All Forum Posts by: Rafael Morales

Hello everyone,

Hopefully this isn't against the rules as my goal isn't to promote any group but rather to gather some new and/or veteran investors in the field of RE to create a small accountability/networking group where we gather to chat/discuss ideas, help each other out, meet and network with like minded investors, and maybe even partner in the future as we go through our journey of RE.

I'm very appreciative of BP, but sometimes very specific details/doubts can only be discussed properly by networking with someone directly and so id love to create a group like that. Its also a bit discouraging to have a vortex of ideas and have no one to talk to since I have no friends or family involved in RE, thus this would also serve as a network for such people since I doubt I'm the only one like that. The chats/meetings would be virtual so it doesn't matter in what market you invest, id love for anyone who has the time and desire, to joins us and share their knowledge. This could also help keep you committed to your financial goals if you're overthinking about starting.

If this is still not allowed, I apologize and feel free to delete it and warn me so I don't repeat it again, If that's not the case however id love for anyone who has a genuine interest in RE investments to let me know below so I can set up a small group.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Hello everyone,

Hopefully this isn't against the rules as my goal isn't to promote any group but rather to gather some new and/or veteran investors in the field of RE  to create a small accountability/networking group where we gather to chat/discuss ideas, help each other out, meet and network with like minded investors, and maybe even partner in the future as we go through our journey of RE.  

I'm very appreciative of BP, but sometimes very specific details/doubts can only be discussed properly by networking with someone directly and so id love to create a group like that. Its also a bit discouraging to have a vortex of ideas and have no one to talk to since I have no friends or family involved in RE, thus this would also serve as a network for such people since I doubt I'm the only one like that.  The chats/meetings would be virtual so it doesn't matter in what market you invest, id love for anyone who has the time and desire, to joins us and share their knowledge. This could also help keep you committed to your financial goals if you're overthinking about starting. 

If this is still not allowed, I apologize and feel free to delete it and warn me so I don't repeat it again, If that's not the case however id love for anyone who has a genuine interest in RE investments to let me know below so I can set up a small group.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

 Logic was that my job is mostly remote, also with no employment history I thought maybe getting qualified for something like a 250-300k home would be unlikely.   I also ran some numbers on the options I saw and it wasnt looking very good. You do have a point though so ill give Austin one more thorough check. 

Thank you!

Agreed Deren, that's why simply renting would be in Austin, however, the purchasing idea would definitely be somewhere else.  It is not possible at my current state to buy a home in Austin and still make positive cash flow,  even with some basic analysis it was blatantly apparent that I need to look elsewhere for now. 

Some cities that are 1-1.5 hours away from Austin however, do have some nice candidates and thus, I came here for some advice.  Since my work will be mostly remote work, all I'm required is to be within 2 hours driving distance to Austin for the occasional commute.  Taking advantage of that, I'm looking away from Austin for purchasing purposes.  If I don't purchase however, the hassle isn't worth a little less rent so I might as well just chill with my friends in Austin. 

Thank you for your input!

Great point Steve, my old idea before this even hit my head was to save up for 2 years first which is a less risky attempt, but a more boring one too. Worry not, I wont lose hope if I get rejected! As I mentioned in my post, Im certain I can handle atleast 1 property so I definitely wanna give Real Estate a real shot and try it even if I cant do so right away.  Thank you for your input. 

Great question, Logan.  You are correct, this line of thought is assuming the numbers work in my favor, the possibility exists that I don't find anything that works. Its more of a "should I even bother?" type of situation. If the answer to that is yes, then its time to "bother" and see what I can find. In short, I rather not waste my precious time if its a silly idea, but if you guys think its a solid line of thought then Ill get to actually analyzing stuff. 

In regards to the down payment, I have about $20k in savings and based on some multi-family homes I've seen in zillow/redfin , there are some decent looking candidates in the 180-200k range. 3.5% for FHA would be about 7-8k + closing costs so I should make it through. If I cant get 3.5% , even 5% in that same range is about 9-10k + closing costs.

Thank you for your suggestions, ill check them out!

Hello everyone, my situation is as follows:

I'm moving to Texas for my job after graduating college and the job I landed as an engineer will be paying 80k/year + some bonuses, which is pretty solid for a first job. The reason I give my salary numbers was not some kind of weird flex, but just to show my financial situation and hopefully give you guys a better idea of where I stand and where I should go next. The goal however, is to create financial freedom via multiple income streams and thus I've been looking to get into Real Estate investing, particularly rental properties since that line of investing interests me the most. 

I should add that in terms of "theory knowledge" about Real estate and analyzing deals, I've been reading/studying a lot from Youtube/Podcasts/Articles etc.. So id say I'm mentally aware of the whole process and what's to come, but naturally I don't have actual experience until I start and that's never changing unless I do.   

when I move to Texas (Austin specifically) I'm gonna be paying some pretty absurd rents since rents have gone up in that area. So my line of thought was "wait, why don't I just pay the same or less in a mortgage payment?". What I mean by that is, why don't I get into Real Estate right now instead of paying rents and "get my feet wet" with the business to see if Its for me?

Worst case scenario, I might not like it but financially speaking I should still be able to handle 1 property until I'm able to flip it to someone else.  Middle to best case scenario, things go well and I want more + I got some early experience (Im 24 so maybe not super early but you know).  

The idea was to find a multi-family (duplex or more) a bit away from Austin (Looking at San Antonio area where housing is slightly more affordable) and use FHA financing with a down payment of 3.5-5% to set myself up in the business. This also satisfies my need of needing a place to live since I HAVE to move anyways. The logic of a multi-family is of course to house hack while I live in one of the units and reduce my expenses, and after I move out later on, I can work with a property management company for the rest.

You might be asking why don't I just rent in the San Antonio area in the first place? Well, I could but, if I'm gonna go the easy route I might as well rent closer to some friends I have in the Austin area. However, if its something that's gonna head start me into my future of Real Estate investing then I'm okay with some extra work and looking a little bit farther away from Austin.

I guess the whole point of this is to ask if my train of thought makes sense or if I'm being overly naïve and I should just rent. Who knows, maybe some of you pros out there started from a similar situation to mine? Id love to hear some thoughts, thanks!