Innovative Real Estate Investment Strategies Forum

What actually trips up new RAL operators in year one
Innovative Strategies
Boston, Massachusetts
What actually trips up new RAL operators in year one

Not an operator myself, I work on the operations side for RAL Roadmap, so I see the same mistakes come up across a lot of first-time owners. A few of them aren't the ones the training courses spend much time on. The biggest one: budgeting for the license but not for the build-out that gets you th...

Loan Requests and What’s REALLY Needed
Innovative Strategies
Loan Requests and What’s REALLY Needed

We receive about 600 loan requests per year. Probably 35 - 40% are seeking mortgage loans that even if they receive funding their problem won’t be solved. What these “borrowers” need isn’t debt, new debt, replacement debt, or more debt. What’s really needed to put their investment on the right tr...

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Residential Assisted Living- What is up with this?
Innovative Strategies
Atlanta, Georgia
Residential Assisted Living- What is up with this?

Hey y’all currently in the process of renovating a 5B 3B house for rent. My original plan was just to flip this like everything else. I recently heard about residential assisted living facilities. Has anyone actually started one of these? Are they as passive as I have heard about? Would love to p...

Best ROI options
Innovative Strategies
Memphis, Tennessee
Best ROI options

I got $20k to put down. What is my best strategy for the biggest ROI?

What Playing Spades Taught Me About Real Estate Deals
Innovative Strategies
Atlanta, Georgia
What Playing Spades Taught Me About Real Estate Deals

Some of my earliest lessons about making deals had nothing to do with real estate. They happened around games of spades in the military. You’d have four people around a table, cards moving, people talking trash, and somewhere between hands, actual problems were getting solved. Guard shifts got tr...

RAL isn't a rental strategy with extra steps, it's kind of its own thing
Innovative Strategies
RAL isn't a rental strategy with extra steps, it's kind of its own thing

I work for RAL Roadmap, and I keep seeing the same comparison happen: people treating residential assisted living like it's just another rental class next to short term or mid term, something you slot in beside your other strategies. I get why, it's still a house, still real estate. But the more ...

Wealth Outside Wall Street and the book "Retire in 10 Years or Less"
Innovative Strategies
Kansas City, Missouri
Wealth Outside Wall Street and the book "Retire in 10 Years or Less"

BP Community I could use your help. I recently read the book "Retire in 10 Years or Less" by Ryan D. Lee and Robert G. Allen after listening to an episode of the Ken McElroy Show, where they interviewed Ryan Lee. Most of the topics covered in the book are similar to the principles that I have alr...

Sub2 = Class2 Felony in IL?
Innovative Strategies
Chicago, Illinois
Sub2 = Class2 Felony in IL?

Recent changes to the Illinois Mortgage Rescue Fraud Act (see https://www.ilga.gov/ftp/Public%20Acts/104/104-0553.htm and https://ilga.gov/Legislation/ILCS/Articles?ActID=2795&Ch...) seem to make purchasing sub2 illegal. Assuming anyway that the mortgage is delinquent more than 30 days or in fore...

What actually creates the value in a sober living deal, and why most underwriting mis
Innovative Strategies
Boston, Massachusetts
What actually creates the value in a sober living deal, and why most underwriting mis

Most people underwrite a recovery residence like a rooming house. Count the beds, multiply by weekly rent, back out vacancy. That math is what makes these deals look mediocre, and it is the wrong math. The value comes from one long term lease to one operator entity, not from per bed rent. Once th...

Section 8 investing in Cleveland
Innovative Strategies
Cleveland, Ohio
Section 8 investing in Cleveland

Hi, I have read posts in a number of forums about section 8 investing in Cleveland. I am a newcomer to the real estate investment scene in the US (moved here in the pandemic), and I wanted to connect with anyone that has experience with Section 8 investments in Cleveland particularly. I am intere...

Airbnb Arbitrage viable strategy?
Innovative Strategies
Airbnb Arbitrage viable strategy?

Is rental arbitrage a good option for starting out instead of buying on a limited budget?

Is 100% Financing Always a Good Thing?
Innovative Strategies
Is 100% Financing Always a Good Thing?

There's a lot of discussion around financing as much of a deal as possible. But I'm curious where investors draw the line. If a deal could potentially be financed with very little cash out of pocket, would you automatically prefer that? Or would you rather put some of your own capital into the de...

