All Forum Posts by: Ronan Donnelly

Sounds complicated... Why do you think it is a better idea to have your roommate and mother in law living in your quad rather than just renting to market tenants and having those close to you rent/buy independently nearby? Try to get clarity on what you are trying to achieve and that will guide you to the best decisions. Good luck!

Hi @Mike C., the article about Buffet suggesting that it was a good time to buy a bunch of SFH's is from a while back (approx 2012) and the market has changed significantly since then. In reality there are a multitude of ways to be financially successful in real estate whether it is investing in Multifamily syndicates, buying single family homes, lending money, investing in mortgage notes, self storage etc. Key is to find the strategy that works best for your goals and then just to go deep in that strategy. In addition to there being multiple strategies there are also many ways that you can position yourself for any downturn in the market cycle e.g. reduce leverage, invest in economically advantaged neighborhoods, avoid class A or luxury properties, go for Cashflow over equity growth etc. It's really just a case of picking a lane...

@Tenisha Walker, finding a property like the one you describe, with many problems is really the kind of opportunity that real estate investors look for. I would suggest starting with a list of the problems that you need to solve e.g. Get a certificate of occupancy, get state inspections, ensure that all tenants have got leases and are paying rent, get rent up to market etc. Against each problem you will need to describe the remediation plan including how much time and money it will take. All of this will inform you of what price you can reasonably pay in order to make this deal a financial success. Good luck!

@Josh LaRose, congratulations on your success so far. In terms of legal entity structure, I would strongly recommend starting with a simple structure and when you decide make sure that the structure satisfies your criteria whether is is liability protection, tax advantages, low cost of maintenance. I would also recommend talking to a number of CPA’s and lawyers to get their opinions on what entity makes the most sense.

@Eddie Starr, I think that almost all of the knowledge that you need to be successful is available via the books, podcasts and forum post available on BP. What guru's sell is the allure that there is some easy way to achieve your goals, if you can just cough up significant sums of $$$. My recommendation would be to identify what problem you are aiming to solve with a guru and once you have done that you can likely come up with alternative, free, means to achieve the same. Some examples are:

1) Lack of knowledge - all the info you need is available on this site or in the many great books available

2) Lack of experience - partner with someone to get experience, there is likely some value that you can bring to any deal whether it's skills, money or time

3) Lack of connections - seek out partners on BP, broadcast what you are trying to achieve, join local REI groups

You get the point, guru's make it look like it is all easy and automatic. In reality it's about taking action, learning from your mistakes and finding partners to complement your owns skills or gaps.

Good luck!

@Joseph Nelson, congratulations on taking your first steps. I agree with @Jaysen Medhurst, making your first investment locally will likely give you a lot of learning opportunities, even though the numbers may be better investing out of state. House hacking seems to be a very common way to get started. Read all the books, attend the free webinars, listen to the podcasts and once you have digested all of the freely available info, decide on a singe area to focus on and specialize in. It's all about taking consistent action. Good luck!

@Dan F. - in my experience, problems do not get better with age. Take the emption out of it by setting clear parameters (pay on time or accept a fine) and consequences if the parameters are not met (start eviction proceedings if rent is more than 10 days past due and charge the cost to the tenant). Making it the tenants responsibility is the only way you can scale. Good luck! Ronan

@Greg De Sciscio - congratulations on starting down the path of real estate investing, and most importantly for narrowing your focus on one specific area. You have clearly demonstrated discipline to save $10k and this is where many others falter. One option for you would be to partner with someone on a deal since it would give you a chance to deploy your capital, but it would also allow you to gain some hands on experience with ideally, a more experienced investor. You can likely find potential partners on BP and via local REI meetup's. Good luck! Ronan

Congrats on taking action and on getting a good result!

@Kim Meredith Hampton