All Forum Posts by: Ryan M.

I am looking to get started out, but am having difficulty determining if there are any types of loans I can use.
I have excellent credit but I have a lot of gaps in employment over the last 2 years. Are there types of loans I can get? What about refinancing?
Ideally looking to BRRRR.

I'm also looking forward to hearing others answers on this one.

But what I can say is that in a hot market you'll have to look harder to get deals. Put your name out there and let people know you're looking for deals. Maybe try direct mail or driving around the area. Maybe post an ad on craigslist saying you're looking for less than perfect houses.  There's a lot of creative ways to find a deal, and while it may not seem as practical as just searching online, the best deals you will probably find creatively.

Secondly, standards like the 1 and 2% rules are good rules of thumb for quickly eliminating deals in a lot of markets, but in many markets, particularly hot or appreciating markets, you need to look at the big picture. If you buy a property worth $200,000 that falls short of the 1% rule maybe around .8% that appreciates say 6% annually over the next 5 years, it could be worth around 267,000 and be renting around 2150 a month, as opposed to a 1% property that barely appreciated and is still worth just over $200,000 and renting at 2000 a month. And maybe in this 5 years you still netted more on the 1% house, but in 10 years that probably won't be the case. Neither of these deals seem too impressive, but maybe one of them you can get the seller to work down to 180,000, or even 160,000. Run those numbers again, and now its a much better deal.

I also like to estimate an ROI for 1 year later, 2 years, 5 years, and 10 years. Some just look at their immediate cash flow. If you bought a home in New York or San Francisco many years ago, even at a negative cash flow to begin, theres a decent chance you still made a decent ROI on it in the long run.

Hot markets are hot for a reason. You might have to work a bit harder to get deals, but there can be a lot of other benefits to hot markets such as good appreciation, easier to fill units, easier to manage tenants, and it could be easier to exit when you decide to.

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on this subject.
Did you end up picking an area because you wanted to live there, or because you thought it'd be a great place for your niche of real estate?

I'd say it can't hurt to knock on the door.

I wouldn't drop anything off in anyones mailbox without it going through the mail.

When you say California is bad for cash flow, do you mean immediate cash flow or long term cash flow incorporating appreciation, etc?

I got the impression that the right cities in California would provide more long term income, while many Midwest cities will immediately cashflow more, but in the long run net less income between lower appreciation rates and other headaches.

Could anyone chime in on this?

So this site has been one of the most useful resources I've found.  

However I havent seen much discussion on real estate investing outside of the United States here.

Has anyone here invested or been interested in markets outside of the United States? What interested you in that market?

Can anyone recommend resources for studying or analyzing markets outside of the United States? 

What is your favourite world wide market?

Any other international real estate discussion is encouraged here.