New to Real Estate · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2019 · 42 posts · 16 votes
Aloha, everyone! Out of curiosity, what strategy (Fix & Flip, Rent, Wholesaling, House Hack, BRRRR, etc.) did you use when you bought your first investment property. I know there are so many variables to consider but I want to keep it as simple as possible. I am just eager to see what people usually start off with.
Real Estate Agent · Windsor Locks · Member since 2020 · 20 posts · 21 votes
5y
Hey Chase! I have not done my first deal yet but I'm am pursuing a house hacking deal, a live in flip, or possibly even a BRRRR. These types of strategies suit my current goals, lifestyle, and situation the best. House hacking at 25 with no kids is a lot easier to pull off than someone who is older, looking to settle down, and possibly has kids already.
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5y
@Chase Yokoyama no I do not use a PM. Why pay 20% of gross revenue when I can schedule labor as needed with a quick text or phone call? A great cleaner will function as your eyes on the property for quality control and have a handyman or two on speed dial. This will take care of 90% of your maintenance and repair issues. You can also hire a 3rd party to do a site visit to your property periodically for accountability, though reviews keep positive pressure on your team. If you want to connect reach out and we can hop on a call. I’ve got nothing to sell and I’m happy to share what I know. What I do can be duplicated by anyone with time freedom who can engage the occasional issue.
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
5y
@Colin Williams just one VR now that has been in service one year with #2 under contract. I’m in a true vacation market where the busy season is 10 months and the slow time is only in Jan/Feb. Reach out any time if you want to connect or have questions. Happy to hop on a call and I’ve got nothing to sell!
Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 975 votes
5y
I started with the turnkey model. It's a great way to get into real estate, especially for people who are interested in real estate investing but don't have the time and/or inclination to pursue other, more time-intensive strategies.
The most important aspect of turnkey investing is you must have trust in the team you invest with! Turnkey frequently gets a bad rap because it's easy for dishonest people to take advantage of others, but when you find that great team (Storehouse 3:10 Ventures!) it can be an awesome way to get into the real estate game and build wealth. I have purchased a total of 3 turnkey properties in Milwaukee.
I'm happy to discuss more with anyone! Send me a DM.
Rental Property Investor · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2020 · 8 posts · 2 votes
5y
@Jorden P Dupont I’m starting with a live in flip house hack. Renting one room out and flipping the house. One more bathroom to renovate and then I’ll rent out entire house and move on. 🤞🏼
Rental Property Investor · Albuquerque, NM · Member since 2020 · 53 posts · 32 votes
5y
@Chase Yokoyama
I am very similar to our friend in the last podcast. The Lazy Way. I bought a condo in Summit County, Co. to live in and house hack with a roommate, then just never sold. Moved and bought a house in ABQ, moved and rented out as well. Then a home in VA.
After a few years in ABQ, I refinanced to pay off the condo, so that was now over $1000 net income a month and a cheaper payment on my home in ABQ because interest rates were lower. Then a year after I bought in VA, I did the same. Payed off ABQ, and now receive $1000 in net income a month. And pay the same for the VA house. My first time venturing off from this strategy was last august. I found a quadplex on ABQ and decided to buy it with 25% down because my income would still net me $1500 a month.
The point to this is that it was a slow process for myself, but that has kept my risk very low, and after some time, it can replace a very generous salary, practically tax free.
Real Estate Agent · Grand Rapids, MI · Member since 2016 · 143 posts · 49 votes
5y
Hey Chase! I was able to start with Buy and Hold for my first property! I always love connecting and networking. I plan on visiting the big island later this year! It'd be great to connect. Shoot me a PM!
Rental Property Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2020 · 10 posts · 9 votes
5y
@Chase Yokoyama I am personally doing the live-in-flip. The goal right now is to buy a few houses this way every year or so and rent them out as I buy the next.
@Cathy Malmrose Hahaha very nice analogy. Good thing I love Uniqlo. So gotta find those Uniqlo houses now. What are some things that would make it "clear as day" if it is a better rental or better to flip it?
It becomes clear when you run the numbers -- percentages. For example:
1 home I bought for 57, reno for 27, rents for $1,200, regular 3 bd = keeping as rental
Another was 168, reno for 49, maybe 52 when I'm done, would rent for $1,800, will sell for $290-350, 5 bdrm with beautiful finishing details = flipping
It's not just the numbers. It's also the type of house. The flips are usually houses that have features that create the "love bidding", when a buyer falls in love with a feature and bids irrationally high. The 168 house is one I'm living in (like the BP community manager doing the live-in-flip). It has woodwork details that are so beautiful I've seen carpenters gasp when they see the staircase & built-in buffet. One of the carpenters was a 7' tall guy that I worked with on other homes and when he saw the woodwork on this 168 house he got a little teary-eyed. Yeah, this one is a flip. (I wouldn't rent it because if a tenant dinged the buffet or let their dog chew on a stair railing it would be more trouble than it's worth.)
