All Forum Posts by: Justin Morris

Jason Minnich sorry my friend, I didn't explain specifically enough about my income to have this make sense. Our take come pay is 65K, meaning after taxes, so we have every penny of that to do what we please with. Also, we don't pay state taxes when working on the ship because we are working in international waters a lot of the time and because the company is based in FL. With no living expenses expect for some spending money,we will be able to a lot 100% of my take home income to paying down debit and REI. Working on a cruise is a pretty sweet gig financially :-)

Thank you all again for your feedback, I want to continue to ask questions and get more specific so you all can respond accordingly. It seems to me that focusing on finding good turn-key, rehabbed properties would be the best for me. My wife just suggested that we could purchase a home each year and live in it during our time off from work and then rent it from then on. This maybe a really great idea because it would give us a place to live for the 8 weeks a year we are off the ship and then it could become a rental property. Jason Minnich I appreciate what you are saying, but I have figured out that I can save 20-25K a year to put towards REI and also pay off all my student loan debit in 5 years. My student loan interest rates around an average of 7% so its really not that bad and I'll be paying them off way faster then their full terms. I also think that my rental income from REI could help me pay them off even faster while we are on the cruise ship because I still wouldn't have any living expenses and could put part that money towards paying off the loans and the other part towards REI.

To talk more about Marco Santarelli point, I have heard that a lot that this is an amazing time to get into REI and especially rentals. As much as I would really love to jump in a buy something now in a hot market like ATL or Phoenix I don't have a penny to put down so I am really not sure how I could make that happen. If I were to have 8-10k to invest within the next 8 weeks could I do anything with that and if so what would you recommend as an area to look for a property? Maybe Atlanta? Obviously, no one can predict the market trends but how much longer do people think this "great REI cycle" is going to last? I am I correct to say that rentals are always a good REI strategy to be in? People are always going to rent and if the I have a rental in a area of the country the where the market changes and selling would be smart, then I'll go ahead and do that. Then, I'll use the money to buy another rental in the new hot rental market. It seems that rentals can be a pretty stable source of income in real estate and that is my goal long term wealth that I can hand down to my kids and my kids can hand down to their kids.

My next set of thoughts and questions are this; Focusing on turn-key properties my idea is to continue to follow the market tends over the next year. Then once March of next year comes around and I'm close to having all my first property money saved, I will start to seek out a investor friendly real estate agent in my market of choice(where ever is the hottest at the time), explain that I am looking for a turnkey rental property and have them start looking for me a few days before I land there. I'll find something I want, run the numbers do research and find out who the best property manager is in the area and contact them to get details on their costs. Once everything checks out and I've consulted the BP community on the deal, I'll pull the trigger. My question is since I'll be a first time buyer can I take advantage of the FHA program or will they not allow me to rent my property? I am thinking that I should probably cap myself at 90K for a purchase price since I'll have 20-25K to cover closing costs, fees & down payment. Does that sound right to everyone? My other question is what do I need to think about when it comes to financing? Should I go traditional? Big bank? Small bank? (I know a lot of banks of min on loan amounts) With probably a 730-740 credit score, a combined income of 65K with no living expenses and 20% down what do you think my choices will be? I'm sure I'll have some limitations but should be doable. I plan to do all my do diligence, home work and research before pulling the trigger on anything. Is there any other suggestions that you could give me, am grateful for all of it and will continue to educate myself so I can be successful and reach my goal. This is such a wonderful place and I am glad to have successful REI that I can ask questions and get seasoned advice. Thanks everyone!!!

ANISH TOLIA Yes, it is directly related to my degree, I went to a conservatory program at public school and unfortunately had to pay for it all with loans.

