All Forum Posts by: Simon Ashbaugh

Hello everyone. I'm an out of state investor from California and I'm ready to buy in Columbus, OH.  My financials are set, I have a Property Manager and Realtor. My only concern is how to verify if the property for sale is indeed in a good or bad neighborhood since I cannot visit the area in person. Does anyone have a secret website or trick they use to verify if the location or property is what the realtor claims it to be. I trust my realtor but my logical brain wants to verify. Buying out of state adds another layer of risk, but I cannot afford the California duplexes and 4plexes. Any advice or idea are highly appreciated. Thank you all in advance. 

Ive noticed that its hard for me to stop buying. There is always a new deal that is alluring... I have about 7 rentals myself and 2 together with my husband. I keep wanting to buy more..I think for me it is more like something I like to do...Hobby may be...

What do you think? When do you think you will stop buying?

 Agreed, I'm well aware of this dynamic, since I've been doing this for a couple of years. Cashflow is what I'm focused on. I appreciate everyone's advice. I'm getting ready to close on a property in Akron that met my requirements. I'm steering clear of the Raleigh market for the reasons I outlined in the original post. Although my personal home is in Raleigh and it would work as a rental if I move out someday, but only because I financed it at ridiculous once in a lifetime type rates and put 20% down and I've since paid down the mortgage a little bit. But those criteria are very much the exception. Straight LTRs don't really work in Raleigh unless you have some kind of unusual circumstances. 

@Account Closed

Beginning investors need to STOP believing all the fluff about rental investing, especially with the overheated real estate market trending to historic norms.

Historically:

Class A takes 3-5 year to positive cashflow, but you get highest relative rent & value appreciation

Class B gives decent amount of relative rent & value appreciation

Class C is mostly cashflow and at the lower end of relative rent & value appreciation

Class D is all cashflow with zero or negative relative rent & value appreciation

So, make sure you understand the Class of properties you are looking at and the corresponding results to expect.

Hi team,

I'm a NYC millennial just getting into real estate. I have about 50K saved and I would like to buy a MF in a good market to get a good return on cash flow. What are some good markets to look into? I am currently looking at Ohio, and Newark. 

View report

*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

Hello, not sure if am am doing something wrong when inputting the numbers. I keep getting a negative cash flow! Please help. 

Hello, 

I am looking at buying a single family household to rent in or around Columbus. I have been doing the 50% rule and 2% rule to find potential leads in my area. I have yet to find one and was wondering if anyone had any general tips on neighborhoods to look at or general tips for a first time buyer. 

Hi everyone,

I am an out of state investor and I plan on investing in multifamily in Ohio (Dayton, Cincinnatti, Columbus) here in the next 6 months. A type of strategy that I've been intrigued with and have been studying quite a bit is creative financing, more specifically seller financing. I have enough capital to afford 20% down on a 150k property but one of my RE goals is to make my capital "stretch", meaning find creative ways to put less down so I can generate more monthly cashflow. If anyone wants to share any tips on how to get started, pros, cons, and/or things they would do differently etc. please feel free to share. Thank you!

Hello everyone! First time poster here. Im a stuntman in the film and television industry living in both atlanta and los angeles. I just finished how to invest in real estate in 2 days and Im really looking to take the next steps in acquiring a property. What interested me the most was a STR, but after hearing about some of the recent hardships as well as competition at the moment, I thought maybe I should wait on that. My fiancé is from puerto rico and I thought about purchasing a place there to use as a STR as well as a place for us to be when im not working. I work in film and if im not shooting it would be nice to block out the days im off and just be there. I have about 60K cash saved, but unfortunately as far as I know because of the nature of my work being self employed, ill have to fork over 20 percent so that really limits me a bit until I have more saved. My other interest in the genres of real estate are single family home, for me to probably house hack in the atlanta area, Brrrr rental, or a potential flip. My question is, where do I go from here? I got a good broad strokes idea of things from the book, but what would you guys suggest from here? Do I just start shopping and using the calculators here to find a good deal? are there any other educational avenues I should pursue before I start looking to get a place? Im definitely a more hands on person. If I start reading too much ill get analysis paralysis. If you were me with 60k what would you do? Looking forward to being a part of the community.