All Forum Posts by: Ryan B.

Someone mentioned Whitefish, MT (best place on earth). I own a home there and you would have a hard time finding cash flowing prop. Buying is significantly more expensive than renting. Also, there's so much land in flathead that new construction is cheap and - when they catch up - that will be a drag on appreciation. I'd be sure to value using the replacement cost method so as not to get stuck when the new construction saturates the market.

I'm now in Bremerton WA and things appear to cash flow. Looking forward to that!

Welcome to BP Duncan! There's some great resources in this community. You probably already have done so, but check out the BP podcasts. There's some great interviews tucked away in that trove of banter.

I'm moving to MT shortly. I'd be interested in knowing more about your experiences investing there. Cheers!

Can you share the purchase price, ARV, repair/reno costs? It sounds like a lower purchase price - better discount to market - would have helped, but I'm just speculating. Can you wait on the refi for 6 months and allow time for additional high-season sales to produce better comps?

Welcome Glenn! I've seen a few Great Falls investors here on BP. You're already up to 2 properties which is great from where I stand. I'm moving to the Flathead Valley in late June and hoping to pick up my first rental shortly after.

Hey All,

I'm relocating to the Flathead in late July. It's a bit of a drive from some of you further south, but I'll gladly put in the miles. Looking forward to meeting everyone!

I'll also be in town March 11 - 16th if anyone wants to grab coffee or lunch. 

Hi Tiffany,

I'm in a similar situation in Seattle as well. I have been looking at duplex and triplex properties, but the math doesn't work. They are not even remotely close to cash flowing. I've recently contemplated just finding an SFR and doing light rehab. Eventually renting it after a year and repeating. I'm really hoping this market correction turns into a larger housing market correction.

An owner occupant is going to be more likely to pay a premium for an SFR than a would be investor. So depending on the current lease agreement it likely makes more sense to give the tenant proper notice to vacate, potentially stage it, and sell.

If you're cash flow positive on this property then perhaps you should look for other avenues of achieving the purchase of your new primary? This property is an appreciating asset and your primary is arguably a liability. If you were to calculate the return on this investment over 10 years and compare that to the potential return achieved by selling it to finance your primary, then I would imagine the opportunity cost would cause to you drink hard liquor straight up.

If you have equity built up then perhaps cash out refinance to get the down for the primary? Being sure to keep positive cash flow in the investment property.

Great summary. Marco Santarelli did a good podcast on this topic as well. It's more or less in line with your classification, but with a few good points about "wants": malls, shopping, entertainment being in proximity to class A. I enjoyed it:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/passive-real-estate-investing/id1006557991?mt=2

A great deal of insights in the posts before me. I'll just point out of a few things I didn't see directly touched on.

- maxing a 401k lowers your taxable income by 18k in 2015
- a company match is significantly more when compounded tax free over 20+ years
- index funds are about as passive as it gets
- risk of a balanced boglehead index portfolio in a 401k is lower than buy-n-hold rei
- "can't touch this", 401k is protected from creditors, lawsuits..just not divorce ;)

I would never contribute anything less than the max to a 401k. Though, once that is maxed it's difficult to think of a better asset class than real estate. You'll never see me buying stocks, bonds and gold outside tax sheltered accounts. Those are asset protection measures I'll take only after becoming a multi-millionaire from real estate.

Thank you for this very realistic first deal. I'm sure years from now the equity that's accrued will be all you remember.