All Forum Posts by: Nicholas L.

@Zalman Schurder

a savings account. 

sorry, direct property ownership is probably not a good fit here...

@Abigail King

primarily off market although, i've started to engage on on-market deals if i think they will fit

very difficult to find

@Shannon Leckinger

you got great advice from @Travis Timmons.  one thing I didn't see in this thread is... do you WANT to own and operate an STR?! other posters have started threads saying they're going to buy STRs for tax savings... and this doesn't make sense to me.

if you want to buy a vacation house for your family, and you can afford it, and you'll occasionally rent it out - that's great, it's just not an investment.  neither is a primary residence and most of us have those too.  

now, if you want to buy an STR as an investment, and you NEED the income to support it, that's totally different...

@Jerry Velez

strongly recommend against doing this.

start with a house hack instead.

make it your mission to house hack.

did i mention house hacking?  house hack instead.

@Kevin Moise

start with a live-in flip.  it sounds like you're in a perfect position to do that.  if you're willing to put up with the headache - that's your advantage.  or, even better: just start with a regular house hack that isn't distressed but just needs some cosmetic updates.  rent out the rooms to your friends and sleep in the basement or in a closet.  the more inconvenience you can put up with, the better you'll do.

beyond that a few random comments for you:

-lawyers don't usually recommend contractors.  so not sure how they would help or what you're trying to accomplish (but maybe there is something in what you're doing there that I'm missing?)  

-the best flips start with distressed, off market properties.  how will you establish a lead source for those?  difficult locally, spectacularly difficult out of state.

-are you going to meetups?  go to meetups.  go to all the meetups.  go to meetups 2 hours away.  inconvenience yourself to go to meetups.

hope this helps.  did i mention house hacking?  you should house hack.

@Matt Schreiber

i think the short answer is... no.

but... a lot of inputs missing - which market? putting how much down? what kind of loan? fixer, or closer to rent ready? all units LTR, or some units other arrangements (STR, MTR, rent by room)? rents flat or rent growth? hold for 5 years and sell or hold forever?

and... what is cash flow?  do you cash flow in month 1 if your rent is $1200, and your expenses for that month are $1198?  or, do you cash flow only after you've paid back your closing costs and your rent ready costs?  or, do you cash flow only after you've set aside money for capex and other items?  or, only after you've paid yourself back for your down payment?

i don't buy anymore by finding a random property, putting 20-25% down, and hoping for the best. that may work for others, but i don't have enough capital to do that, and the returns are in the tougher strategies (like STR - i didn't look at your other posts, but if you are successful in STR, that's great.) i'm currently trying to buy on seller finance. i'm willing to break even monthly if i can cut out a lot of those up front costs. but that's me. YMMV.

hope this gives you some things to think about

@Jerry Velez

if a property is owned outright with no mortgages, debts or liens on it, then it can (potentially) be purchased on seller financing.  there is no bank, no mortgage, and therefore no due on sale clause.

if there is a mortgage in place, and you take the payments over, this is typically referred to as subject-to or sub2 and is much higher risk for everyone involved.

@Kim Glise

Hi. If you're not going to meetups in person already I strongly recommend that. 

Good luck

@Allison Cutlip

have you considered hiring a PM?  I know you're house hacking and so you'll be right there, but nothing prevents you from having a PM do the day-to-day.

@Taylor Calloway

what does your contract say