All Forum Posts by: Travis Zappia

Invest in education

I am looking to get into college rental properties in my market as there is a huge college population (35k+) students a year needing a place to live in my area. I know the challenges that come with college rental properties from doing my research, but I was hoping to get some advice on when to buy. For the college area I am looking at classes end on April 24th and begin back up on August 21st. I am looking into properties needing $3-5k worth of work (mostly lipstick on the pig type of work) so lead time to get the property ready once purchased should be 2-3 weeks. Looking to get advice from others who have purchased college rentals before on when the best time to have the home purchased and ready to show is. Would appreciate any advise or experiences you could share!

Thanks for the feedback! I will definitely begin to get away from condos and stay looking at SFR's in the area.

Thanks Jeran. That is good information to know. Going though the pre-approval process with a couple lenders and going to continue the hunt for some good leads.

I am currently looking into condos, SFR, and townhomes in the Oviedo, Fl area. I have been running the numbers on 10-15 different properties my realtor has provided and continue to find the HOA fees are turning each deal into not casflowing. I wanted to get some advice from the BiggerPockets community on what you have found with deals where the HOA seemed steep ($250-350/month) and what maintenance and other expenses you can eliminate from your analysis when running the numbers. I removed the capital expenses that wouldn't be necessary with the HOA (roof, landscaping, exterior paint, etc.) but was hoping to get some advice or personal stories from others on high HOA fee properties.

Jorge, thanks for the response! Would you be interested in talking sometime? Would like to pick your brain on some things and have someone to ping ideas off of. I am currently working a full time job and I'm on the lookout for deals right now. I've had 20 different leads I've run down in the last 3 days and have gone to see 10 houses. Very serious about getting my investment portfolio started!

How's it going everyone! Ever since reading Rich Dad Poor Dad a few weeks ago I have been reading a lot of books and listening to podcasts about investing. Finally ran across Bigger Pockets earlier this week and have really enjoyed all of the podcasts I have listened to so far.

I am currently an Industrial Engineer designing next generation fulfillment centers for Walmart.com at the moment. I am looking to begin my investing in real estate and am trying to find a mentor to begin the journey with and bounce questions off of. Please reach out to me if you have some time to talk! Would love to hear from everyone out there who has done this all before!