BiggerPockets

Not only do you need to learn about REI, you need to learn about the RE market you are in. Maybe as you start to study it, a particular investing technique will make more sense than others.

Is LV a good place to do rehabs, buy-and-hold, subject-to? You have to learn a little about these techniques to be able to recognize the good deals. Sure it is a lot to learn, but if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. Lots of people tho't it was easy during the boom because it was easy to get financing. Now most of them have an f'closure on their credit.

There are a lot of courses available on the various techniques. Just remember, the author of the course always makes it sound far easier than it really is... I know by experience.

I hope I have not discouraged you. You became proficient enough at poker to earn a living, which I find amazing, you can do this, too.

I wish you luck!

Thanks a ton for all the advice folks!

After doing a fair amount of research over the last few days, I am beginning to think that rentals will be my best avenue to explore in real estate. Id like to ideally buy my first property with cash( is this smart or no???) and then keep building my rentals.. I think there is a demand in Vegas for ( no credit check) houses, As I live in one right now and we are paying wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy tooo much.. any advice on rentals??? any pointers.. etc... Thanks so much, This site has so much knowledge, its crazzzy.

Before you head out buying rentals, as stated by others, educate yourself. The 50/50 down payment to loan ratio may be perfect for some and foolish for others. It all depends on your ultimate goal. You are in a tremendous market for long-term investors in Las Vegas, prices are down and rents are up. The market outlook for the future is bright, although it looks bleak at the moment. Your first priority should be to surround yourself with a team of quality people, then look to acquire a property. After you gain some experience you can look to expand your holdings.

:cool:

TJ,
There arte many lenders that would loan to poor credit with 50% down, in fact, you could even get a non-recourse loan with as little as 30% down on a rental. As far as your question of 50% down/50% cash, you would have lots of positive cash flow, but you would be giving up some leverage. What if you bought 2 with 30% down. Wouldn't your return be greater? - It would!
Vegas is a great market for a buy and hold strategy, rental demand is high, and you could sell via owner carry loans as people will pay premium for the non bank qual loans as well as higher interest rates, improving your returns.

TJ,

I personally would and would recommend to you (if you were my client) to buy more with less down. The key is to buy right, manage properly, and to not over-leverage. 30% down is a very, very safe play, especially when you buy at a discount giving you even more of a cushion. I would recommend that you keep approx. $5,000 per home in cash for a reserve account (invest it in a liquid & guaranteed interest vehicle).
With the balance of the funds, you could buy 2 homes in the Vegas area. The "bread & butter" are the 1500-2000 sq. ft. 3+2 & 4+2 homes. The newer, the better. I am getting these for 1/2 of what they cost in 07', and approx. 20% discount from the true lowest dollar. With 30% down, you WILL cash flow these units, in fact, they cash flow with only 20% down.

Ok, heres the update.. my credit score is currently 632( I know its not good yet)... it was low 500s earlier this year, i paid everything off... ive just opened up 2 new lines of credit to hopefully boost my score higher.. Is a score of 632 going to get me the loans that I want to buy rentals??? Thanks again for the help everyone

TJ,

It seems like you have a really good mind set and it sounds like you are really getting your act together. Keep up the great work there. IMO, the first and most important thing you can do is learn your local market. You should know exactly what should cost what, and what goes for what, and the average time for anything to rent in the area you plan on investing. The Second most important thing you can do is Network. You cannot be very successful in Real Estate, or anything in life really, by yourself. It's amazing what a group of people can do if everyone is working together on the same page. So join your local REI club and read on this forum. It's always helpful to get other peoples point of views.