Anyone running CoLiving / rent-by-the-room in Georgia? Looking for real-world experie
Innovative Strategies
Atlanta, Georgia
Anyone running CoLiving / rent-by-the-room in Georgia? Looking for real-world experie

Hey everyone, I’m a long-term investor in central Georgia and I’m exploring a CoLiving / rent-by-the-room model on a larger property I’m considering bringing to market. The concept I’m evaluating: 12 bedrooms / 4 bathrooms (all rooms newly furnished... 6 Queen Bedrooms & 6 Twin XL Bedrooms with p...

SOBER LIVING: Looking to interview someone who has started a sober-living house
Innovative Strategies
SOBER LIVING: Looking to interview someone who has started a sober-living house

Hi! I write for Realtor.com and am looking to interview someone who has successfully started a sober living house. Ideally, you've owned/run this for a year+. This is for a story in the NEWS + INSIGHTS section. If this is you or someone you know, please reach out. Any help much appreciated! Thanks!

Supportive housing partner
Innovative Strategies
Supportive housing partner

Supportive Housing Partner ~ any advice on the pros and cons of going this route? I know several people who either own or work for mental health , veteran , drug/alcohol addiction , etc businesses who say they can't buy houses themselves for their businesses due to conflict of interest. I want to...

Which Property-Management Tasks Would You Automate First?
Innovative Strategies
Which Property-Management Tasks Would You Automate First?

Managing rental properties involves more than collecting rent. A surprising amount of time can disappear into repetitive tasks like: Responding to rental inquiries Pre-screening prospective tenants Scheduling showings Following up on incomplete applications Answering routine tenant questions Rout...

Renting by the Room
Innovative Strategies
Renting by the Room

Has anyone tried renting by the room in a multifamily? E.g. A duplex with 6 total beds - each side gets each of the 3 rooms rented out separately?

What Numbers Do You Look at Before Refinancing?
Innovative Strategies
What Numbers Do You Look at Before Refinancing?

When evaluating a potential refinance, what numbers make it onto your checklist? For example: Current property value Current loan balance New interest rate New monthly payment Closing costs Cash-out amount Rental income Debt service Future investment opportunity I'm curious whether investors have...

How I Made Substantial Wealth “Partnering” with Passive Investors
Innovative Strategies
How I Made Substantial Wealth “Partnering” with Passive Investors

Throughout my 50 year career as a real estate investor, I “juiced” my ROI, accelerated my wealth building, and increased my net worth by offering participation in my “deals” to passive investors. Passive investors want to invest in real estate or real estate related investments, they just don’t w...

What Number Matters Most Before You Start a Construction Project?
Innovative Strategies
What Number Matters Most Before You Start a Construction Project?

When analyzing a new construction deal, what's the one number you pay the most attention to? Purchase/land cost? Total construction budget? Expected ARV? Monthly holding cost? Projected profit? Financing cost? There's obviously more than one important number, but I'm curious which one experienced...

AI in real estate investing — where do you actually see it adding value?
Innovative Strategies
AI in real estate investing — where do you actually see it adding value?

I work in AI and recently started exploring how it fits into real estate investing workflows. One thing I’ve realized quickly is that most of the “AI for real estate” discussion focuses heavily on: lead generation data scraping automation But in practice, the real bottleneck seems to be decision-...

Co-Living Is Growing — Should Real Estate Investors Be Paying Attention?
Innovative Strategies
Co-Living Is Growing — Should Real Estate Investors Be Paying Attention?

Co-living isn’t just a housing trend. It’s becoming an investment strategy worth paying attention to. I came across some interesting data from Fortune Business Insights that caught my attention. According to their latest report, the global co-living market was valued at $8.98 billion in 2025 and ...

Seller finance / contract for deed
Innovative Strategies
Seller finance / contract for deed

I’m interested in implementing this strategy as an exit for new properties I pick up. Has anyone had luck seller financing? In what markets and price points?

Whos this Jerome Maldonado and is he the real deal?
Innovative Strategies
Charleston, South Carolina
Whos this Jerome Maldonado and is he the real deal?

Anybody know of this new construction guru?

Where do we go from here?
Innovative Strategies
Sacramento, California
Where do we go from here?

My husband and I are able to pull about $350K in equity from our primary residence. We have 1 duplex rental with 3.7% interest rate on the mortgage. It cash flows $1000 per month and it has $200K in equity. We want to use this equity to grow our rental portfolio.... we are interested in multifami...