Rental Property Investor · Okeechobee, FL · Member since 2016 · 19 posts · 12 votes
5y
@Chase Yokoyama I started using the BRRRR method. I bought a local courthouse auctioned house for 30k. I was able to find a bank to loan me out the 30k I bought it for and used that to rehab the house. I started renting it about 4 months after I bought the house for $900 a month. After 6 months of owning it I refinanced it with the same bank that loaned me the 30k and was able to refinance 80k and used that to get myself into my next BRRRR property. I did 3 more times until I got myself into a turn key rental and I haven't looked back since.
Rental Property Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2021 · 17 posts · 18 votes
5y
I started just buying a house. A HUD house to be exact. Paid $30K cash. Didn't realize where it would take me 4 years later to the present day. I rehabbed it which was a TON of work but after regretting the project many times along the way, I'm so glad I did it. Spent roughly $25K but now it should be worth $90-100K considering the comps. I'll either sell to recapture capital, rent and cash out refi, or stay here and HELOC to buy an investment property. I'm really excited I've found BP and can consider all my options I never knew existed!!
Rental Property Investor · Birmingham, AL · Member since 2020 · 21 posts · 8 votes
5y
@Chase Yokoyama We sacrificed faster growth bc we found a house we loved in an area we wanted to raise a family...therefore we skipped house back and just went with a property that was practically turn key. Long term hold...cash flowing $200+ a month.
New to Real Estate · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2019 · 42 posts · 16 votes
5y
@EVERYONE!
Just wanted to check in and say thank you to each and every one of you for contributing to this forum. All of you have provided such amazing advice and I couldn't be more appreciative. I wasn't expecting much from this post and I have been blown away by the amount of support and kind people here on Bigger Pockets. I literally just signed up the day before I created this post and I've already had such a great experience.
I am trying to reply to everyone but I was also blocked for posting too much so I might just have to upvote on most of the posts. (The Bigger Pockets support team was also very helpful in removing the ban quickly).
I’m partnering up with my girlfriend to purchase a duplex or 3-4 unit property. Most likely a duplex. We will be using an fha loan or something similar with a low down payment. But if the plan falls through for any reason we will not give up. We will instead purchase a single family house with value add capabilities and I will hustle to renovate it to my companies standards so in a year we can sell it or rent it out. I want to eventually get to a point as soon as I can financially where we can begin to brrr 1-4 unit properties fixing them up to rent them out and buy and hold them. The goal is to create 25,000 a year in passive income to start. Then I can go full time in my own business and the sky is the limit!
Investor · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2015 · 504 posts · 217 votes
5y
@Chase Yokoyama
We built our 1st house by bartering and diy. My ex was an electrician who wired the plumber and framers houses and they plumbed and framed ours. We hired the AC guy and drywall was hung. We did all the rest diy with the finishes. We ended up investing 65k to build a 2600 sq ft 2 story on 4 acres by doing it that way.
My next official investment outside of primary reaidence was 5 acres of land we paid 10k for. We divided them into 5~ 1 acre lots and sold them for $7500 each owner financed., then bought a commercial acre for 17k ,held several years and sold it for 55k owner financed.
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2019 · 26 posts · 4 votes
5y
@Chase Yokoyama
For me, I started with buying out-of-state rental property. Then I added a multi family and a few more single family houses after that. I’m now going into house flipping here in Los Angeles CA.
@tapan trivedi Did you first flip houses out of your local market? Or did you stick to properties that you could drive to?
@Chase Yokoyama, I flipped my first house in the closest good hood from my house. If I had to do it all over again I would find out my investor profile (people person, paper person, property person) and then choose a strategy closer to who I am. From my vantage point most investing careers or portfolios wither or fail because the strategy wasn't chosen closer to who they are as a person. I flipped houses because that was what was presented as really cool -and it was for a while- but burnout is real. I found out I am a people person so I am much more suitable to raising capital or negotiations. So for me now it is partnering up with people and raising money. There is money to be made in so many ways in REI. Being closer to who you are is a good way to start.
Rental Property Investor · Madison, WI · Member since 2019 · 32 posts · 28 votes
5y
@Chase Yokoyama
I started with buy and hold multi family managed by a property management company. I have a day job and young kids so it seemed like the easiest path to get started. So far I’m happy with the strategy and continuing to build my portfolio towards my long term goal of 15-20 high quality doors.
I originally bought a single family on a large lot, bought with 100% loan in 2004, and promptly lost it in 2010.
I got back on my feet, and three years later I recovered and the 2nd time around I house hacked a 4 unit building with a 203K FHA renovation loan. Best decision I could have taken. That property helped build my portfolio!