All Forum Posts by: Robert McGreevy

Hey ya'll,

I’m looking for some general advice here on what I should do, I want to buy my first property here somewhat soonish and I’m trying to determine whether to pull the trigger ASAP or if it’s better to wait, and also where is best to buy…

So I’ve got about $100k in liquid capital in the bank right now (I can’t spend quite ALL of that on a property purchase but at least half) plus around $20k in investments…paid down all my debt, 800+ credit rating and yearly before taxes income is close to $80k ( this was hurt by the pandemic, but it’s been normalizing the past couple years). So I think I’m in a good position to buy.

So what should I do here? I hear all kinds of conflicting info on interest rates, inflation, housing costs, recession, all in regards to whether it’s best to buy something asap or wait things out a bit…It seems like a great potential hedge against inflation to me but idk, I’m new at this, what would ya’ll do in my position?

The ultimate long term goal is more for passive income than ROI, and a short-term goal if possible is also a place to live…so live in it for a while then flip it into a rental unit and possibly try to buy another one. I'm not opposed to buying a pure rental unit, but I'd rather get something I can also potentially live in if I can. House-hacking therefore seems like a good solution for me, the question is what market to shoot for.

I work in film and television and I do work mainly in three markets: Austin, NY, and Atlanta. All three markets have pros and cons. Austin is always a hot market, but idk it seems like maybe a missed the party on that, it’s very expensive there now and I make the least amount of money there so it’s harder to justify. NYC is of course out of the question, way too expensive though I could potentially buy something upstate; only problem there is I’d still have to rent at least a room in NYC as that’s where I mostly work so it’s kind of the biggest cash-sink. I haven’t worked in Atlanta in a couple years so I’m least familiar with that market and it seems like it’s gotten more expensive, but as of now it’s still more affordable than either Austin and NYC…no idea what the rental market is like there, but it seems like it might be the most economically feasible.

So anyway, that’s my scenario…should also note that I won’t be pulling the trigger on such a purchase right away, there is currently an on-going writer’s strike and as I work in production, I’m out of a job until it concludes so I’m gonna have to let that sort itself out and see what kind of job I end up jumping back into. But I would at least like to get a jumpstart on thinking about it and analyzing my options.

Anyway that’s it, thanks to anyone who read all this and offered advice.

Are there any lending agents/mortgage brokers on this forum who'd be willing to maybe field a few questions? I'd really like to get a sense of what kind of loan I can qualify for at the moment and what I'd need to do get the kind of place I want...I had been working with someone locally but they kind of dropped off.

Just looking for general info right now, please PM me if you're willing to offer advice - thanks in advance!

 Ok I'll hear you out, how does it work?

No I'm not familiar with the concept of house hacking at all...what kind of income would I need to qualify for a 600k house though? I doubt I make nearly enough to be approved for a loan of that size

Also unless there's some financial voodoo that I don't know about I don't think 3.5% is going to get me squat, my realtor here has informed that if you can't bring a minimum of 20% down and a pre-approved loan to the table then your offer won't even be heard, people are snatching up $500k homes in straight cash the market is utterly insane here and shows no signs of slowing down, pretty sure I entirely missed my window to buy in Austin

Hi ya'll,

I'm pretty much a total newb when it comes to r/e investing, so please pardon me if this post is long-winded and full of dumb questions, I appreciate any and all input...I spent a good few years saving up for what i hoped would be a pretty decent-sized down payment on a house for myself to live in. Unfortunately I live in Austin TX and as I'm sure anyone involved in r/e in any way knows, the housing market here pretty much blew up overnight, so my $50k downpayment, which seemed pretty good by 2019 standards, currently will not even get me a seat at the negotiating table here. So now that a home purchase in Austin is most likely permanently out of reach, what should I do with all this money that's just sitting idle in my savings account?

So the question mostly comes down to, I could invest all this cash in various stock funds, bonds, reits, crypto, etc...or I could invest SOME of this cash in those things, and then also set aside the rest to maybe buy a rental property or something, in a market where I can afford to buy. 

I guess what I'm largely looking for is some resource or something where I can learn a lot more about this stuff because I feel a little in over my head, and maybe get some general advice on whether or not purchasing property is even the best idea for someone in my situation, vs just going with traditional investments or trying to make money off real estate through something like Fundrise rather than non-occupied ownership...is there a such thing as like a general real estate advisor, such as you can get for general finance/investment stuff? Of course I have my realtor here, but she can only help me deal with local real estate decisions, I feel I could benefit a lot from having somebody with a broader scope talk me through some concepts and guide me to an action plan.

Also, and pardon me if this has come up before, but anybody have any experience/opinions about Roofstock? It seems like it could potentially be a useful resource for someone like me (a newb possibly making their first real estate purchase) but I can also just as easily see the potential to get screwed.

Think that's all I got right now, thanks in advance to anyone who read through all this and offered advice!