All Forum Posts by: Phil T.

Since I bought my primary residence about 3 years ago, prices have gone crazy, and I have around $100k in equity in it. What would be the best way to leverage this equity towards the purchase of rentals? Maybe a HELOC?

I'm currently getting ready to close on my first duplex in the next week or two after saving for quite a while.  I plan on continuing to save for more rentals, but I figure if I can use the equity in my primary to speed things up a bit, that might not be such a bad thing.  

I'm a new investor (purchasing my first duplex) which should be closing in the next week or so.  I live in Washington State, and my property is in Indianapolis.  Should I get an accountant in my area for taxes next year, or get one in the Indianapolis area?  I'm assuming I'd just go with one in my area, since they'd be more familiar with my local tax laws than someone from out of state, but I just wanted to ask around on here and see what you guys thought before I started looking around for one.  Thanks!

Yeah, didn’t think about that. They’re probably mostly cash only deals. I still have quite a bit of research to do. I’ll look into it a bit more and talk to my lender. If I search the MLS (Zillow, Redfin, etc), is there anything specific to look for to see if it’s a cash only deal (unless it says it in the description, obviously).

Thanks for the info guys. I'm currently under contract on my first rental property, doing a conventional 20% down mortgage. The BRRRR strategy has always interested me, but I never knew much about it. I'm going to start doing a little more research on it and HELOC's and figure out the best way to do this. Seems like a good strategy as long as you do it correctly, and since I'd be taking money out against my primary residence, I want to make sure I get it right!

Hey all, I'm trying to figure out this BRRRR thing. I've got about $80-100k in equity in my personal residence. I'm interested in the BRRRR strategy, but would probably have to do it out of my area for it to make sense. Would it be a good idea (or even possible) to use a HELOC to buy a BRRRR property, then pay off the HELOC once I refi the BRRRR property?

Like I said, I'm not even sure that I can do this.  Has anyone else done this or does anyone have any advice about this?  Thanks!

I'm possibly going to be buying a duplex as my first rental property, and had a new guy question. Show much extra should I be setting aside in reserves for a property like this? I was figuring if I was buying a SFR, I'd keep 15% aside for reserves (10% CapEx, 5% vacancies). I figure I should at least set aside another 5% (since there'd be 2 units), but should I set aside any more for CapEx too since I'll have 2 kitchens, etc? Thanks!

I'm working on buying my first buy and hold and am trying to figure out the best way to work bank the accounts.  I plan on creating a checking and a linked savings account specifically for RE.  I was figuring I'd have rent checks deposited into the checking account, and then take out 15% for vacancies/repairs and put it into the savings, repeating the 15% into the savings for each subsequent property.  I'll be financing my first 10 or so  properties, so I'd just set up an automatic payment for the mortgage out of the checking account.  

Does anyone have any suggestions for other ways to do this?

I'm in the process of looking for and buying my first SFR out of state, and am looking for a CPA that's familiar with working with investors that work out of state. I figure that now that I'm going to be picking up some buy and holds it's probably time to give up TurboTax and get someone who knows what they're doing. I live in the Vancouver, WA area. Anyone have any suggestions?

I was thinking checking/savings accounts. I’d probably do about the same you’re doing and go through local banks for financing.

I live in WA state, and am going to be investing out of state. Would it be better to use a large bank (B of A, Wells Fargo, etc) for my real estate business (separate from my personal account) or would it be fine to use a small, local credit union. I prefer to stay clear of the big banks if possible, but I’m thinking it might be better to go with one in this case. What do you guys think?