All Forum Posts by: Randy Duncan

If investing out of state, You need someone you can trust, who has the knowledge and skills to sift through the good and bad deals ahead of time. They could look at property ahead of time and potentially save you from wasting your time doing an inspection in the first place. They would also know the good and bad areas of town. For example, here in TN, you could buy investment property all day every day for a fraction of the costs in NY. I am an investor and Realtor, and I have also done flips and spec builds here in TN. If I had someone from out of state call and want my help, I could find them exactly what they were looking for. I have relationships with inspectors, handymen, plumbers, electricians, roofers, etc. In my opinion, this is the type of person u need to establish a relationship with in whatever city you are considering investing in. Without that, I personally think it is a crapshoot.

I have 7 SFH rented through section 8. I have rented through section 8 for over two years and have not had a single tenant leave a home. No turnover. Out of my seven homes, I feel like two of the tenants may be taking advantage of the system. The other five are working, but just need some help to make ends meet. Most of the calls I receive AE from single mothers. I can tell you also that it seems that he ones who work are actually better tenants than the ones who don't work. I heard al of the stories about section 8 too, but did my homework, and finally decided the only way to truly know was to try it and see. There are a few hoops to jump through, but most of the things you would have to do outside of section 8. The big difference is the annual inspection requirement. It can be a pain, but if you are a landlord who actually takes care of your property, this is no big deal. And I actually like a third party going in and inspecting my houses. Bottom line, I will continue to rent through section 8, and will continue buying SFH for long term rentals

Although being highly leveraged can mathematically work out well, being too highly leveraged is a huge risk. All other posts I have read has been good insight and advice. But I would caution you against over leveraging. I have seen investors lose everything when the bank starts to fail, and then call notes due. Have a good balance between increasing portfolio and paying down debt.

Can anyone with experience in working with virtual assistants give me examples of what types of things you have them do?

I agree with Shane. Do not max the credit line. At your young age u can afford to pay some of that debt down. He is also correct about not trusting the bank. What would u do if they called the loan due?

Some schools offer degrees in Real Estate & Finance. In the end, you will probably not be able to invest in real estate until u have a job that pays u well enough to have the extra cash. Having said that, computer science is the best paying starting salary of the majors u mentioned. U can learn all I need about real estate investing through mentors, books, BP site, and just getting out there and doing it. My two degrees are in Aeronautical Science, and another in Logistics & Transportation. Neither taught me a thing about real estate.

It may be different in some states, but you usually have to hang your license with a broker in x amount if days. I also work FT and have my license. I'm not interested in running people all over looking for a home. I got my license for MLS data and for flexibility of getting inside of homes without waiting for agents. But I still have to place my license with a broker

Tried QB recently. I thought it was terrible, and not user friendly at all. I just went back to Excel for now. I have set up spreadsheet broken down into categories that match what tax software asks for when doing taxes. For me, this is much simpler. I only have 7 rentals right now, so not sure what tipping point might be for looking at utilizing other software

@chris Adams Chris, I have used the exact same strategy. Pay cash using HELOC, and then refi out of it. I don't take cash away from the closing table based on value,though it is very tempting. I just walk away with good equity, a lower payment, and none of my own money in the deal. Started buying rentals again last year. I have a contract on my 7th right now. The only thing that slows me down is the time for bank to do refi closings. I'm trying to get them to speed up the process. I don't have to wait a year or anything, just seems it takes longer than it should to do a simple refi.

Do you own your home or have equity in it? If so, set up a HELOC to pay for down payments or pay cash and then refinance. One observation, IRS limits you to a max of $17,000 contribution to your 401k, so you are probably not putting half of your $52,000 into 401k