All Forum Posts by: Andrew D.

Hi BP folks,

I'm completely new to real estate investing, so I'm still in the process of learning the ropes. I've learned a lot from the forums and podcasts so far, but before I pull the trigger on my first property, I wanted to see if anyone here had any wise words of advice for me.

I have recently found myself lucky enough and in the position to purchase a second home (lakefront property in the range of $500k to $700k) that I'd like to use personally (or make available to family/friends) throughout the year, but also rent it out on a weekly basis when there's demand. I have enough liquidity in my portfolio to buy the most of the houses I'm looking at with cash, but I'm hesitant to wipe out my savings entirely to do so. I also have no other debt to my name at the moment, so I'm just curious if anyone here has thoughts or good articles to point me to on the following questions:

1. What are the main benefits for me in getting a mortgage in my situation vs. paying all cash?

2. If I choose to get a mortgage, how should I think about or determine the best ratio to go with for down payment vs. mortgage? 

Most of the advice I've been reading on here so far is related to solving the opposite challenge (i.e. buying a home with as little to no money down), so I was wondering if my situation is any different or if I should still follow the same principles.

Again, apologies for super basic questions, and thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice you may have!

Andrew

Hi BP folks,

I just got an accepted offer last week on a several hundred acre recreational property in NY (raw, vacant, riverfront/forest land), and we're should have a signed contract this week (with a 60 day closing period for additional diligence). As my first real estate purchase/investment, it's been quite an interesting learning process doing all of the work to make it happen.

However, the complexity is that I'm making the investment with a 3 other colleagues (each with much smaller stakes/liability than myself). We're in the process of establishin an LLC before closing as the liable entity for the property/title/mortgage. While we have a general agreement sketched out for how we want this partnership to operating (voting rights, out clauses, etc), I was wondering if anyone here has any resources (sites, books, etc) that might be helpful for us to make sure all of our bases are covered. I'm most concerned about uexpected scenarios where costs or value of invidual party ownership can become unclear. I know that a lot of advice out there strongly suggests against entering into partnerships with friends as they can often end badly, but while we've acknowledged that advice, we clearly chose to give this a shot anyway.

If anyone on here has any experiences or advice to share or could point me to some material to read through myself, I would greatly appreciate it. I didn't find any other posts on the forums here specifically related, but if I happened to overlook one that could be useful, let me know!

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, and feel free to ask any clarifying questions.

Regards,

Andrew

Hi BP community,

This is my first post on here, but I've already gotten a lot of great advice from these forums and catching up on (and enjoying!) the podcast.

I'm currently in the process of putting together an offer for a vacant land purchase in NY state for ~150 acres of unimproved wooded land (with rivers, streams, and decent trails cut). The primary use will be for recreactional purposes (hunting, fishing, camping, kayaking, etc), and we may decide to eventually build some basic cabin structures in the future.

I know that getting traditional banks to finance raw land deals is often challenging, and most banks won't even consider the option. However, I've been working with a lender that specializes in this and have pre-approved a loan for our purchase. Before I move forward with their loan, I wanted to see if anyone on here had advice on the following questions:

1) Is a 5.25% variable rate on a 20 year term reasonable/competitive in your opinion given the financing challenges for this type of land being vacant/raw? Note: I have yet to ask the lender for additional options on a 15 or 30 year term and/or a fixed rate.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice! I hope I'll be able to contribute my own advice to this forum soon.

Best,

Andrew