All Forum Posts by: Nick Leamon

@Sharon Duthie Welcome! I think you will find this site to have an abundance of information, if you have not already checked out the beginners guide, that is a great place to start. Then you can search the forums for the information you want, and if you cannot find it, just ask. I am in the Dallas area, but may be investing in Houston in the coming years. I wish you the best of luck on your REI endeavors!

@Dan Chapman  Welcome to the site! I am a buy and holder as well, though in the dallas area. Pleasure to meet you!

Hey Guys and Girls,

Looking for an answer to a simple question but i cannot seem to find it anywhere. I live in Texas and have a full time job but invest in real estate on the side. I was contemplating getting my RE license. From what I can find if you don't have a job with a broker then you are considered "inactive". My question is that if I am "inactive" can i still buy and sell property for myself? and have access to MLS? and have the ability to call and schedule house visits on listed properties? or are these things that only "active" agents can do?

I also have read that there are some brokers that have very low desk fees, and that some investors will "hang their hats" with these brokers. does anyone know of any brokers like this in the north Dallas area?

Thanks in advance for all the great feedback,

Nick Leamon

Hi @Russell Petersen welcome to bigger pockets! I am a relative beginner in the North Dallas area as well, I own 1 SFH rental and am looking to grow my portfolio, I don't know much about sub2, but look forward to seeing how it goes.

Awesome deal! Keep us posted on how it all goes.

You may also want to be careful with your numbers here as well, if I am not mistaken, with FHA you now have to pay PMI for the life of the loan which can be expensive and cut into NOI. Now you can refi conventional later and get rid of the PMI but you will probably need 20% down which kind of defeats the purpose. So make sure you talk to your lender and see how much PMI will be.

But if you can make the deal work with accounting for PMI then by all means go for it, buying an owner occupied 4-plex seems to be a popular strategy for getting into REI

Hey Marcus

The 2% rule and 50% rule can be found in the beginners guide here on bigger pockets.

The 2% rule basically says that for rentals you should be able to rent out your house for 2% of the purchase price each month, i.e. for a $100,000 home you should be able to rent it out for $2000/month

and the 50% rule basically says that over time 50% of your monthly income will go towards expenses (i.e. taxes, insurance, vacancy and repairs)

While im not sure that the 2% rule is necessary for SFH since joining bigger pockets i have found that most serious investors dont operate on less than 1.3% and that the 50% rule can be cut to 36% if you are managing it yourself as roughly 14% goes to a property manager (but you should still want to pay yourself as a property manager)

i would recommend reading the beginners guide it has a lot of helpful info on this subject

Nick

if you use the 2% rule and the 50% rule, it should only take $833,333.33 to reach 100K in passive income per year.

X*0.02(2 percent rule)*12(months)*.5(50 percent rule) = $100,000.00

X= $833,333.33

Hey Angie,

I had a similar problem, i had a house i wanted rented, but i didn't (at the time) know how to run background/credit checks and it was my first time, so I had my Realtor help me with it, she listed it on MLS, and took a lower commission, as i have used her for a few deals, and will continue to, but you still have to pay the agent who finds renters for your house. Lucas is right it is generally 1 months rent (half to listing half to renting agent) She put her sign in the yard, which made it look more official, ran background, and credit checks for me, and did all the showings, but after it was rented, I did all the managing. I do all the repairs, and collect the rent.

Hey guys,

As always looking to keep my education going, looking for some good (bigger pockets endorsed) real estate books on buy and hold SFH rentals, or just general Real estate. I saw the 2 in the BP store, and while they look interesting, not really my niche. What books did yall find informative and helpful in your real estate education?