New Investor looking to learn and grow

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New Investor looking to learn and grow

Colby LennonPro Member
Henderson, Henderson County · Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 10 votes

My wife and I are new investors looking to learn and grow in the business. We are both military veterans. We are wanting to grow our portfolio over time. We are currently more interested in LTR, but may eventually broaden our portfolio. We just want to avoid the pitfalls that plague most new investors. Any assistance, guidance or knowledge is greatly appreciated!!

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Arman AhmedPro Member
Real Estate Agent · Columbus Cleveland Dayton, OH · Member since 2024 · 2k+ posts · 887 votes
1mo
Quote from @Colby Lennon:

My wife and I are new investors looking to learn and grow in the business. We are both military veterans. We are wanting to grow our portfolio over time. We are currently more interested in LTR, but may eventually broaden our portfolio. We just want to avoid the pitfalls that plague most new investors. Any assistance, guidance or knowledge is greatly appreciated!!


You’re starting with a great mindset. For LTRs, I’d focus first on learning how to properly analyze cash flow, screen tenants, and budget for the expenses nobody likes to talk about. Don’t rush to grow the portfolio; one solid property can teach you a ton. Build a good team around you and, if you’re open to investing out of state, Midwest markets can be worth exploring for affordable rentals and cash flow.

[email protected]614-418-6081
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  • Hamp Lee IIIPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 832 votes
    1mo

    Welcome to BP! I'm a military veteran as well. I have five houses and three were purchased using my VA loan benefit.

    Using your VA loan is a great way to get started, if you don't mind moving. If moving is not an option, there are other opportunities.

    I wish you all the best.

    1Reply
  • Colby LennonPro Member
    OP
    Henderson, Henderson County · Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 10 votes
    1mo

    @Hamp Lee III First of all thank you for your service! As of right now, moving isn't an option. I'm currently using my VA loan to refinance my residence in order to purchase my first duplex with cash.

    I would like to connect in order to discuss any knowledge you can pass on and maybe find out if there is any way we can help each other.

    Thank you for your reply

    1Reply
    • Hamp Lee IIIPro Member
      Real Estate Agent · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2019 · 1k+ posts · 832 votes
      1mo
      Quote from @Colby Lennon:

      @Hamp Lee III First of all thank you for your service! As of right now, moving isn't an option. I'm currently using my VA loan to refinance my residence in order to purchase my first duplex with cash.

      I would like to connect in order to discuss any knowledge you can pass on and maybe find out if there is any way we can help each other.

      Thank you for your reply

      Sounds great! Look forward to connecting!
      1Reply
  • Arman AhmedPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus Cleveland Dayton, OH · Member since 2024 · 2k+ posts · 887 votes
    1mo
    Quote from @Colby Lennon:

    My wife and I are new investors looking to learn and grow in the business. We are both military veterans. We are wanting to grow our portfolio over time. We are currently more interested in LTR, but may eventually broaden our portfolio. We just want to avoid the pitfalls that plague most new investors. Any assistance, guidance or knowledge is greatly appreciated!!


    You’re starting with a great mindset. For LTRs, I’d focus first on learning how to properly analyze cash flow, screen tenants, and budget for the expenses nobody likes to talk about. Don’t rush to grow the portfolio; one solid property can teach you a ton. Build a good team around you and, if you’re open to investing out of state, Midwest markets can be worth exploring for affordable rentals and cash flow.

    [email protected]614-418-6081
    2Reply
    • Colby LennonPro Member
      OP
      Henderson, Henderson County · Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 10 votes
      1mo
      Thank you for your reply! I’m working on learning exactly what you are talking about.

      I will keep your information if I decide to go to different markets.
      0Reply
  • Marci Stein
    Rental Property Investor · New York, NY · Member since 2011 · 956 posts · 510 votes
    1mo

    There’s so much to learn - too much to put in one post. I am an experienced investor and very successful. 
    everything - and I mean everything - I ever learned was from the sites. I hope you stay and ask questions but please try to be very specific and focused with your questions otherwise read prior posts. You will learn everything you need right here.best of luck!

