All Forum Posts by: Richi Brown

@Lynn M.

I agree, military bases are such a small and tight knit community. Speaking from the veiwpoint of a veteran, word travels fast when an apartment complex or property management company does things to screw over military personnel within the base. Even though you may have a to deal with the possibility of vacancy due to early termination in a military town. You gotta remember that for every person that deploys or leaves for a new base, there is another one who is coming back from a deployment or is arriving as a new duty station.

That being said, I think vacancy wont hold as big of an issue as traditional rentals in non-military towns, because bases will ALWAYS have people looking to rent, so if you maintain the reputation of treating these service members right, then you will not have a problem with this early termination.

@Anthony Johnson

Anthony, Congrats on the first property! It is a huge first step. Some recommendations Id say is you could also try attending some open houses in the market youre in to get some "inspiration" on what to do with the property. Also, David Greene's BRRRR Book had an awesome chapter on on the rehab process and dropped some great tips! And dont forget that no one gets rich off the first deal! The experience and confidence you gain is going to be more valuable than the money you get from it. Im gonna be looking forward to to seeing the after pictures!

Richi B

@Cody Smith

Cody, I think your debt only tells part of the story. If this debt is not under control and you are not financially sound, then I would say that would need to be the first priority. But if you have a solid stream of income from a W-2 job and your debt to income ratio is solid, and ultimately your finances are in order, then I think waiting to invest would not be the best move (assuming you are good with the education side).

In real estate you without a doubt need to be financially responsible and you also need reserves like you mentioned. Ultimately there is a plethora of ways to go about this, and depending on your goals and personal situation its hard to give a clear cut answer. But it sounds like youre in a great position to do whatever you want. If at a bare minimum you could also look into getting into a house hack to get started also! Hopefully you got something useful from this! Good luck.

Richi B

@Mike Lindsey

Typically speaking getting a conventional loan youre going to be looking at that 20% down. Im sure you can find lenders to go a little lower than that but youre going to have to do alot of leg work calling around and finding them. FHA loans are awesome because of the lower down payment you put forth, but those arent your only two options. Committing a good month of listening to the BP Podcasts, you will hear many different stories and strategies for financing. But Brandon Turners book "Investing in Real Estate With Low and No Money Down", is a good book covering the art of creative financing, and its all in one location if you dont want to scroll through the hundreds of episodes!

@Devon Suits

Im still a rookie, but my question to you is why not both? House hacking and wholesaling are not mutually exclusive of each other. They say both house hacking and wholesaling is a great way for new REI's to start get involved in real estate, and the way I see it is if you begin the funnel of looking for your property, but wholesaling the ones that doesnt meet your house hacking criteria then it would be a great way to get exposure and experience.

@Tony Robinson

Awesome job! Im still in the learning phase and havent closed my first deal yet, but reading this post was very motivating and informative. Definitely some great tips and gems in there that I will take away. I agree, the first few deals arent going to make you rich. The experience and confidence you get from them is more valuable than the money you will make. But you were able to get the best out of both which is as good as it gets! Congrats on your BRRRR!

Hello my BP community!

Im a newbie investor in the Metro Detroit area that is still exploring the different niches that would be good for me! Originally I wanted to pursue multifamily but in the area I was interested in, multifamily properties are not very prominent. Im not completely turned off from multifamily in my area, but I want to also look into other niches that I could explore and see if there could be better options for me.

Within an hour radius there are some big universities that could have a great potential for college tenants. And within about 5 hours you could drive to just about any of the major universities in the state. That being said I am interested in potentially renting to college kids by the room in a 3-5 bedroom SFR or possibly even a multifamily if the numbers work. Is there anyone out there who has or currently is investing in college towns to students? What are pros and cons of doing it?

The two main cons I can think of are summer vacancies and a higher potential for property damage. But I feel like these both could easily get worked out by planning for it when running the numbers and also putting in place a higher security deposit to give extra incentive to the tenants. Are there any other cons I missed out on? Or are there any other ways to get around the ones mentioned? Any input is valuable and I appreciate ALL input!

Richi B

@Annchen Knodt Thank you for your input and the episode recommendation! I have not listened to that one yet so I will check it out. I agree 100% with your take on renting by the room. Before I even thought about getting into real estate, my girlfriend was a college student in a small town that was home to a large university that was the backbone of the community. Her apartment complex she lived in also did renting by the room to the students and at the time I thought it was so bizarre and weird because I never heard of the concept. But now from an investing standpoint it seems like an awesome way to maximize ROI. I also liked your take on making it marketable to others besides college students. So that I have multiple options and strategies to pursue.

@Shane Cummings Thats awesome to hear, do you have any pointers from a tenants prospective, on the best way to go about attracting students? How did you and your friends find the property? One of my concerns would be marketing to college students specifically, I never attended a physical university so I do not have any insights on good resources/avenues to explore for contacting these students specifically.   

Hello my BP community!

Im a newbie investor in the Metro Detroit area that is still exploring the different niches that would be good for me! Originally I wanted to pursue multifamily but in the area I was interested in, multifamily properties are not very prominent. Im not completely turned off from multifamily in my area, but I want to also look into other niches that I could explore and see if there could be better options for me.

Within an hour radius there are some big universities that could have a great potential for college tenants. And within about 5 hours you could drive to just about any of the major universities in the state. That being said I am interested in potentially renting to college kids by the room in a 3-5 bedroom SFR or possibly even a multifamily if the numbers work. Is there anyone out there who has or currently is investing in college towns to students? What are pros and cons of doing it?

The two main cons I can think of are summer vacancies and a higher potential for property damage. But I feel like these both could easily get worked out by planning for it when running the numbers and also putting in place a higher security deposit to give extra incentive to the tenants. Are there any other cons I missed out on? Or are there any other ways to get around the ones mentioned? Any input is valuable and I appreciate ALL input!

Richi B

@Paul Welden I am interested in possibly using a 203K loan to fund my first deal. With that being said, I am glad to have came across this list! What are some examples of “luxury items” that you mentioned would not be covered by the loan? Also do you know where I can find more information out about the mortgage insurance premiums you mentioned?