All Forum Posts by: Luke M.

Thanks guys! I've been using Creditkarma for a few years, and it helps. Trans Union's score is lower than the other two, so that was initially why I had this concern. I do have a lot of credit inquiries from shopping around for loans a bit too much, and the idiots over at quicken loans made two hard inquiries in the same day when I talked to two different "agents".

@Andy Collins Thanks, I'll try and see how to get Trans Union to take off some of the inquiries.

@Andrew S. My income has certainly been going up, but it does consist of multiple streams, so it's probably hard to track. I'm not sure how a credit score can actually monitor income, but if it is, mine would be hard to follow.

@Brie Schmidt Thanks for the tip! I tend to spend a lot on my credit cards, so even though I pay them off each month, if the score updates before a payment is made, there could potentially be 4-6K in revolving debt reported.

I have pulled my score from all 3, and I think I found my mistake. WithTrans Union , my score is significantly lower, but an average of all 3 is around 745. It still isn't great to watch it decline. Any tips on keeping it up?

I've been paying it in full each month for the last 10 years. I think the main problem is these loans have all been created fairly recently, and reduced the overall age of my open accounts. I think this is partially due to me being averse to getting into debt when I was younger, so I don't have to many old accounts.

I started out with a credit score of 790 when I bought my first rental. In 3 years, I've acquired 4 more, and my credit has dipped with each loan, and is now at 710. I have no debt except for these loans, and no credit card balance except for what what is used and paid off each month. Does anyone have any tips or strategies for how to boost and maintain my credit score in order to get me to 10 rentals? I could pay them down, but I'd rather keep the loans as I don't think I'll be able to get money that cheaply in the future.

I live in New York City, so it requires a ton of capital to get started out here. My situation is very similar to yours. I currently invest in out of state real estate and with 5 properties am able to to get a passive 18k annual (aside from actual acquisition and accounting). This doesn't include loan buy down and tax deductions. By utilizing property managers, it allowed for very little involvement after purchase and adding value (if needed). These are all single family, and if you could invest in your local market, this would be so much easier, but it is possible to do out of state as well.

I got lucky with my first property ( a condo in a B+ area in San Diego). I had just separated from the Air Force, where I spent all of my free time reading real estate books. I had no job at the time, 25k in savings, but was miraculously able to get a loan. I planned on living in it for 2 years, and then renting it out, but picked up a job and rented it out 2 months after closing. The numbers were just too good. I bought it as a short sale for 98k. My cash-flow kicker comes from the garage that I insisted on having so that I could travel, get a 6 moth tenant, and put all of my belongings there while I was away. I bought it almost a year after the first time home buyer's credit expired. But, during an assignment for a finance class I found 3 loopholes that qualified me to claim the credit. I filed an amendment on my taxes, and was able to get it . $529 in cash-flow, and 65% appreciation in 2 years. In the end, a lot of things worked in my favor, and perfect timing in the market that I can't attribute to anything more than luck, but it really gave me the confidence to move foreword. I've certainly made mistakes on other properties since then though.

My insurance just jumped $300 this year, and if anyone could share a company or agent they've had a good experience with I would appreciate it. I would prefer one that would insure for cash value instead of full cost to rebuild.

I've checked the previous forum posts, and gotten a few suggestions.

Hey Christopher, Just be careful with the calculations of appreciation in that book. I think he was overly optimistic in the returns he was getting, and it was written during the bubble. Solid strategy though, I would just be a little more conservative with your expectations if returns.

I think I saw this in loopnet. "He doesn't want it too full". Any reason why it's actually half vacant?