All Forum Posts by: Scott Campbell

I was wondering if someone could go through and explain the entire closing process when buying a house. For instance, who is involved? What role does a title company play? What exactly is escrow, and earnest money? From what I understand, there is a point where the earnest money is non refundable if the buyer backs out of a purchase (not sure though). At what point does the home inspection take place? Sorry for the beginner question if this has been covered before... Thanks!

 Thanks Brandon! Definitely love the podcasts... They also convinced me to get the audiobooks of Rich Dad Poor Dad and the E Myth, both of which were great. Next on the list is the Four Hour Work Week :)

 Thanks Aaron, those are good links... Yes, from what I have seen so far, Boston is really expensive.  I recently learned about Worcester though. It seems like it has potential for rental income, a lot of properties are under 200k, and there is UMass medical school there so lots of renters. Still shopping around for a good market to start out in, and Worcester is on my list. Id be curious to hear of anyone's experience there.  

 Mahalo Johnny! If you don't mind I will send a colleague request... I would love to get some pointers about buying properties on Oahu

Thanks for the info Mike... Thats what I was afraid of. I guess I was looking for a way to get around the fact that three separate loans would each raise my DTI ratio making it harder to get one after the other. Since I don't have a primary residence to refinance, it sounds like I will just have to wait for some time after each loan for the rental income to count towards my monthly income. Or is there another way to do it? How long will it take for banks to accept rental income as valid? Ive heard conflicting information about this.

I have not had a mortgage yet, and don't have any experience with this, but was wondering if it is possible to finance three houses with one mortgage? Say I want to buy three houses at 33k each, could I get a single 99k loan from a bank to cover the purchase? Would an FHA loan or traditional mortgage work that way, or would I need to get a portfolio loan or other creative financing?

 Hi Jonna, I grew up in Boise and return there to visit family quite often. I'd love to meet up sometime. Are you involved in rental properties in the Boise area? I have been looking into getting a rental in Boise since it would be easy to have a family member check up on the place occasionally :)

 Thanks for the recommendation, Ill look into that. I feel like many properties in the Boston area are out of my price range, but I have been looking into some of the smaller surrounding areas and they seem to have a lot of potential. Being new to this area, I would have a lot of research to do on the local market...

@John Van Uytven thanks!  Well to start, I would like to help the Bigger Pockets community in whatever way I can. My knowledge of real estate investing is limited compared to others on this site, but I do have local knowledge of Honolulu, Hilo, and Kona, Hawaii real estate and rentals, as well as Boise, Idaho.  I lived in Hawaii for 13 years prior to moving to Boston, MA last year. I would love to answer any questions about those areas to people interested in investing there. 

I think that the BP community will help me learn how to achieve my goals in real estate, and at the same time build connections that could turn into fruitful partnerships in the future.

I recently read the beginners guide to investing (which was great) and plan on getting the book of flipping houses soon too. I read Rich Dad Poor Dad after hearing so much about it on the podcasts, and loved it. Speaking of the podcasts, they are awesome... I couldn't stop listening once I started (I'm already on my second round ha ha). 

Hi everybody,

Just want to say thank you for having such a great site. I have learned so much in the past couple of months since finding Bigger Pockets.

I am new to real estate investing. After listening to every single BP podcast and spending a lot of time on this site over the past couple of months, I became inspired and realized that I can do this. My dream is to eventually become financially independent from monthly income generated by a portfolio of rental properties. I currently don't own any properties, but have been researching properties in various markets across the US with the intent to buy in the next six months.

My goal is to aquire a portfolio of ten rental properties within the next five years. Each property will generate at least $200 per month cash flow for a total monthly income of $2000.

I still have so many questions and obviously have a lot to learn, so I am very happy to have found the forums here where I know people are willing to help newbies like me. Thanks again!