All Forum Posts by: Stephen Schaefer

Wow that's a great plan I never even thought of, renting one side out full time, and making the other short term. We don't have a lot of connections yet, but we also planned on speaking to our loan officer and agent we bought our home through. (VA)

I'll certainly look into qualifications of VA loans more. If it could be considered his home, that'd be great. But something like a FHA with rehab costs covered, and 3.5% down, is very do-able to. As providing furnishings and carrying costs for the short term side, is another obstacle.

My wife and I have been trying to teach our oldest son responsible money management, savings, and investing. He joined the Army this past summer, and has since been blowing his money on frivolous things since, like most teenagers of course. So we've been thinking, whats another good way to insure he has some type of financial bonus if/when he decides to get out in 4 years, and this is what we came up with.

We've been talking to him about buying a rental. Of course if his credit and income allow. Prior to joining I had him get a CC to start building credit, and he has, paying on time, low balance, etc. Coupled with the super cheap houses for sale in our area, we think he would qualify. The price range we're thinking is 20-40k, there is an abundance here. We also would have to look into power of attorneys to take care of all of this on his behalf.

Of course he wouldn't be able to use his VA, as its' not a house he would be living in. But what other loan possibilities are there? The houses we're looking at are fixer uppers, and I don't know how things like homepath or other programs work with investment properties.

The broad plan is for the rental to be a nightly/weekly/weekend rental duplex preferably in a certain area, as there's a need here because of race season, and the lakes. That way, when he comes home on leave twice a year, he can black out those dates, and have his own 'home' to stay in if he chooses. 

The whole point of this is to give him the jump start in life my wife and I wish we had as young (financially uneducated) Soldiers years ago, and if he realizes the possibility of REI, and has a potential goal and path when his enlistment is up.

Thanks guys

Maybe a bit of a strange suggestion, I know what manners are performed in different regions/states/cities or tenant to tenant change dramatically...

Have you thought about sitting down with them face to face, and explaining why you need to raise the rent. What are their situations, and if an agreement can be made? Its just past the holidays. Explain this is absolutely a business/investment, and you have costs that rise each year and understand if they're on a fixed income. Personal touches can go a long way.

$30/mo isn't a lot. And if that's a struggle for them, it will only get worse over time. But at the same time, depending on the utilities, that's borderline- put on a jacket, turn off a light savings.

Hi and welcome to BP!

We moved from the Lakewood/Ft. Lewis area two years ago, miss it for sure. I still do home searches in the Bonney Lake/Enumclaw area from time to time, day dreaming.

Good deal. Always smart to get quotes and find the price for a professional job, in this case its a no brainer. Sometimes you get surprised and it ends up being way less than you would have imagined.

 This is where I was going to add my two cents. Depending on the area and home, you can be limited to what you restore and fix and change. Which isn't a bad thing, if that's what you're going for in a historic home.  I feel some historic properties do need to be restored and preserved. But it takes a certain buyer to be ok with single pane windows, boilers, and outrageous utility bills.

These shows are shows, that's all, just entertainment. The only way for N. Curtis from Rehab Addict to make money on those 'fix and flips' is if she got every house for $1. (Which she did in one episode, per the story). With all that said, I watch that show often. Head over heels for that gal :)

Good luck in Baltimore. Haven't lived there in over a decade, scary place to fix and flip. Certain areas, anyway. Those are the homes I love the most though, new england and mid-atlantic. I keep telling my sister I'm going to move back there and fix and flip :)

Boots on ground.

I live in a similar area. $30k is the norm, and there are war zones, and normal good neighborhoods. Theres $30k homes next to 60, and 100k homes, areas that are all generally the same price, and a mile away are expensive lake front homes. Its strange here. However, local lenders understand this, and the lower selling price isn't a problem for them. Its the norm, same with agents.

Even further still those are forever homes. The fix and flips I'm looking at are around 15-25k. Houses sell for 4k. Its all over the place here. 

But they SELL :)

Hope that helps, just understand local lenders do understand their markets, its just strange to an outsider.

Hmmm, stylish=trending=fad=soon out of date. How many of us enjoy golden oak, brass fixtures and faux crystals anymore :)

I do however think "modern traditional" is here to stay. And 'country' or 'traditional' will always be the safe bet.

Hi Kathie,

I didn't expect a big turn out of Arkansan based members here at BP :)

I'll check into the little rock club, a quick googling brought me to carreia.com, if that's the one you're referring to. They hold meetings every month, though I'm not sure if I want to make frequent trips to LR. But it'll be interesting to check them out.

Thanks for the response, I'm happy to see another member so close.

Hi, my name is Eric Schaefer. I live in Hot Springs, Arkansas, moved here 2 years ago from WA. I'm a home owner and landlord.

I came here to educate myself further, get some advice, or a point in the right direction. I've thought about flipping houses since I was a teenager (long before it was cool on tv shows :) ) and I'm ready to take my first big step.

I'm also interested in rentals, both short term and long term, as there's a lot of use for nightly or weekly rentals in my area. But I intend to get a few houses under my belt first, to save up and set aside for rentals I can sit on, without tying up funds for continuous flips.

I don't have any professional experience in the field. I am a jack of trades (personally and professionally), so my bonus I guess is that I won't have to hire for the work. 

What originally brought me here was to find local investors, it appears to be harder than I thought. I don't want a company or individual on the other side of the country. So hopefully once I learn my way around the website, where to post, who to ask, and do a lot of reading- I can start building relationships.

Thats it I guess, hi.