All Forum Posts by: Tyler Flagg

Hey @Ryan Roundtree I just went through this process myself recently. Bill is right that you won't be able to do a HELOC. However, I was able to do a Business Line of Credit (BLOC) in order to extract equity.

Talk to a few small local banks in your area. Avoid the big names if possible. 

Ask to speak to the commercial lending department and see if they would be willing to do a business line of credit for you. I was able to get mine at 80% LTV. So you'd be looking at a line of credit worth 64k...minus fees of course.

Before you go, check out this BP blog post about getting your loan approved. It's pretty neat. 

Best of luck!

Hey @Jeffrey Marzan. I think that most real estate investors will agree that finding great property managers and great contractors are two of the hardest things to do in this business. Luckily, in a city the size of Killeen, I'm sure you can find someone to replace him. 

If think you've got 3 options.

1) Call him, and try to work out your differences. Tell him your concerns, see where the breakdown in communication is, and figure out how to improve it going forward. If that doesn't work...

2) Find a new property manager. Use the "Network" function on BP in order to reach out to other local investors and get some PM recommendations. There might actually be a BP member who is already a PM in Killeen and would be happy to take-over your duplex. If that doesn't work...

3) Manager the property yourself, just like @Jeff Sprunger mentioned. Be sure to read "Landlording on Autopilot" by Mike Butler before you do. This way, you'll build the skills necessary to manage a property with your duplex...which will make it easier going forward if you choose to buy more. 

Hope the advice wasn't too general. Best of luck!

Hey @Jacob Dame welcome to BP!

I completely understand how overwhelming the idea of it can be. I was the exact same way when I first started reading about real estate investing two years ago.

In the beginning, my goal was like 6 properties in 6 years, then the more I read it grew to 28 properties in 6 years...now I've got my eyes set on mid-sized apartment complexes in the future. The more you read, learn from the forums, and listen to BP podcasts, the more realistic the idea of buying numerous properties in 1 year will sound. I've still got a reaaalllly long way to go before I reach this goal myself, but I'm confident that it is well within my abilities.

Here's a few recommendations to get you started.

1) BP Podcast #132: How Brie Schmidt grew her real estate portfolio by 50 units in 1 year

2) 10X Rule by Grant Cardone

3) The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No (and low) Money Down by Brandon Turner

Best of luck!

Hey @Brandon Roberts. Hope all is well and welcome to the club!

Hey @Roger S. welcome to the community!

Bigger Pockets just recently set up regionalized forums, so if you have any OKC specific question feel free to ask them in the "Oklahoma City Real Estate Forum." Best of luck, and let me know if there is anything I can do to help.

Welcome to BP @Shannon Guy

I grew up not too far away in the Jersey City heights...but have moved out to the midwest for work. The area has come a long way since I was a kid, but there is still room for improvement. I'm glad to hear that people like yourself and your boyfriend are working to make it better. Best of luck!

Before you decide on a website, be sure to check out Lead Propeller and Investor Carrot. I haven't tried either yet, but have heard nothing but great things. That's my plan going forward.

Hey @Brett Campbell welcome to BP!

First off, great questions. These are the same debates that I struggled with last year when I decided to start investing as well.

The answers are pretty subjective, and really depend on what you are personally looking to do when it comes to investing. Therefore, I've included links below to a few episodes of the #AskBP podcast. They are only a few minutes a piece, and definitely worth the time. 

1) Paying Cash or Taking a Loan (i.e. Leveraging) - Podcast #27

2) 15 vs 30 year mortgage - Podcast #30

3) Investing while in the military - Podcast #36

Hopefully this help! Best of luck and feel free to send me a message if there is anything I can do to help.

I'd call up the police precinct that serves that particular neighborhood and get their impression. Although I'm sure the opinion of your tenants is completely valid, it's only one opinion...so it's anecdotal at best. The precinct will be able to tell you which direction the neighborhood is trending, or if the city has plans to fix it up. 

I did this a few times and the officers were extremely helpful. Lots of great information, and they were happy to share. 

Hey @Jaren Woeppel. Check out this post from a few months ago. 

Scott Martin and Theresa Nicoletto had some great suggestions.

Welcome to BP by the way!