All Forum Posts by: Taylor Hudgins

Hi Hoyoon,

Congrats on starting your investing journey!

I met my real estate agent by attending a few local real estate meetups in the area. There are usually a few real estate agents that attend these events that typically also have their own investments. Even if you don't specifically meet a real estate agent, you'll meet tons of other investors who will be able to recommend the agents they use.

If meetups aren't your thing, you can also find an investing-specific agent here on BiggerPockets by going to Network > Real Estate Agent then filtering down to your area.

Good luck on looking at the investment properties this weekend!

Are you starting to work on your first deal too?!  It is such an exciting process!

We decided to started by purchasing a rental that needed some cosmetic updates.  We purchased at $59,000 which made our mortgage $395 with an expected rental of $850.  We rented it out in August and are cashflowing great!

This biggest thing I would do differently is hire a contractor ASAP.  We made the newbie mistake of trying to fix EVERYTHING ourselves to save money, but we made a lottttt of mistakes, went extremely slow over the span of months, and had to purchase a ton of tools that we didn't have.  We could've hired a contractor to complete everything in just a few weeks and saved ourselves a lot of frustration as well as money.  

Of course!  and yes!  Even if you decide to go with a flip - maybe try something that only needs basic updates while you're learning the flow because I promise there will always be "oopsies" that happen.  

The "oopsies" are just more manageable when you start on a smaller scale - especially while you're still getting a hang of things.

Let me know how everything goes!

Congrats on making the move towards your first investment!  This was a tough question for us too.  Do we flip to make more money for a rental?  Do we try to just buy a rental first?  Do we house hack our way into a duplex?

So many options!  My best advice would be to really hone in on WHY you and your wife started looking into investing.  Cash flow? Fast money? Passive income?  For us, we knew absolutely that we wanted to start creating passive income.

And since we were COMPLETE newbs, we went for a small rental property that really only needed cosmetic updates (paint, carpet, etc.) because 1) we new if things hit the fan, we wouldn't go bankrupt or fall into massive amounts of debt and 2) it was "controllable" in that we didn't have to worry about major plumbing, electrical, or structural issues.  It was a great first property for us to dive into investing with.

Figure out what you're comfortable with along with WHY you actually started and begin there.  Once you have your toes in the water, the next property whether its a flip or a house hack will be much smoother.  

The biggest thing I know of is that you'll have access to deals much faster than the average investor without a license.  You'll be able to view properties faster, be notified faster, and have a better idea than most with access to the entire database.

Congrats on getting your first home Joseph!  That is so exciting!  I have very minimal experience with new construction, but definitely make sure to read the contract.  New builds have to jump through a lot of permits, zoning ordinances, and building codes so sometimes they have to change things as they go.  If you're married to a certain layout or color scheme, make sure you talk with your agent about how to make sure you will 100% get those.

Hi Vic - 

I'm not from Raleigh, but I did go to college there!  NC State in Raleigh is growing extremely fast so it is a great area if you're interested in student housing.  If you go for student housing, you may want to stick to marketing to graduate school students.  Durham also has Duke University so growth should be great there as well!

There are TONS of corporations moving to the Triangle area (Raleigh, Durham, & Chapel Hill) which creates a huge influx of people moving to the area.  Apex, Cary, and other surrounding areas are great to look into as well.

I completely agree with James here (at least as you're dipping your toes in the REI water)!

Having your first property near you has been a huge game changer for us.  We have the ability to understand what is really going on and how well our contractors, tenants, etc. are taking care of the property.  As you gain more properties, your threshold for repairs or other issues will also increase.  

Do you have an out-of-state area where you have a few folks who can be boots on the ground for you?  Having someone in another town who can keep up with your property may also be a good option.

Great to hear!  You're journey is going to be so kick-***!  Always feel free to message me if you need anything at all!  Or even just support! :) 

Best of travels to Hawaii Chris!  Always feel free to reach out to us Virginia folks if you ever need a hand in your out-of-state investing in the future.

Maybe you can find some other great spots to invest in while you're in Hawaii!