    1Reply
  • Jimmy LieuBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus, OH · Member since 2019 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    1mo
    Quote from @Colby Lennon:

    My wife and I are new investors looking to learn and grow in the business. We are both military veterans. We are wanting to grow our portfolio over time. We are currently more interested in LTR, but may eventually broaden our portfolio. We just want to avoid the pitfalls that plague most new investors. Any assistance, guidance or knowledge is greatly appreciated!!

    Welcome to BP, Colby! For new LTR investors, I’d focus less on growing quickly and more on getting the first few purchases right. Make sure each deal works with realistic numbers for vacancy, repairs, CapEx, management, taxes, and insurance instead of relying on best-case cash flow. I’d also spend time building a dependable lender, agent, inspector, contractor, and property management team before you really need them. One of the biggest pitfalls I see is buying simply because a property looks affordable rather than understanding the neighborhood, tenant demand, rents, and major systems like the roof, HVAC, plumbing, and foundation. Underwrite a lot of deals, stay patient, and don’t be afraid to pass. The good deals you avoid losing money on are just as important as the ones you buy. 
    [email protected]614-300-7535
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  • Colby LennonPro Member
    OP
    Henderson, Henderson County · Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 10 votes
    1mo

    Marci thank you for your reply!! 

    I’m starting to see the wealth of information on this site!! It seems like a lot to learn, but we’re patient and willing to learn.

    0Reply
  • Colby LennonPro Member
    OP
    Henderson, Henderson County · Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 10 votes
    1mo

    Thank you very much for reply!!

    This sounds like great advice and I will definitely take my time and wait for the best deal not just the best looking deal!

    0Reply
  • Jordan RayBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Memphis, TN · Member since 2023 · 617 posts · 317 votes
    1mo
    Quote from @Colby Lennon:

    My wife and I are new investors looking to learn and grow in the business. We are both military veterans. We are wanting to grow our portfolio over time. We are currently more interested in LTR, but may eventually broaden our portfolio. We just want to avoid the pitfalls that plague most new investors. Any assistance, guidance or knowledge is greatly appreciated!!


    Welcome to BiggerPockets! As a fellow 10 year Army veteran that has used my VA loan to buy a home and as an investor myself, I know that you guys actually have an opportunity that I think is worth exploring because of the financing available to you. One strategy you could consider is house hacking with your VA loan in your current market while simultaneously building a long-term rental portfolio in a market like Memphis. Depending on your remaining VA entitlement, occupancy requirements, lender guidelines, and ability to qualify, you could potentially purchase an owner-occupied property with VA financing, live in it as your primary residence, and later repeat the process when eligible. Imagine doing some version of that over the next five years while also completing BRRRRs in Memphis—you could potentially accumulate several properties without needing the massive amount of capital normally associated with building a portfolio. On the Memphis side, we have local hard money lenders that can finance 100% of the purchase and 100% of the rehab, with many investors getting into deals with around $10,000 out of pocket before refinancing into long-term financing. Memphis is also attractive because you can still find properties that meet or exceed the 1% rule while benefiting from appreciation over time when you buy in the right locations. Start practicing now by analyzing ARVs, rents, rehab costs, market trends, and neighborhoods, and build a boots-on-the-ground team consisting of an investor-friendly agent who also owns rentals, a strong property manager, a reliable general contractor, and good hard money and DSCR lending contacts. Combining the advantages of your VA benefit with BRRRR could be a very capital-efficient way to scale, just make sure every VA purchase independently satisfies the program's occupancy and entitlement requirements rather than assuming you can automatically repeat it annually. Feel free to reach out, talk soon!

    [email protected]662-642-1458
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  • Ashish AcharyaBusiness Member
    CPA, CFP®, PFS · FL · Member since 2017 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    1mo

    Colby, welcome to BiggerPockets. Since you and your wife are both new investors and are currently leaning toward long-term rentals, I’d keep the first step simple: focus on buying one property that works with conservative numbers rather than trying to build the entire portfolio strategy upfront.

    I'd define a buy box around purchase price, target rent, location, condition, and how much cash you're comfortable putting into the deal. Then underwrite the full monthly picture, including taxes, insurance, vacancy, repairs, CapEx, management, and any HOA costs.

