All Forum Posts by: River Luce

It has been quite a while since I have posted on B.P. and in that time Covid has definitely changed a lot of plans. My girlfriend and I have had to change our plans quite a few times in the last year. We have now moved back home to Arizona and I have gained a Real Estate License as well as started to work for a brokerage in Old Town Scottsdale!! I am excited for the new opportunities that await us. But as a new 1099 Contractor I know that Taxes and understanding them has become much more complicated. I am looking for any and all recommendations on a great CPA. Because I have asperations for long term rentals in real estate I specifically would like to find a CPA who is willing to help me understand tax and its relation to Real Estate. I have only met a few CPA's but the consistent experience is that they do not want to sit down with you and they are very hard to get ahold of.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

River Luce 

Real Estate Agent 

Urban Luxe Real Estate 
  

@Jeremiah Maughan,

Thank you for the help! I have sent you a PM with my info. I look forward to connecting soon.

@RJ Schmertz, Thank you for the tip! I am excited to check out these resources and hope to see you in a future online meetup!

@Kyle Abramov, 

First off Congratulations on your first rental!! It is a big moment and I am looking into my first rental ( 4-plex) right now. As someone who has worked for a Property Management Agency my biggest advice if you go down that road is vet them like crazy!! The BP Podcast speaks to these moments quite a lot but the reality is they work for you and they have a lot more freedom then your typical employee. A good Manager can make life great and a bad one can make you wish you just did everything on your own. I also think if you were to put out a bit more detail on your situation you may get some deeper insight from of BP's more seasoned investors. I wish you luck and hope this is the first of many for you!

River

Good Afternoon Bigger Pockets!

I would love to set up a Skype call with local Utah Investors to get to know the Market and the People who invest there. Do any of you belong to local groups that may have suggestions, or interested in starting a group? Would love to hear from anyone who is interested! 

Have a great day,

River Luce

@John Barrett,

Thank you for your response, and note about the Spokane Market! I love to here about other investors and their thoughts on different markets. My Girlfriend and I are starting to look at a few other markets as well. Due to the distance from our families we are thinking of potentially moving closer to home (AZ) and checking out Utah. I have heard some great things about the overall market their and being close to family feels like it might be the right thing for us. 

Good Afternoon Bigger Pockets!

My Long term Real Estate Goals all come back to investing in Buy & Hold Properties. My favorite stories to listen to are the successful landlords who have managed to find great tenants who have lived with them for 20+ years! I want to own property that gives tenants the feeling of belonging and in-turn gives them the desire to stay longer then 1 year at a time. I know many people prefer to cycle through tenants so they can charge more each year with higher market rates. But I personally would feel more stable charging the same amount for longer term residents and reduce vacancies. 

My question is on the legality of sorting out potential bad tenants and giving potential good tenants better offers. On the B.P. podcast I recently heard a guest speak about a points system they have for screening. If the applicant does not receive enough points they do not get accepted. By using a points system I would like to highlight a scenario I am curious about.

Person 1 applies for a unit and after their background check has been completed the receive 70/100 points. (for this example anyone under 70 points is denied)  

Person 2 goes through the exact same process and comes back with a 100/100 points.

Is it legal for me to offer person 2 a longer lease option because they have better qualifications, and in turn are more likely to be a better option for a long term tenant? Or does every person that applies have need to be offered the exact same lease options in that type of scenario? I would love to offer 2 or 3 year leases but I am concerned about what might happen if I were to give someone that barley passed my background check that option and they in turn destroyed the property.

Thank you for your time!

Hey There Bigger Pockets,

I have been looking into FHA Loans and I am curious about if they allow buyers to use the money to build their own property? Some of the markets I have looked into cost more for existing houses than just building on a vacant lot. I would be looking to build a duplex, tri, or four-plex and just do a house hack in a less expensive way. Through my research I have seen that the FHA does allow loans on anything up to a four-plex but I haven't found any information on weather they allow building with the loan.

Any help is greatly appreciated! 

Good Afternoon Bigger Pockets,

With all of this extra time from Covid-19 I have made it my goal to listen through every B.P. podcast and learn as much as I can. Yesterday I listened to a woman speak about a grant she was given by her state to help buy homes in her area. Because I've never heard this method used before I imagine it probably is only used in very distressed markets. Making it not viable for a large majority of investors. It did however get me thinking about trying to find more creative ways to finance through potential State and Federal programs. 

