All Forum Posts by: Matthew Hux

I am in the Durham market trying to get in. The market is definitely high right with myself finding no properties that fit my criteria. There were a few that came by that required extensive repairs and some where I got into a bidding war for a property the day it came on the MLS and lost (twice). The other properties that cash flow are all in neighborhoods that will likely require much more turnover and perhaps an undesirable tenant pool. Therefore I am in your same boat. Trust your numbers, but we may end up having to bite the bullet to get into the game unless we are willing to wait.

I would love a PM with names as well. I have a home in Durham that I need some repairs done to.

Thanks.

Welcome! I have learned a lot from this site and I know you will too. I am just now starting my buy and hold education and live in the Durham area. Starting out with some property management. Hope to see you around as I hope to surround myself with similar real estate investors.  Make sure you read all you can and once you have a good grasp it's all in your hands. Good luck!

Welcome @Chuck Peterson,

Glad to see more people joining in my area. I'm much more inexperienced than you, but I have been lurking for years so I have plenty of knowledge to offer. I currently have been considering going into real estate for some time and property management is a great field. There are a ton of posts on here about what people are looking for in a property manager, what they are expected to handle, and what you need to do to start. Take advantage of these resources.

I currently just had a deal fall through for lack of funding, because of the state of repair of the house. It was an excellent deal, but I wasn't in the right place to be able to take it on yet. That is going to be a good thing to keep in mind, if you are currently managing SFH maybe you will want to continue doing that in a larger volume before switching to apartment buildings or other area outside of your experience. If you are willing to learn and are honest and effective, there will be no shortage of work there. Your background managing your own properties will give you a step up. You may want to prepare a package that shows your process of dealing with your current properties such as rent collection, repair, eviction (if it's been necessary), and just your general records and way of managing. Every person manages properties different and the more familiar people are with what their manager will do in every situation the more at ease they will be.

Hope you enjoy the atmosphere here and I wish you the best of luck. I am available for any questions you may have, but most anything can be answered by a forum search here. I almost went into real estate full time when I lost my job a while back, but I found another good one shortly afterwards. Who knows, maybe down the road I'll be knocking on your door for an apprenticeship.

Best of luck,

Matthew

Hello and welcome!

I'm actually in a very similar boat as you. I am closing on my first house that I hope to live in and renovate. My strategy is a little different as I plan to hold it as a rental property, since I believe the neighborhood I bought into will support it very well. One tip that could help you immensely down the road is that if you plan to at least spend two years in the house you may be able to get around paying capital gains tax. They are a ton of other tips like that littered all over this site, so please take advantage. I wish you the best in your endeavors, the housing market around here is exploding in certain neighborhoods.

All the best,

Matthew

@Brooks J. I considered coming to those but it seemed a bit premature when I don't even have anything in my name yet. I may consider coming though.

@J Martin Thanks for the tips. I have been reading through the Learn articles quite a bit. Very good stuff in there.

Hello, my name is Matthew Hux. I am an mechanical engineering graduate from NC State who just left a job in the machining field. I look forward to becoming a larger part of this community and have already benefited tremendously from the articles and posts on this site. This site a tremendous resource and the community has a fantastic mentality.

I currently renting Raleigh but am looking to buy my first (of many) property in the Durham, NC area. I have enough cash built up to purchase a fixer upper or make a down payment on a larger property. I am currently looking to find a primary residence to eliminate my rent. My future goals are to own single family homes or multi-family homes and rent them out. I hope to get to the point where these will be primarily hassle free, managed by property managers providing me with passive income. However I feel that from the beginning I should be proficient in every aspect of the business so that I can evaluate any future hires. This is a daunting task and I would love the chance to apprentice under someone or work for a property management company to learn the ropes. I know I have a problem with delegating my work to other people so I also need to develop good contacts with construction, electricians, handymen, and property managers. Once I have a core group I trust, I will be much more comfortable transitioning to a more hands off role.

I am currently in the process of changing careers. I am currently planning to go back to a full time job that will allow me to get conventional funding. Then I can get my primary residence without much outlay and use the rest of my money to purchase a rental property. If I can get the rental to get a positive cashflow I will probably be content with that for a while as I learn the ropes. While I am at work I also plan to take afternoon real estate agent classes to enable me become an agent. This will enable me to be a better investor as well as open up other potential job opportunities. I will continue to leverage my conventional funding and extra cash potentials from my job until I start having trouble with banking financing (usually around 4 houses). Then I may look into becoming an investor full time.

This is a very loose and rough sketch of my life and I welcome any feedback. I am also on the lookout for any part/full time job in the investment field. Particularly ones that will work with me as I get my real estate agent license.

I would also be happy to help anyone who is looking to invest in the Raleigh market. I have lived here eight years and would be a great benefit for anyone looking to buy properties that appeal to students or recent graduates of NC State.