All Forum Posts by: Sean Durham

Killer! I went to school in Riverside, so I know the area really well. Let me know if I can help with anything. 

@Christopher Smith Those are great numbers. Are your CA properties in the LA area? I'd love to know more about how your experience has been investing outside of CA. 

Nick - sounds great man. I appreciate it! How's the rental climate in Grand Rapids? I see quite a few affordable houses but don't know much about the demand for rentals - is it fairly healthy?

@Nabil Suleiman No doubt - I appreciate the resource! We're looking to make some moves in the next couple months, so I may definitely have some questions. Thanks again.

@Brian Godlewski That's awesome - I will definitely have some questions for you! Thanks again.

@Brian Godlewski thanks for the feedback man. That sounds about right.  Has investing out-of-state been manageable for you?

Apologies if this has been asked/answered already - I searched but couldn't find anything.

Looking into our first investment opportunity, currently renting in LA county where I need to live for work. We don't love renting, but we have a good situation which allows us to save and buying in LA seems imprudent right now. Superthankful for BP - so I wanted to put our scenarios out there for feedback:

Option 1 - Duplex in Long Beach, plan would be to live in one/rent out other unit for a year or two. Would definitely subsidize the mortgage and likely cashflow well after moving out. 

Option 2 - Buy 1-2 SFRs in Michigan - we have family there, but would need to lean on property management. Would plan to buy and hold. Continue to rent in Pasadena

Option 3 - Buy in big bear and/or Palm Springs and manage the properties as seasonal/AirBnb rentals, Continue to rent in Pasadena. 

Given the opportunities there and constraints and most importantly, our goal of building a substantial RE cashflow/rental portfolio in the next 10 years - I'd love to hear any feedback or experience anyone might have on what might be the best initial move to begin our journey. 

Again, very grateful for the wealth of knowledge here. 

@Mario F. There seem to be some really great replies here - so I've truly got nothing to add. 

I'm in a very similar boat - decent downpayment saved but it feels like shooting ourselves in the foot to put it all toward one house and have it make up the bulk of our monthly expenses. 

I'm very interested in house hacking with a duplex or front house/back house situation but definitely looking into houses in other areas as pure investments. @David Faulkner makes a really smart case for buying/living local, though. 

Hey everyone - wanted to introduce myself - my name is Sean Durham, I've been lurking without posting for some time now and finally decided to jump in. I'm new to REI, but looking forward to learning from and connecting with the incredible folks here.

For background - we live in Pasadena and have been looking to buy our first home - originally, we wanted an SFR in the area (Altadena/Monrovia/Pasadena) but have quickly realized that there's likely a hundred better ways to better use our down payment to start down the path of investing.

I'm currently looking into vacation rentals in Big Bear or Palm Springs and am very interested in out-of-state investing - specifically Michigan (originally from there, so we have quite a few resources) but am very interested in learning more both about the local market here as well as other investment opportunities. 

I'd like to extend a hearty THANK YOU to the community here - just reading the posts and conversations has been an incredible fount of knowledge and insight. Looking forward to connecting with you. 

Sean