All Forum Posts by: Frankie Woods

Haha, I hope it works out. I'm excited to finally get started "right"! I'll let you know how it goes.

@Elizabeth C.

I completely agree with you. I like the fact that we can buy a good home, leave in it for ~3-4 years, and rent it out. I like to live comfortably, in very good areas, so the 1 or 2% rule will almost never hold for the properties I actually live in until I feel comfortable rehabbing (which I would like to start doing in the relatively near future)

Unfortunately for me, I didn't know about the 50% rule before I started buying my properties. In fact, the first home I bought was a condo in Dayton, Oh. I've since learned that condos are generally terrible investments because of the HOAs and condo fees. I bought the place in 2007 right as the market was starting to crash. I thought my 10% discount was a good deal. I didn't even consider the surrounding rents, but only considered location, location, location. I should sell the place as it's not cash flowing (taking about a $100/mo loss), but I'm barely above water on the mortgage, and I'm at least getting some principle towards the property.

I did a little bit better on the property in California and have I'm breaking even when considering the 50% rule. So, considering I lived there for 3 years and had roommates, it's been a decent investment.

I closed on a place here in IL about 2 mo's before I discovered BiggerPockets. It looks like I'll, yet again, be breaking even when considering the 50% rule based on rents on craigslist.

My goal now is to take a similar approach to yours and start "truly" investing into properties in each of the places I live for the $100-200/unit/mo cash flow. Thanks for your response! It's good to hear from other military members and their spouses!

Hello everyone! I hate to admit it, but I've been following BiggerPockets now for about 7 mos and have yet to introduce myself. The information I've found here has been absolutely incredible. I've also just started to listen to the podcasts and have been blown away.

I'm a military guy and have been buying SFRs at each of my duty stations(OH, CA, IL) and then renting them out when I PCS. I recently moved to Scott AFB, which is right down the street from St. Louis. I thought I had a pretty good strategy, but upon review of the material on this site, I realize it's been <almost> completely wrong.

Well, now it's time to get the ball rolling in the right direction. I'm hoping to purchase my first multi-family in the next 6 mos. I'm currently attending local REIAs and trying to set up a team to best position myself for the future. I will ccontinue to learn from this site and maybe even meet some of you from the local area. Thanks again for the great source of info! I've already directed several of my other RE enthusiasts to the site!