All Forum Posts by: Robert Granger

Hi Sean Cavanaugh, no pregress yet. For the time being I am sitting on my hands and waiting for my wife to finish school and (hopefully) get a pretty good job, heck, any job would help! We are in the process of saving up capital for a purchase, we have a little bit saved and I was considering jumping right in with a 100% VA loan but we have decided to save a little more first. There are a few places that I have found that I think would work for us now, but ultimately we would like a bigger cushion before we take the jump. I expect to be ready to go within the next year, but for the near future I will just continue to lurk around BP and learn more from the pros.

I'm still new to investing and have yet to acquire any property, but in the mean time I'm just trying to do my homework. I know this is an older topic, but my question kind of relates to the subject matter. I want to start investing with OO multi-units for a few years then move from there.

On the note of 'good vs. bad' tenants, has anybody ever heard of starting with a month-to-month then after, say, 6 months to decide if the tenant is worth it to then offer them a 12 month lease? I ask because like I said, I will be OO, does anybody think this idea is worth trying for a new landlord/neighbor?

I probably won't buy anything too soon, but maybe in the next year or so. I mostly just slink around BP for tips and knowledge so I can have some good stuff to work with when I have the capital to jump in and get my hands dirty with real investing.

I'm still a newbie to investing, don't even have my first property yet, but I served 6 in the Navy as a Nuke mechanic on submarines, got out in October of 2010. I didn't even know about real estate while in, now I know and I want to get started! I got out after 6 as an E-6 because I wanted a change in lifestyle, but looking back I should have taken the 90k re-up bonus, stuck it out for 4 more years and invested that money in something productive! I only had 20k saved when I got out, but burned through that while searching for a job in the civ-div; even with my skill-set, multiple qualifications, specialty schools and expertise in the field I still had trouble finding a job. Hind sight is 20-20, with the info I have now I probably still would have gotten out after 10, but at least would have had a couple of properties under my belt to supplement income while finding a 9-5. I'm looking for a multi right now, going to use a VA loan to get started for cheap out-of-pocket and maximize what little assets I acquire to get started. I have 1, 2, 5, and 10 year plans, but it sure would have been nice to start sooner and be in year 5 instead of just starting out now.

I apologize if I sound like I'm rambling right now, but sometimes it's frustrating that I didn't plan my future better while I was younger (I'm only 27), I know I'm still relatively young and have a long way to go, so it's not all that bad, but still... I just feel like I'm starting from the bottom again.

I just felt like sharing my experience with you even though I have yet to start investing, but like the peeps above me said, think about it in-depth, analyze all the angles, and have a plan.

Good luck with your plans, and good health to you and yours!

Thank you for the replies, no discouragement here, only motivation. What I'm seeing here is that I need to get my debt in check or at least be sure I can handle the added responsibility.

The car loans I could have done better, but for the newer one I get twice the gas mileage(important because I have a 60 mile round-rip commute) for about the same payment as the car it replaced with lower ins. premium, so it actually saves me money. The other one I should have bought a beater(for the fiancee since she drives way less than I do), but I can refinance that one with my bank next month to cut 150 from the payments. I actually quit smoking about a month ago to help save money, that's at least $100/mo with how much I used to smoke. Next cut is going to be cable TV, as soon as the NHL playoffs are over or the Bruins get knocked out (might as well finish watching so close to the end)then that's another 100 at least.

I'm trying to save and get back on track, but after reading Al's reply and thinking about it, there are things that pop up that I don't exactly budget for. It doesn't seem like it at the time, but that extra $10-20 for whatever it is adds up to put me in a pinch.

I do appreciate the criticism, it's a good reality-check, which is why I decided to ask the more experienced. I think what I'll do for now is save up enough to at least afford the basic services and closing, then decide where to go from there.

Thanks Brandon Turner, I've read some of the beginner articles and forums, but I didn't know about the keyword alert, should be pretty useful!

Looking to start with multi's, then move up to SFR's and maybe a few fix-and-flips. Long term strategy is buy and hold to provide early retirement income.

Hi everybody, I would like to first say that I have been reading BP forums for a while now and they have helped inspire me to invest in RE. I'm 28, engaged, have a 2yr old son, and at a somewhat difficult point of life right now and would appreciate any advice.

Here's the breakdown, I have about 40k in debt (car loans) that I pay about $600/mo for, I pay $1200 rent, paying $600/mo for daycare, and I make roughly 75k/yr. I am a vet, but in my not-so-bright youth I didn't save a lot of money so when I got out of the Navy I had about 20k but I used that up to hold me over until I found my current job. My fiancee is in school until December (she didn't like riding the bus, hence the 2nd car loan), and I expect her to make roughly 20-40k her first year out and pay about 5k toward her student loans. With all of my other living expenses I can save maybe 200-300/mo. So now I have a good job but no money saved, I don't even have enough $$ for a home inspection/appraisal/closing costs, my credit took a hit with the financing of my 2 cars(was high 600's, now right around 600), and I want to begin investing in RE. My significant other is totally on-board to invest, but how do I begin?

As I see it, here are my options:
1) Buy a 3-4 unit multi now using 0% VA financing and move into one unit. Use rent received to pay mortgage and cash flow ~$200/mo(using 50% rule). Put cash into savings along with $1200 I WAS paying for rent +200 I can save and by the time the fiancee graduates I will have ~9600 over 6 mos. Income from fiancee can be added after that point, assuming bottom line of 20k/yr, in 1 year(-5k for loans) I will save ~24k and then use traditional financing for future investments not using more than 50% of $$ saved to ensure there is a cushion for my first property.

2) Wait it out for 6 mos and build up some capital(200/mo*6=1200 saved, not much), then follow plan 1, bank around 24k after 1.5 years.

3) Wait even longer , say 1 yr, and start out with ~12k saved, hopefully better credit and qualify for better loan terms.

Those are my 3 choices right now, I want to start ASAP while the market is down and money is cheap, long term I would like to buy more multi's, maybe a few SFR's and do a few fix-and-flips in between to build up enough to supplement my W2 job with rental income and retire early.

So the question is: Should I start now? CAN I start now without having cash for closing or initial costs? Anybody with similar stories or experience? Any and all advice, comments, critiques of my plan are welcome. Thank you!

Hello everybody! My name is Robert and I have been cruising this site for a while now, just signed up to introduce myself. I currently live in Rhode Island, I work at a power plant, and I want to invest in RE. I like reading all of the forums and getting info an tips from the posts, I haven't started investing yet, but I hope to get going soon. I will most likely make another post about advice for my particular situation, but for now I just want to say I'm here and willing to learn! Hope you all have a good day, and good luck with your investing!