My Girlfriend and I are planning to relocate at the beginning of 2021 and see Utah as I viable option. I have heard great things about multiple markets their and see it as a good investment area. We have looked all over the state at places such as Ogden, Logan, Provo, Vineyard, Payson, and a few other cities. 

I would love to hear from Utah based B.P. members on your thoughts. Are there any programs you know of or have heard of that would be useful for a first time house hacker coming to the area? 

At the moment the option that appears to be most beneficial to us is applying for an FHA loan. On the other hand I know that many standard loans are starting to offer even lower interest rates the the FHA.

Any thoughts, help, or advice would be greatly appreciated!  

Good Morning Everyone,

My Name Is River Luce and I am an aspiring Real Estate Investor.

Around two years ago my Girlfriend and I decided it was time for a change. We were both born and raised in Arizona, and we wanted to find somewhere new to call home. We decided to visit Washington and see how we felt about it. We used a week off around our anniversary to do a trip and see if it was the right place for us. After falling in love with the energy of Seattle and its abundances of everything not dessert! it was time to start planning. 

We spent the the next seven to eight months planning our escape. We lined up jobs, found an apartment, kicked our saving into overdrive, & started donating old furniture to make the move as easy as possible. Every i was dotted and t crossed. Nothing could go wrong.... 

A month or so before our move we start to hear about a new virus in China and it seems to be getting some traction. I'm totally un-phased. "The US has extremely strict protocols for possibly dangerous viruses! Nothing will happen to us." or so I thought... A few weeks before we are ready to move out the first cases start popping up in Washington. 

At this point the first glimmers of doubt and concern are still to small for our "big plans". "We've planned for everything. Nothing can go wrong." Two weeks into living in our new state I am at my last of 4 rounds of interviews for my dream job. I'm ecstatic, the job after all is said and done would be just under the 6 figure mark. (and for a newly 24 year old that is killing it in my book!) I finish the interview and then I wait, wait, and wait some more. Days go by with complete radio silence. No response to my thank you email, no response to my follow up email. Then finally 6 days after my interview I am told the position has been terminated due to drops in sales and revenue...

I'm a little shocked but at this point it is okay. I still have my second company (that pays a little less) on round 3 of interviews and I know I am a shoe-in for that company. I've spent the last 6 months networking and getting killer references for this exact reason. With just enough time to get my hopes up again, the position gets put on hold "for the foreseeable future due to extraneous financial circumstances". At this point I start to realize its not just happening to me. It's starting to happen to friends. My whole industry is collapsing in front of my eyes.  

Millions of people are having their lives torn apart from this pandemic. I wanted to take this time to speak about what I have learned from this and many other experiences in the last 6 months. I would also love to hear from you and what lessons you have learned!

1. Savings is King!!!! 

I can not overstate this enough! Save, Save, And Save some more! we live in crazy times. the minimum should be 3 months of bills but don't stop there. Never stop! My Girlfriend and I had been saving for quite some time, because we planned on buying our first investment property by the end of 2020. We moved to Seattle with 8 - 12 months saved and thought that walking into high paying jobs we were going to be able to get that converted into REI's by now... But that money has been such a huge safety net for us! We lost our entire industry and now people with similar work experience to ours have flooded the markets. We decided to use this time to refocus and enjoy some time off for personal development.

2. Be Flexible

My kryptinite is I love putting all my eggs in one basket. I'm so passionate about what I do that sometimes its hard to believe that there are a million other paths I could take. Being flexible helps you adjust to uncertain times and circumstances in a manner that gives you better results. It also gives you the mental stamina to bounce back from unforeseen challenges quicker and more effectively.

3. Patience is everything

I have spent the last 6 months learning to be okay with not seeing all the results I want immediately, and honestly I think I am better for it. My overall health has improved significantly. I've lost 20 pounds, I'm happier than I have been in a long time, & and I have reduced so much stress just by taking a few deep breaths and realizing that it will all come with time!

What's next?

We have spent a lot of time taking about what is next for us. We think ,while very beautiful , Seattle is not the place for us right now. We are going to spend the next few months studying markets in different states and cities to find a market that we can actually meet our duplex rental property dreams with fruition! We have looked into states a little closer to family such as UT, ID, NM, TX, KS, & OK and we are excited for our next chapter.

What is your story?  

I would love to hear what valuable lessons you have learned from Covid, any comments or questions on my story , & anything else you would like to share.

Thank you for reading about my journey, I can't wait to read yours!

River Luce