All Forum Posts by: John Lewis

My advice is to not only research but set some attainable goals and go for it.  My start came from a fixer upper that had a mother in law suite behind the house.  I was able to rent it out and pay my mortgage and some.  I still have that property and it's a cash cow.  I highly suggest house hacking to start and possibly working on getting a license.  Also, just being around other investors is great so look for a local meetup. 

I'd be more than willing to check out the property for you if you need me to...haha. Unfortunately it sounds like you don't have many options.  If it were me I would cut my losses and break even if it was holding me up on my next deal that could be making me money.  Another option would be AirBNB but if you are going to go this route I would suggest professional photos and making sure the amenities you offer in the apartment compare to the rest in your area because I'd imagine there is a ton of competition.  Oh and did I mention I can check up on the property?

If the house is currently abandoned it isn't doing anybody any good.  If your mother is ok gifting it to you I would go with that and then determine if this is a property I want to start my real estate investing career in or if I should sell it and place the funds somewhere that works better for me.  You may be able to tap into some equity and do the repairs but then you'd have a rental property that is 3 hours away.  You could also do some repairs and sell it or just sell it as is and take the money to fund a deal closer to you.  My advice is to come up with a plan that works for you.  That first deal is very exciting but remember this could be a great start that works for you or it could be a huge headache.

Maybe someone can clear this up for me a little bit.  I've been doing some searching but it's still a little hazy.  There is a property I'm interested in that has been abandoned for a few years now.  A childhood friend of mine grew up in the house so I recently asked him if they were interested in selling it but he said when his grandfather passed away there was no will so it couldn't be sold.  The property is in Louisiana and I believe that means all children would have a stake in it.  I searched the property on the parish's property locator and two names pop up.  I'm not sure if this is his grandfather's name or not but someone has been paying the property taxes.  The house isn't doing anyone any good sitting abandoned and I think they just don't know the process necessary to sell the property or don't have the funds for an attorney.  If anyone has experience with a situation like this I'd love to hear your advice.

Welcome to the community. You work up or down the bayou? Lol, think only people from the area will get that. Let me know if I can help with anytthing.

Welcome to BP!  There is a ton of great info here and if you can't find something everyone is very helpful. There are some very useful spreadsheets available to help you track your income and expenses to get a better idea of your cash flow as well. I'm not far from you in Laplace.

Welcome to the site!  I'm pretty close to you in Laplace.  Let me know if I can help you in any way.

Living in one of the units while completing the repairs definitely has some perks. One of the biggest of these perks is the lower interest rate you can get if one of the units is owner occupied.  The only issue is with the bottom units being gutted many banks will have a problem with this but since it is separate from the top and I'm assuming the top half is being rented now you may be ok. My advice is get a good agent if you haven't already and they should be able to get you in touch with someone who can answer those questions.

Welcome to the site.  I'm also from the New Orleans area.  My advice is to check out the New Orleans Real Estate Investors Association.  They have a meeting every month and offer some great classes.  You'll always learn something and it's great for networking.  PM me if there's anything I can help you with.

First thing you have to do is figure out exactly how you can help him.  Be very specific in what you can do to make his life a little bit easier.  Once you're in I wouldn't ask for his mentorship but instead bring very specific questions to him to get his opinion.  Most people that are mentors don't even know it because they have no problem answering specific questions and at times talking about general strategies but once they are labeled a mentor it just makes things a little weird.  That's just my opinion.