All Forum Posts by: Robbie Taylor

@Matthew Hodge  I don't think people are just "being nice". I do think there is a big difference in attitude between a career investor whose income is entirely based on their RE portfolio vs a professional (anything else) who is dabbling in real estate because they find it interesting, challenging, or just like learning new things.  It's a game. Money isn't always the sole motivation for everyone.  

@Cary 

@Cary F.

When did I say that I would pay down the debt using my own money (from my salary)? I'd be using the cash flow (paid by my tenants) to pay down debt AFTER I've acquired enough properties to do so, in which, I'd be using leverage to purchase.  My long term goal (at this point in my market) is 7-12 properties.  Along with my 403b and my wife's career as a agent/broker we'd be very comfortable.  I hate to say this, but we're already on a path to be quite wealthy without real estate.  This is a fun way to diversify, not add tons more stress.  Who knows, maybe after learning all of this I'll feel the need to invest like crazy. 

Somehow my comment keeps getting misinterpreted into paying all cash for properties, which it was not meant to be.  

For me, I have access to a few hundred dental students I can rent to who are academically elite, responsible young adults.  We accept 65 students per class out of 2000 applications.  What a great natural screening process!  Most will commit to 4 years b/c moving during school is an unnecessary pain and is expensive.  My vacancy rate should be close to zero with extremely low risk tenants.  I also have constant demand and need zero marketing to fill a spot when someone graduates.   Why would I want to expand off that situation if I don't need to?

I REALLY appreciate the response and view points though!  I'm excited to have posted a hot topic ;)

@Robert Grant McEwen @Andy D. I agree with you 100%.  I don't think anyone here suggested paying cash for a property and using solely that cash flow to save for the next 11 years later is a good idea.   

I love the concept of BRRRR or other methods to build the portfolio to the point that you attain what you want to manage. There is a point there where people who don't want investing as a full time gig want to stop and enjoy the passive income. I'll still have a very substantial 403b from the University I work for and a wife who will be getting her brokers license as soon as she's eligible. I'm not necessarily as risk averse as you say the 95% are. I'm just not out to get a high of the next big deal. I like to take the necessary risk to accomplish my long term goals (like diversified sources of income, a nest egg for my kids to get started with etc.) I'll never feel like I'm losing anything by having other investors "scoop" up properties when that is the thing they do and depend on as their job.

As a dentist, this will never be my full time gig, nor would I want to be dependent on it.  My expertise is elsewhere.  I'd admit though this is a lot of fun and I'm sometimes jealous of my wife's job ;)

Thanks @Andrew Johnson

Thanks @Peter Mckernan.  For me I think it is mindset.  I love my job so I'm not looking for a way out and my wife is an agent.  We have a blast with it.  Lexington KY, isn't a super expensive market but it moves extremely fast.  Most good deals are pending within 24-36 hours.  To build a large portfolio you need to be constantly watching the market and be ready to pounce.  For our lifestyle (2 daughters  who are involved in everything, and a new puppy!) slow and steady is just going to have to win the race for us.

I was wanting to make sure I wasn't missing some major tax implication or something.

I love the forums and the podcasts, but one constant I see is that people are looking to add more properties or refinance properties for cash to buy more properties etc.

Why don't more people start snowballing down the debt on their first properties with the cash flow from the 2nd and 3rd purchases and so on?  Is there a downside to owning free and clear?  If I look 10 years in my future I think I'd rather have $10,000+ a month in cash flow while managing a portfolio of 7-12 free and clear units (depends on your area) than managing a 40 unit portfolio with debt, responsibility, and moving parts.  Is it just all about personal goals or am I missing something big here?

Thanks for the input. My wife had a lender that she frequently works with tell her to wait until the fall when the market slows down and shop around. Lexington's market is moving incredibly fast. We have to balance that with the potential for interest rates to change though. I think going back to our original lender is great advice. That should've been the obvious place to start. Thanks again!

I'm a newbie here and future investor. My wife and I bought our house about 3 and a half years ago with a 5/1 ARM loan. It wasn't the best deal, but we didn't really know what we were doing at the time. So it's where we're at. We've come a long way since then. I'm a professor at a dental school and my wife is an now an agent. We're stashing away money this year to comfortably start purchasing buy and hold rentals. I'm a podcast junkie and am reading a ton. We learn more everyday.

We want to refinance our 5/1 ARM loan to a 20 year fixed. We also plan to purchase our first rental within 8-12 months, maybe a BRRRR (we're still figurging it out). Would there be any benefit to trying to work with the same lender to do both transactions? Maybe get a hard money loan for the BRRRR and do both refinance transactions at the same time? Is there any way to avoid big closing costs switching the ARM to a 20 year fixed? Thanks!