Thank you for all of your responses, I have some more specifics that maybe allow the BP community to give me more focused advice and feedback. To ANISH TOLIA's post, I will admit I am in about 100k in student loan debit and I want to use REI as a avenue to a secure financial outlook starting with helping me pay off that debit. My credit score is above 700 and in a year should be around 740 when I am ready to buy my first rental. My wife and I will be working on the cruise ship for 5 years, meaning that every cent during that time can be allocated to REI investing and paying off debit. We have zero living expenses while working on the ship, this will allow me to save about 25k a year to invest in real estate. My plan is to buy my first rental property at the beginning of the second year and then buy one additional property each year afterwards. By the time we are finished our 5 years on the ship I'll have 4 rental properties creating some passive income for myself and my family. Also, at the end of the 5 year I will be debit free which will allow me to expand my focus on REI. My long term goal is to have a portfolio of 10-12 solid rental properties producing 5000 a month by the time I am 35. I don't have a problem with having these properties all over the country because I can get people to manage the properties and I feel like I have the flexibility to do that while my wife and I are on the ship and don't really have a fixed residence(plus I love to travel).

I have already started to do some eduction about rental math and ROIs and will continue to educate my self because you can never learn too much. To all you investors out there that have been doing this for way longer then myself, what do you think about my plan? What do I need to do to refine it and do you think it is a good plan? I feel that I am at a young enough age that I can make this happen and build the life for my family that I have always wanted. I have struggled with financial stability and debit since I graduated school and I want to create a long lasting wealth that bring joy and prosperity to my family and the people I care about. I don't want my future children to be in the place that I am now. I would appreciate any advice, suggestions or wisdom you are willing to share with me as a start thing journey.

My name is Justin Morris and I've been on BP for about 8 months now and continue to learn as much as I can for the amazing people here. In the past 6 months I've dived into a lease purchase and actually have two properties under contract at the moment. The NY market is very difficult right now though and I'm not having much luck in finding a tenant/buyer for either of the properties. I wanted to use lease purchase to build some capital because I don't have any right now, but in the NY market it's seems pretty hard to do that. I'm not giving up on moving these properties but now I've decided to go in a different direction. I want to build a rental portfolio that will support my wife and myself for life. I know it'll be hard work and a long road but I am committed. My wife and I are about to go work on a cruise ship which will allow us to have no living expenses, pay down debit and start building a rental portfolio. It'll probably take a good year before I have some money to buy my first property, but I'm wondering if there is any advice you can give me or suggestions on how I can prepare myself before I can pull the trigger. Obviously there is no predicting what the market will be like in a year but I'll have the flexibility to go to wherever the market it hot and purchase a property in between my contracts on the ship. I want my first property to be a 3/1 with a purchase price of 100k or less that is in need of 10-15k in rehab costs. I'll have about 25k to put down on a property and plan to finance the rest with a traditional 30 year mortgage. I would love any advice that you could give a 25 year old looking to start building serious wealth with REI and secure my families financial future.

Thank You

I am looking for a Philadelphia area(Gloucester City ,NJ) contractor to do an estimate a small SFR job. Looking to get an estimate done this week, can anyone refer me to a good one? Thanks

I am in need of a good contractor in the Gloucester City/Philly area to do an estimate on a job for me. If all works out and it comes in within my budget I will give you the job. Looking to get this done this week, thanks!

Hey BP,

I would like to start doing direct mail with YLM and get my list from messliadata or list source because there lists are cheaper then YLM. The issue I am having is when I start to populate my list I can't seem to get it narrowed down to a manageable size. I always end up with a list of 1 million plus names that will cost me 250k to buy. Obviously there is a simple way to filter these lists down to 500 or so names but how do I go about doing that? I am wanting to target preforclosures, divorcees and absentee homeowners, I figured those are the people ill have the most luck with when it comes to L/O. I also am thinking about offering them two choices, a L/O first and then a cash offer if that doesn't work. This way I am killing two birds with one stone and have a higher chance if success if I can L/O and wholesale. I will also be viewed by homeowners as a one stop shop and maybe this will increase my rate of referrals. What does everyone think about that? Would love some advice.

I am planning on bring in two family members to invest in my first investment property. One lives outside the U.S and the other lives in a different state. i just read this thread http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/50/topics/58856-financing-investment-deals-important-read
Now I have questions about doing this, do I need to be concerned with legal issues when getting money from my family for this? I'm a bit confused and don't understand what is the difference between this and borrowing money from them for personal reasons? For instance if they leant me the down payment for my own personal residence is that different from them lending a down payment for an investment property?

I have very little personal assets that that wouldn't be an issue. Thanks for the advice on the liability insurance, does that cost alot to hold?