All Forum Posts by: Charlie Cameron

Good morning Larry,

There are definitely buildings of the type you describe around the Dayton area, though many were built before the 60s (think 40s and 50s too).  

May I ask why the good school districts?  Generally in the areas with "really good" schools, the taxes are prohibitively expensive to get the kind of cash flow many investors are looking for.  Yeah you'll get some higher rents in Oakwood, Centerville, or Beavercreek, but you'll pay more for the property and higher ratio of taxes.  

I would argue that C-B class properties that cash flow well are probably NOT in those areas but rather in the city of Dayton (east Dayton for lower vacancy), Fairborn, Huber Heights, Kettering, etc.  Just some food for thought.

I recently purchased 8 units through @Roger Smart at Outside the Box Real Estate.  The whole company is an investor-based team and own their own properties as well.  They get the numbers.  

Best of luck to you!

Welcome Cameron!  Sounds just like how I got started last year.  Talk to @Roger Smart, he can hook you up with the local MLS and start finding you deals. If you are ever back home, networking at the local BP meetups run by @Darrin Carey is awesome.  

Great Job!  Just a word of caution about Alamogordo: I was just stationed there for 4 years.  I have friends with houses there they can't sell.  I'm guessing ones that look as beautiful as that one you just completed will sell, but the market may get wonky after the Germans leave.  It already felt like there were FAR too many houses on the market due to the new builders that came in and built all new neighborhoods - which the military folks bought - leaving all the older homes with no one to sell to.  

Best of luck!

Thank you @Tom S. and @Account Closed!

Hi all!  My wife and I are have started actively seeking deals and are getting really excited!  We think this is a way to supplement our military income once we retire in 16 years!  

While we have traditional financing lined up, we'd really like to use seller financing on as many deals as possible to keep more cash for more deals.  But we are new to this, so here are three questions we really need help with:

1. Can you arrange 30 year seller financing without a balloon?  As in, the principle wouldn't need to be paid off at 5 or 7 years; you could pay the mortgage as long as you want or pay off the remaining principle whenever you wanted.  Is that a thing?  Is there a disadvantage?
2. Can you refinance seller financing with a traditional lender whenever you want?  As in, can you pay off the seller's note as you start a new one with the bank?
3. Can you use a 1031 exchange on a property you still are paying the seller for?  

Any insight is helpful!

Thank you!

Charlie and Greta

@Paul Amegatcher and @Candace Postell Thank you both for the advice.  I haven't looked at the area from an investing perspective until two weeks ago.  I spent a couple hours driving around today and I see what you mean.  Thanks again!

Hey Paul.  What areas do you consider "war zones"?  New to real estate investing and only been in the area for 2 years.  Any help is useful!  Thanks.

@Darrin Carey I was already signed up for that event!  I might just give you a call this weekend!  Thank you for the advice.  

@Kevin Hunter Thanks for the advice as well. I like the plan to start nearby. I used VA for my current loan, though I don't think I could for additional properties unless we House Hacked, which with our first kiddo on the way isn't right for us at the moment. Open to ideas though!

@Patrisha Leybovich I may take you up on that offer.  I had (what I believe was) a great realtor for purchasing my first home.  But I have no idea if he would be good for an investor as well.  

Thank you all for the responses!  Great community.  

Hey everyone!  I'm Charlie Cameron.  My only background in real estate is owning my first house, which I currently live in.  BUT I spend much of my free time working on stock market investing online content, blogging, and online courses.  Recently a friend brought up a bunch of the advantages of real estate so I've been running the numbers and educating myself as much as possible!  I've listened to 15+ BP podcasts in the last week alone... I sat through the webinar last night as well. 

I've been building a spreadsheet to compare a specific real estate investment to the S&P500 over 30 years.  Super fun exercise... I've spent 6+ hours on it and hasn't felt like work!

It seems too early to tell, but since my wife and I are both active duty military I think that good deal rental properties - likely multifamily for the better margin - is what may suit us best.

Since we move around every 4 or fewer years, the hardest decision to make is WHERE to invest.  Dayton seems decent, especially around the Air Force base properties rent and sell immediately.  But I just don't know about owning multifamily properties in downtown Dayton (where most are) and then moving away in about 2 years from now.  Perhaps in that time frame I can build the team I need with the right property managers to make it happen?  Thoughts?