All Forum Posts by: Travis Sperr

Kelvin K. - I am in the same boat, just two years ago credit in the 780's watching it slowly decline as I too have crossed the 5+ mortgage threshold. Also no late pays, other debt, etc.

I don't know that there is a good defense in this scenario other than to keep making payments on the mortgages/debt as required. If you do go below the 720 which is a firm number on the fannie loans, you will be surprised at what you can find at local banks, even without title seasoning. Until then just keep buying!

Marty Boardman Amen to that, 10-20% is a great starting point, some areas it can be 30-40%.

Due diligence is so important, understanding the difference in value between the busy street and the interior property can be difficult to navigate.

Jeff S. I really enjoyed reading this post, thank you for sharing.

The comments are great, don't get me wrong I love real estate just as much as the next person. Retiring from real estate and having the freedom not to work are different in my eyes. Life is too short to work hard forever. Depending on your market it is fairly simple to put together $10-$15k in passive income before your golden years.

Good Luck to everyone.

Marcela,

Real estate investing is a great place to be and I wish you the best of success.

Please do thorough due diligence on any real estate education you consider. I have seen people dump their life savings into programs that simply do not work. If it is on late night TV or only in town for a few days giving two hour training's steer clear.

Find local mentors who are in the business doping deals regardless of the path you chose.

I think it depends on which ones you watch, but they are all wrong. I think the Property Brothers show has the most realistic pricing for full remodels.

It isn't the cost of repairs that gets me on some of the shows as much as they never consider the holding cost or cost to sell. Anyone in real estate knows you can't just take the sales price subtracting purchase and repairs to come up with the profit.

Nonetheless I still find myself watching from time to time.

Hello BP Folk-

I am taking my father hog hunting next year in Texas, looking for a place/ranch/lodge within 3 hours of Austin, Texas. Looking for a semi guided hunt where we can harvest a few hogs, eat well and have a Shiner Bock or 12 at the end of the day.

Thank you.

Not that this post didn't get enough responses, but here are a few ideas.

You can use a savings account or deposit only account at some banks. If you are concerned with they tenant trying to withdrawal, move the money from the account after rents are paid.

I have used this strategy and have a love/hate relationship. what I have done is supplied the tenant with deposit slips that are clearly marked with the address to keep deposits straight. I also advise that if the tenant wants to make deposits and it is not clearly marked they may not receive credit. This all works pretty well, furthermore they have the deposit slip as a receipt.

I think you will find through your investing career that there are better ways to collect rent, although being flexible helps.

Nathan Harris good for you to be looking at rental properties when the time is so prime.

Agreeing with the other two gentlemen the best way to acquire property with as little of your own money into the deal as possible is to purchase with hard or private money, fix, fill with a tenant and refinance that note for long term cashflow. I am using that exact strategy in my market to buy rental properties that gross cashflow after debt service $500-700 per month.

If you work with a freddie/fannie direct lender you can do this with no title seasoning and go up to 10 properties. Although bank financing will eventually be in your tool box, I feel it is better to use the low conventional rates as much as possible before beginning to use higher rate and shorter term bank loans.

Good Luck!

As log as you can document the move was work related there is nothing to worry about. The chances of you ever being asked about it are incredibly slim as long as you keep current on the loan.

You may consider - you can only have 1 FHA loan at a time, it could restrict you from purchasing in your new location, carrying 2 mortgage payments with no landlord history, 1st property is at a high LTV etc.

I feel it is a mistake to pay "cash", or in this case use the equity in your own home to buy property, unless of course you simply have more money than you know what to do with.

By using leverage you significantly increase your cash on cash return. It will leave you the assets to qualify for future loans or additional cashflowing properties, etc.

The advantage to paying cash is that you don't have a mortgage, you can afford to carry a vacant property, etc.

In this scenario because you are not actually using cash you have in the bank collecting .000001% interest, you might compare what your actual payment will be on the HELOC vs a purchase loan.

It can be very challenging to get a cash out refinance after purchasing a property, some lenders can require 6-12 months seasoning to get your cash back out.

Just as an example, I took a call from a gentlemen today who purchased a home cash rehabbed with cash and was going to refinance. He lost his job and his life savings is tied up in a little property that rents for $875 a month that he cant get refinanced.

Just my 2 pennies. Good Luck!