Sold that house a few months ago.

@Ray Guevaracan you house hack

Tech companies are continuously moving here and establishing a footprint in Columbus as well.

I believe Cleveland will continue to grow and be a good market for Investors.

I was doing a lot of legwork and still paying RE agent for the transactions up until got my own license.pros: no commissions in your transactionseasier qualification as real estate professional to offset high W2 of spousecan get access to any house/ easy logisticsmore control in the transactionMLS access with all the information on tip of your fingers, you can move fast with the deallicense knowledge helps to make better decisions and gives broader understanding of the industrycan legally do property management for others, wholesale (many states now making outlaw to do it without license)cons:need to take an exam (it needs preparation and to be good not just barely pass you need to study)fees you pay along the way (MLS, brokerage(I signed with investor-focused on and have a monthly fee and a transaction rate))self-management including taxes and feesneed to relicense + paid education Don't forget the biggest con.

I was told by the bank that I couldn't do a 1031 because it's a primary residence, and 1031 are only for investments.But I also don't want to sell and lose 20-30% on taxes (lived in the house for 2 years)What's the best route?

Rentals create cash flow, and that's what we want as real estate investors, but you need cash on hand for unforeseen circumstances.The AC needs to be replaced, that's $7K to $10K or more depending on the size of the house and if you have one rental, it will eat all your cash flow, same to replace a roof, etc, or if tenant trash the home, you need money to fix it again.To me personally a nice rental portfolio that is healthy consists about 10 units, so if you have an issue with a house the portfolio can cover the repairs and still healthy, but when starting you need to have cash on hand just in caseYes, there are multiple strategies you can use to hack your way to buy your first rental with minimum cash, but I would start wholesaling or fix and flip a few deals to create that cash as fast as possible

Hey Konstance welcome to BiggerPockets I'm fairly new as well if you ever are in need of some property maintenance services such as house washing, or driveway cleaning for your future investments I would love to connect with you. 

Hi Latif, I will be the first to say that I'm relatively new to this, but have spent the last 6 months deeply educating myself through local RE investing clubs, Fortune Builders, BP and other blogs and podcasts, and many books.Generally speaking, the only house I'd recommend paying down is the one you and your family intend to live in for the next 10-20 years.

Hi folks, I am trying to buy a quadplex to house hack for my family.