    On the tax side, I would not rush into creating multiple LLCs because you think they automatically create tax savings. An LLC can help with liability and ownership structure, but by itself it generally does not reduce the taxes on a passive rental.

    Once you buy and place the property in service, I’d also evaluate cost segregation. It can potentially accelerate depreciation and create larger deductions earlier in ownership, but the important question is whether those losses are actually usable under the passive-loss and material-participation rules.

    You don’t need to know everything before buying. You just want the first property to teach you a repeatable process without putting you in a bad financial position.

    Happy to connect!

    [email protected]941-914-7779
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  • Wale LawalBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Houston | Dallas | Austin, TX · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    1mo

    @Colby Lennon

    Welcome to BP! and thank you both for your service. For your first LTR, be conservative with the numbers, build up your reserves, and buy some property that is good whether it is occupied or not, well maintained, pays its own way, and is professionally managed.

    Good luck!

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    • Colby LennonPro Member
      OP
      Henderson, Henderson County · Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 10 votes
      1mo
      Quote from @Wale Lawal:

      @Colby Lennon

      Welcome to BP! and thank you both for your service. For your first LTR, be conservative with the numbers, build up your reserves, and buy some property that is good whether it is occupied or not, well maintained, pays its own way, and is professionally managed.

      Good luck!

      Thank you for your reply! I’m hearing that advice a lot, so it must be pretty solid.

      Thanks,
      Colby
      1Reply
  • Jeff Roth
    Real Estate Consultant · Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2022 · 458 posts · 250 votes
    1mo

    Hi Colby-

    You and your wife are veterans and looking to get started in real estate investing. You are currently interested in long-term rentals and looking to avoid pitfalls or mistakes.

    First, thank you both for your service and great question.

    I would look for an experienced mentor to help you whether that is an investor friendly Realtor, another investor doing what you would like to do, property manager, or similar in the market you are interested in investing. This can save you a lot of time and grief and connect you with the rest of the team you will need.

    Consider starting with duplexes so you always have a rent check coming in with strong cashflow and value-add potential when you buy. Then, over time you can add value and increase rents.

    If your local market does not offer this opportunity, consider looking into the Midwest.

    To Your Success!

    1Reply
    • Colby LennonPro Member
      OP
      Henderson, Henderson County · Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 10 votes
      4w
      Quote from @Jeff Roth:

      Thank you for your reply!

      looking for a mentor & establishment of the core 4 is the priority we are currently working on. We’re also working on deciding how & when we would like to invest in the upcoming future 
      0Reply
  • Mike Klarman
    Specialist · NJ · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 649 votes
    4w

    Your safest play is also you most capital intensive.  You can buy turn key rentals and sink 20% - 25% into the downpayment and then the money is stuck in there until you can make a sensible refinance down the line.  So there isn't opportunity for you to get the capital back early and the cashflow isn't the greatest.  But you buy a stabilized property that pays for itself.

    Now the side door is the BRRRR. Buy a distressed house, esitmate-organize-execute the rehab (or pay someone to), and either exit as a flip or if it the deal makes sense take it to the Rent, and Refinance stages.

    But Even with the BRRRR, there are strategies you need. It is not fool proof. It is actually grenade riddled.

    How you source matters.  Sourcing at 100% of the as-is value means you are paying too much.  There's ways for a built in margin.  Buy at 60% OR 70% of the asset's value.  That matters.  I've bought at 50% of the as-is at auction before.  You have to know what you are bidding on.

    If one investor is in at 100k and needs to hire a construction firm to run the rehab at an extensive premium of 90k and the other investor is in at 50k and has the network of tradesmen and reliable workers to run the job themselves for 70k.  

    One investor has a project cost of 190k and the other 120k.  One has wiggle room for a sale if they want if the market downturns and also can refinance and be able to pull money out.

    It is about your ease of exit and what you can do to mitigate getting "cornered" or losing in a deal.  

