What would you do with $100k to get started?

[Ryan Paull]

Hello BP community!

My wife and I are looking for some advice on our next move. We have been investing in real estate unintentionally and sporadically for the last 8 years and are ready to jump in with both feet. We are wondering what you would do to get started if you were in the following situation. 

1. -We live in Denver, own a home that we’re house hacking and are entering the last 6 months of building a second home in the mountains that will be a getaway spot for us and a vacation rental.
2. -We are reluctant to invest in anything until the mountain home project is complete. Costs have been wildly unpredictable and we want to make sure that project gets completed.
3. -When the mountain home is complete, we will have roughly $100k that will be available to invest elsewhere.
4. Our goal is to build a portfolio in the next five years that generates at least $3,000/month in net cash flow.
5. -We have the ability to save $4-5k/month from our W2 jobs.

Our questions at this point are:

• -What should we be doing between now and the completion of the mountain home? We’re analyzing deals daily, reading and listening to podcasts every free second we have.
• -What would you do to get to our goal in the next 5 years if you were in our position? We already have 2 mortgages, so would it be wise to get investment mortgages in our own names rather than jointly? (allowing us to get 20 total instead of 10?)
• -What markets would you recommend to achieve this goal? Denver’s cash flow ship has sailed so we’ve been looking at the Milwaukee, St. Paul, Cincinnati, and other midwest markets. We have family and friends in WI, MN and Atlanta, so are attracted to those markets if it makes sense.

We would appreciate any thoughts and/or advice. Thanks so much!

[Remington Lyman]

Originally posted by @Ryan Paull:

Hello BP community!

My wife and I are looking for some advice on our next move. We have been investing in real estate unintentionally and sporadically for the last 8 years and are ready to jump in with both feet. We are wondering what you would do to get started if you were in the following situation. 

1. -We live in Denver, own a home that we’re house hacking and are entering the last 6 months of building a second home in the mountains that will be a getaway spot for us and a vacation rental.
2. -We are reluctant to invest in anything until the mountain home project is complete. Costs have been wildly unpredictable and we want to make sure that project gets completed.
3. -When the mountain home is complete, we will have roughly $100k that will be available to invest elsewhere.
4. Our goal is to build a portfolio in the next five years that generates at least $3,000/month in net cash flow.
5. -We have the ability to save $4-5k/month from our W2 jobs.

Our questions at this point are:

• -What should we be doing between now and the completion of the mountain home? We’re analyzing deals daily, reading and listening to podcasts every free second we have.
• -What would you do to get to our goal in the next 5 years if you were in our position? We already have 2 mortgages, so would it be wise to get investment mortgages in our own names rather than jointly? (allowing us to get 20 total instead of 10?)
• -What markets would you recommend to achieve this goal? Denver’s cash flow ship has sailed so we’ve been looking at the Milwaukee, St. Paul, Cincinnati, and other midwest markets. We have family and friends in WI, MN and Atlanta, so are attracted to those markets if it makes sense.

We would appreciate any thoughts and/or advice. Thanks so much!

It does not matter where you start as long as you develop your Core 4. The core 4 is David Greene’s strategy for long-distance and made up of a realtor, contractor, property manager, and lender. Once you have this team in place, you should be able to confidently invest in any market.

As for picking a specific market - I would go after one with an increasing job and population growth. I invest and work in Columbus, Ohio.