All Forum Posts by: Zachary Dosch

I recently ran this scenario and unexpectedly came to the same conclusion.

Having cash in hand is going to become even more important and the agile investor usually gets the best deals whether that means reinvesting the money into additional properties or paying off your current ones.

I think the key points that this scenario is bringing up is that like rarely goes as planned so its important to have as many options as possible and the ability to lock these interest rates in for 30 years is truly incredible (incredibly stupid on behalf of the bank but thats another topic).

This is basically the definition of leverage.

Yeah, you are most likely going to have to go outside of the standard residential mortgage that gets sold on the secondary market because not only is it much tougher to get a loan after you already have 4, but there is no way around the income problem because that is part of the standard documentation.

What you need to find is a bank that is going to keep the mortgage on their book or go the commercial route because they can then add back in the interest and depreciation that is skewing your numbers. The interest rates might be a tad higher but its better than nothing at all. Also, when you go the commercial route, you will be able to leverage the equity from one property for the next property.

I think it also depends on what your long term strategy is.

If you want to hold these properties for a long time it might be worth it to go with the higher end properties. It also depends on how much cash you have on hand and how much you want to put into each property.

Being a property manager might be a decent gig if you can manage the right property. Should be a good educational tool as well.

Im considering doing the same thing.

a good precentage of native NDers don't like all this boom activity because of the baggage that comes with it. However, there are worse things than having your house double in value and being able to sell it with out a realtor to fund your retirement and pay for your retirement home in Arizona in cash. Even if they don't like it, there isn't anything they can do to slow it down - there is way too much muscle behind the oil.

Adam Metzker what are you working on specifically in Dickinson? Its good to hear that Dickinson isn't getting too bad - I haven't been there in a couple months.

It would take a well capitalized, experienced investor if you were going into this situation cold but there is plenty of money to be made. Im not going too crazy - mainly apartments and SFHs in Bismarck.

ND is even prosing eliminating property tax. Im proposing the buy the Minnesota Vikings and relocate them to Bismarck! We'll find the money and build them the stadium!

Im in Bismarck - let me know if you need anything. It would be interesting to hear from people in Fargo and Grand Forks as I have been focusing on Bismarck.

Im mainly sticking to Bismarck where the workers want to put their families. SFH are in great demand.

If you have the means and the "ins" a great play would be putting some used double wides on vacant land. You can't expect to sell them for anything after this is done but you could make a lot of money in the mean time.

Going into Dickinson, Williston, or any of the small surrounding communities might be a little more work than its worth, at this point. I would keep pulling back to cities like Bismarck where this isn't nearly as much wear and tear on the properties while still commanding a great rate.

The biggest threat to this is if the EPA somehow gets fracking shut down. At this point, there's more than enought oil to occupy 30 years worth of drilling. The Bakken is the biggest oil reserve found in the last 40 years and ND will soon be #2 on the list of oil producing states.

Well, the other logical option would be to replace the property taxes with income taxes in which case you would go to jail rather than lose your home if you aren't current.

This is basically a win win for me because if it passes, it would save me a big chunk of change every year. If it doesn't, like I hope, the funding for the necessities in society won't be cut off.

I can't believe that Im actually in favor of a tax being Im going to write in Ron Paul this election but I feel better about this tax because I see every day what these taxes pay for. I would much rather get upset about what is going on in Washington being its the most corrupt organization in the history of civilization. I have zero faith in any of our politicians and our entire political system so I have no problem starving them as long as I have roads to drive on and somebody comes to put out the fire when my house is up in flames.

No question, major reform in all aspects is needed, but just because it isn't structured the right way isn't a good enough reason to throw the whole thing out. They money is going to have to come from somewhere.

@Bill Gulley - That is an interesting concept and its been something I have been considering for a while. Do you have any rules of thumb that you like to use ie how old a house is before you look to get something newer ect.?

Would you say that its better to buy a property that is slightly smaller but 15 years newer for roughly the same price?

I believe there is money to be made in just about every environment. Good investors adapt and that will always be a positive thing for the overall health of the market.