All Forum Posts by: Nicholas L.

@Marcus Stokes

can you start with a live-in flip or house hack instead?

@Jaxin Pierce

start with a house hack.

"starting with a flip" is really tough because flipping takes capital.  if you need $200K for a project, no one is going to loan you $200K - you need a down payment, holding costs, and you need to know what you're doing or you'll just turn that $200K into $150K.

good luck

@Elan Adler

I appreciate the post and the transparency. Setting aside the whole "cash flow" thing for a second... if you add up your down payment, closing costs, and any rent ready and commission costs... it seems like you are probably around $80-85K out of pocket total. Is that about right? It sounds like a solid property, that's just a pretty major investment. I'm also curious why you didn't want another STR.

@Dave Allen

hello. this is going to sound reductive but if you want something immediately cash positive... i'd go with a savings account.

rentals are long-term cash positive.  i don't know if you've owned any before (feel free to chime in with more info) but the costs of entry get understated.  and, with interest rates high, it's very, very difficult to cash flow right now in the short term.  you've got closing costs, a down payment, rent-ready costs, a month's rent to lease it out... it takes years to recoup those costs.  making $150 net in month 1 because a spreadsheet said so is fantasy.

here's a fantastic thread about 'cash flow' investing from California - i highly recommend it.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1159104-overl...

i say all this not to be discouraging but to be realistic - hope it helps

@Zach Howard

you can usually post enough information in a thread without the address and people will usually happily help you analyze deals.  i hereby volunteer.

just to pile on to what @Jonathan Greene said though.  while i do think it's valuable to analyze properties, it's really difficult to underwrite based on photos.  and in response to your question about someone else - also difficult.  PMs are busy - if you email a PM and say "Hey PM, I'm looking at 123 Main St. and I think it will rent for $1500 a month, does that sounds right?" you'll probably get a good response, because it's a narrow, specific question.  but if you say "can you walk 10 properties for me"... the answer is going to be no.  and maybe you could find a realtor to do it, but that's going to be really hard too.  most realtors deal with primary / retail buyers and sellers and they too aren't going to just walk properties for you.  so if you don't have family or your own contacts in a market... it's just really tough.

and (i may have said this in response to one of your other posts) but i'll just restate it here.  the market is really unforgiving right now.  prices are high, interest rates are high, there is tremendous demand for inventory, and - one thing that doesn't get mentioned enough - a record number of properties are debt free.  this means that these owners are under much less pressure to sell, and so they don't really care that their price won't let the property be a good rental.  they'd rather keep it / do nothing with it than sell for less than what they feel entitled to.

OK, i'll stop there.  i say all this not to be discouraging but just not to sugarcoat things.  I hope this helps.

@Collin Luckett

just curious - do you have a successful track record of flips, or are you looking to do your very first one?  100% leverage, which is what it sounds like you're proposing, is high risk.

true private money IMO is someone already in your network - your uncle, your dentist.  work out whatever terms you want with them.

everything else is hard money / commercial money.

@Marcus Auerbach

100%.  I think real estate is very forgiving (1) over the LONG term and (2) if you're well capitalized / in a strong financial position.  to your point, if you save up so that you're in a strong financial position, house hack a solid duplex in a decent neighborhood, make smart decisions, and hold it indefinitely, you'll be fine.

conversely, if you have $0 and somehow start out with a risky flip, or borrow $20K and spend it all on a magic mentoring program, or buy a terrible property in a neighborhood you've never been to, you may not be fine.

@Greg P.

have you tried networking, going to meetups, or even starting your own mastermind or meetup for this?

there is a ton of free content available for this space and investors LOVE to talk shop.

@James Ory

start with a house hack

@Nicholas Dillon

congratulations on your success so far. a few comments.

1. is BRRRR still achievable in 2025? yes, but it's much more difficult. you're just not going to cash flow after you refinance - you might even be slightly negative. so it's an equity strategy, not a cash flow strategy. additional challenges are the inventory shortage and good contractors being extremely busy. so every step is tougher.

2. you don't really compare the interest rate when purchased and the interest rate when refinancing - that is apples and oranges.  typically (as you probably know) you buy something distressed, with either cash or hard money, you fix it up, and then you refinance into long term debt.  you don't buy with long term / conventional financing and then refinance again into long term / conventional financing - many properties are too distressed to even qualify. so the "interest rate when purchasing" is irrelevant - the deal either works or it doesn't.