All Forum Posts by: John Lewis

You really have to look at it on a case by case basis.  Find a car you like and then compare lease vs. finance.  Also, do a little research on how a lease is setup to make sure you are getting a good lease.  I have leased and financed and honestly didn't think the lease was bad.  Payment was lower and the mileage was fine for my situation.  Paying cash is a great idea but at the same time banks are offering 1.9% financing so I can use the same amount I would pay for a car and get a much better return which would allow me to then pay cash for a car later down the road.

Hey Dan, a HELOC might be an option if you have equity in your home.

Certain strategies might work for me that won't work for you but here's one that I like.  Purchase two properties per year where you can cash flow and do a little rehab to increase your value.  In 5 years you'll have 10 properties and at that point you start selling two properties per year and using the 1031 exchange while you continue purchasing two properties per year.  This will increase your cash flow and at some point in this process you'll reach the $10k mark. 

I think the key is finding the ugliest one in the nicest neighborhood!

@Connor McColl I'm on rental property number 3.  I'm not sure what price range you're looking at in your area but I've found that it can also be difficult to get a 30 year mortgage on a property where the loan is going to be less than $60k.  On my last property I had to find a smaller bank to give me a commercial loan.  20 year amortization with the first 5 years fixed.  One of the benefits to this is they offered 90% financing.

Welcome to BP! 

I second the David Birdsong suggestion. He also has a lot of connections in the area that can help.

I suggest finding a local investor association and attending the meetings.  The BP podcasts are also great.  Get some knowledge, set some goals, and execute a plan.  Good luck and welcome to LA!

Thanks for all the replies...It's been very entertaining and informative at the same time. I've reached out to an attorney involved with the local real estate investors association and we're going to try to get the person I've been in contact with to come in and see what our options are. She's still not sure about selling the property so step 1 is to get her interested and then figure out probate/succession.

Paul, we're in the same niche.  In my town hotels/motels have been popping up like crazy the last few years and they always seem busy.  Even though we are going after the same workers I feel like I have a clear advantage over the low end motels.  Our prices are right in line but I surely wouldn't lower my price to compete with them unless I saw a drop off in vacancy.  I offer much more than they do.  It will be interesting to see if the low end motel owner in your area will now step his game up to compete with you and the other higher end spots in town.