All Forum Posts by: Nicholas L.

@Jim Vasica the short answer is - not enough info.

i would not take a ton of cash and immediately dump it into 5 properties...  i'd buy one and see how it goes.

with prices high the return on a property where there's no value add is pretty low right now.

@Marcus Auerbach

just taking this opportunity again to thank you for all the value you add.

i'll also ask you since it's relevant to OP's question and I think you've said you do this before - how do you think about total returns on your portfolio?  

are tax benefits not cash flow that happens yearly instead of monthly?  is trimming your portfolio every few years not cash flow?

@Nikelyia Waters

what @Jay Hurst said x100.  if you buy a house before age 38 (median age of first home buyer) and turn it into a rental (most people own 0 rentals) boom - you're ahead of 95% of people.

saving and house hacking is the way to go.

@Dylan Villano

like others said, I wouldn't feel comfortable giving you "financial advice."  i can say a little about RE though.

the market right now is REALLY CHALLENGING.  this cannot be overstated.  returns right now are either going to be made (1) in some kind of hands-on, tough, higher risk, intensive niche strategy which it sounds like you don't have time for, or (2) many years in the future, if you stick to traditional LTRs.  so if you're looking for immediate returns without a lot of effort... that's almost certainly not going to happen.

and as @V.G Jason said - $25K is just not enough despite all the cheerleading.  i like $100K plus to start UNLESS you can house hack, in which case you're just repurposing your housing expense, which just about everyone has.

a lot of new investors are doing totally insane things just to "do a deal," like buying a property using a HELOC for the down payment and a loan for the rest. you know who gets rich off of that? the bank, not the investor. most properties can't cover that debt service.

hope this helps

i'm on here to help new investors not lose money

@Daniel Zieno

i know this isn't what you asked but have you done any deals yourself yet

@Robert Johnson

hello.  the short answer is, call more lenders.  in my experience the minimum is closer to 75-100K.  i like The One Brokerage, David Greene's mortgage company.  not affiliated in any way, have just worked with them in the past.

just curious, though - is there a refinance strategy here? you may know this but DSCR loans are expensive, so if you buy something off market with a DSCR loan now your capital is just sitting there.

@Danny McGrody

we're here - ask your questions

@Juan Santos

house hack

@Jay Hinrichs

yep great point. to refine, it would be: any plain old LTR (especially if listed on the MLS) and bought with a typical down payment (or even greater leverage) at today's interest rates will not cash flow. so when I say "will not cash flow" i am assuming lots of leverage.

and as you have probably seen, we even see quite a few posts from new investors looking to use a HELOC on their primary for the down payment and another loan for the rest. they then exclude the HELOC interest from any calculation, make aggressive assumptions on other items, and voila - cash flow. then one rough turnover or an HVAC repair wrecks the model (and possibly the investing career.)

the period after the GFC was a unique time to your second point. i can't believe now looking back on some deals that I turned down when i was getting started in ~2018 because they weren't absolute home runs.  oh well

@Brenden Sperl

you can post the listing here and people will give you specific feedback.

you probably need to lower the price.  if you do the math, vacancy will eat into your total rent collected much more than a price drop.