What would you (y'all) do?

Question

It looks like my wife and I will be leaving our house in Columbia for a job opportunity for her in Greenville, SC (1.5 hrs away) in two months. What kind of steps would yall take to maximize financial possibilities (ie buying and sellling), especially since I don't want to buy a house at the top of the market and have it devalue in a few years. And my wife doesn't want a huge project house to move to while starting a new and bigger job.... what kind of strategies would yall implement to gain the most financially and pay the lease for a decent house???

Any insight is appreciated!

Tim Herman · Answer

@Derek Scott buy a small multi 2-4 units with minimal down. Move every year for 10 years and end up with 20-40 doors. If they average only $150 per door you will take home $3000 to $6000 per month passive cash flow.

Tim Herman · Answer

@Derek Scott did SC successfully secede from the US because Fannie and Freddie set what loans are commercial (5+) and what are residential (1-4 units). Easily clarify by going to friendly loan broker.

Kiera Underwood · Answer

I 100% second what @Tim Herman said. I'm on that path personally!

Michael Glaspie · Answer

I agree with @Tim Herman in the fact that the best bang for your buck would be a residential small multi-family (2-4 doors). With that property you can qualify for a very low down payment on a home owner occupied loan. This will reduce the amount of capital you need immediately.

On the back end, even if the market was to crash, you would still have another unit (or 3) to continue to pay you rent every month. This will cover your mortgage payment through the down cycle. Then when you are ready to move or purchase your forever home, you will have a cashflowing asset that you can hold onto or pass down to your children.

Best of luck, and let us know if we can help in any way.

Renee Janowski · Answer

I'm in Greenville and there are still deals to be found and the market is still rising. We bought over in West Greenville in the Chesnut Hill area, which is still growing. Bought our house 2 years ago for 135k and it's probably worth 230k now, but there are still houses in the area selling for less than that if you are willing to hold for a few years. Also if you moved on it is easy to rent because there is a shortage of homes. Find a good realtor-- an investment one if you can. Really interview them-- so many are new and they really suck. Wish I could recommend one, but after being fed up with an awful one we actually found our house FSBO and I brokered the deal myself (it was our first home purchase too!) Anyway, I'm no realyor, but I lam always researching this market and there are definitely places to still buy and be able to take advantage of an upwardly mobile market that aren't fixer uppers.

Derek Scott · Answer

Awesome, @Renee Janowski.  We will definitely look at the Chestnut Hill area and thank you for the advice with the realtor.

Derek Scott · Answer

Thank you, @Tim Herman.  I start looking for multi(s) is the area.  That is exactly what I am trying to work on on the side but I believe over 3 units is commercial in South Carolina though.

Renee Janowski · Answer

And if you want to come up to visit/survey the area/talk real estate we rent out the top floor of our house on Airbnb and we'd love to have you stay!  We often rent to people in transition-- that would also allow you to get a look at our neighborhood, where I would literally buy everything if I could-- 3 miles from downtown, near the hospital, 1 mile from 85, it's a jackpot in the making as the market goes up

What would you (y'all) do?

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