All Forum Posts by: Thadeous Larkin

Christopher (I'd link to your name all fancy-like, but I'm currently in an undisclosed forward environment and the computers here won't let me do that),


You're off to a great start in your financial education just by scoping these forums. I second the advice of just about everybody here (build up a knowledge base, focus on doing one thing a day to improve your familiarity and comfort in analyzing deals, odds are very good that you'll be able to use your VA loan for a four-or-less-plex, etc.), but would add that you don't have to invest in the place where you live. See David Greene's book on long-distance real estate investing as the primer on that subject.

For example, I'm an Army officer who is currently deployed and I'm investing in the Syracuse, NY market.  In other words, you aren't restricted to Colorado (or just to house-hacking) once you move here (there?  Whatever.  You know what I mean).

Unrelated to investing generally, you'll find that Colorado Springs is a very military-friendly town and has a pretty strong veteran community.  In fact, one of our REIAs here is headed up by an Army vet.  Shoot me a PM if you ever need anything.

Lance at A Precise Home Inspection ( https://www.aprecisehomeinspection.com/about-us/ ) was pretty great.    Super reasonable and prints the report right at the house.

@Colleen Prescott - First of all, welcome. Second of all, good for you in taking control of your life and deciding not to be subjected to the rat race. Third of all, PM me if you want my unvarnished thoughts on Syracuse.

Hey BP - looking for a CPA in the Syracuse, NY area who focuses on or has some expertise in accounting with LLCs in Real Estate.  Your help much appreciated.

@James Carlson - you're right, I was being a little dramatic with my language.  Technically the new regulations wouldn't "prevent" us from renting out our homes, but proposed registration, fees, etc. would be so prohibitive to behavior that it would amount to a type of prevention.   It disincentivizes us from even attempting to comply with the regulation, and thus we won't do it.  Sort of the inverse of incentivizing people to provide quality affordable housing by offering tax incentives to those who buy houses.

@Michael Vialpando - Please do PM me the info.  I'm not at all surprised by that flip-flopping.  I'm originally from the great state of New York, where the thruway tolls were only supposed to be active for ~ten years after the thruway system was built, supposedly to pay for their costs.  If you've ever driven across New York, you'll be shocked, shocked to learn that the tolls are still in place and only increasing. I've never heard of a governmental organization that is willing to cut off a source of revenue once it's in place. I predict that attempts to regulate/earn revenue from the STR industry will not end with this latest effort.

@Michael Vialpando - I'm kind of a luddite, so I don't have Facebook.  Is there any military representation in the Short Term Rental Alliance?  As folks who deploy or go on temporary duty, often for short periods of time, we're hit pretty hard by anything that prevents us from renting our space in the meantime.

NOTE:  I say that as my own personal opinion.  This is not an official position of the DoD or any branch of the U.S. military.

@Casey Boerger,

Syracuse isn't all wine and roses, though. You should consider Long-Term objective measures like population growth (declining in Syracuse), and the number of people seeking HUD housing (more than national average) among their measures.

In case you’re unfamiliar, Syracuse (the city) is really block-by-block. Lots of folks see multifamily houses listed for cheap and think they can get a real deal, but you HAVE to know the neighborhoods.

Fix and flip in the ‘burbs. PM me if you want my thoughts on the most attractive ones. 

@James Carlson - wish I could make it. Sounds like a great event, and THANK YOU for putting it on. Someone take notes for me. 

Also, boooo Colorado Springs new proposed regulations. Boooo.

@Mark Costa - thanks for the references. I’ll PM you for sure.

As an update, one thing we realized is that a HELOC on the property to be flipped (appraised for $85k) would essentially destroy our credit (large loan for a short period, closing out a line of credit after a short period). So we decided that's not the way to go. Something to consider if you're being creative with financing...

Hola friends,

Hypothetical: I buy a house in Syracuse for cash and then need to finance the flip.  (Don’t fight the hypothetical, that’s the situation)

In trying to finance the flip, which will cost between $40-$50k, the only way I can think to finance it is a HELOC. Traditional financing is probably out because of debt-to-income ratio.

Anyone know the pitfalls of getting a HELOC in New York, or have any preferred lenders?

Your thoughts appreciated.