think you are seeing 30-year terms is probably referring to the draw period and the repayment period together. If the loan has a balance at the end of the draw period (which doesn't sound like your intent) it behaves like a mortgage where there are amortizing payments during the repayment period.

Some thoughts on what you might do next:

* Decide on a strategy. Personally, I would vote for house-hacking as a strategy if possible for you.
* Start getting a sense of your market and what is out there and develop your criteria.
* Start talking to an agent and a lender.

You might also consider looking at some of these step-by-step resources or checking out David Greene's "How to Buy Your First or Next Property in the Next 90 Days" webinar today.