    I just consulted a client to buy a duplex for 26k.  I knew my network could offload it for 40k - 45k.  It was a three month deal literally.  The investor who purchased it will fix it up and the building will bring in 2700 and the mortgage will be 1100.  But if you start the project at 26k instead of 42,500 which is what we offloaded it for then your position is that much stronger.  

    Hunting on the MLS and trying to coordinate on the ground digitally is hard, real hard. Remember, the short term result and long term result of real estate can be two very different outcomes. The short-term is more volatile, more time sensitive. The X factors are many. To off-set that, you need your edges. Buy under market, rehab for less. Save 30% - 40% on total project cost. When you can operate like this, this is when you are ready for money to scale.

    But jumping in on any MLS or wholesale property that pencils and try to coordinate the rehab remotely without any knowledge of the know-how yourself then you are going to get a nice expensive education.

    You are honestly better off going into a casino and betting half your capital on red or black and if you lose, you're still in better shape than if you did the project and if you win you will feel unbelievable.

    1Reply
    • Colby LennonPro Member
      OP
      Henderson, Henderson County · Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 10 votes
      4w
      Quote from @Mike Klarman:


      Thank you very much for your detailed and informative response!

      My wife and I have been around long enough to know that there’s no “magic formula” that doesn’t require hard work and dedicated research. We plan to put our noses to the grind stone and make informed decisions.

      Thanks,

      Colby


      0Reply
  • Mohammed Rahman
    Real Estate Broker · New York, NY · Member since 2020 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    4w

    Hi Colby, 

    Since you’re both veterans, I’d definitely look into leveraging the benefits you’ve already earned before looking at more traditional financing strategies.

    The VA loan can be especially powerful for house hacking because eligible borrowers can purchase up to a 4-unit property as long as they occupy one of the units. It can also mean no down payment and no PMI in many cases.

    If the goal is to build a portfolio over time, that could be a great first step. Use the owner-occupied financing to get into the first property, build equity and experience, then evaluate how to leverage that position for the next one.

    Definitely talk with a lender who does a lot of VA financing and understands real estate investing. There are a lot of nuances around entitlement and future purchases.

    All the best! Feel free to reach out any time if you have any more questions - my DMs are always open!

    1Reply
  • Denise SuppleeBusiness Member
    Realtor · Willow Grove, PA · Member since 2017 · 955 posts · 635 votes
    4w

    Hello @Colby Lennon, My daughter's father was a Marine and we were stationed in Jccksonville, NC. That was a really long time ago.. like over 45 years. But I took real estate classes. And eventually got my license when we moved back home to PA. When you look at a property... make sure you completely check out the location. That is really important. If you can drive through at various times of the day, that is helpful. For instance, I had a property I was interested in in the Philly area. I initially looked at it during the day. It was really quiet and I was liking it. However, I drove there again to take a look around 7PM. There was noise, parking issues and more. That was a long rant... but location is so important. Hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck!

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    • Colby LennonPro Member
      OP
      Henderson, Henderson County · Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 10 votes
      4w
      Thank you for your reply! I totally understand what it’s like dealing with a Marine 😂! We have a few of them in our family. I really appreciate your advice on the getting to know the area around a prospective property! I will definitely keep that in mind 
      0Reply
    • Colby LennonPro Member
      OP
      Henderson, Henderson County · Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 10 votes
      4w
       @Denise Supplee:
      Thank you for your reply! I totally understand what it’s like dealing with a Marine 😂! We have a few of them in our family. I really appreciate your advice on the getting to know the area around a prospective property! I will definitely keep that in mind 

      0Reply
  • Ismael ReyesPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Port St. Lucie · Member since 2013 · 133 posts · 94 votes
    4w
    Quote from @Colby Lennon:

    My wife and I are new investors looking to learn and grow in the business. We are both military veterans. We are wanting to grow our portfolio over time. We are currently more interested in LTR, but may eventually broaden our portfolio. We just want to avoid the pitfalls that plague most new investors. Any assistance, guidance or knowledge is greatly appreciated!!

    Welcome to real estate investing, and thank you both for your service. I’m a military veteran myself, so it’s always great to connect with fellow veterans looking to build a portfolio.

    Starting with LTR is a great way to learn the fundamentals. My biggest advice is to learn how to underwrite conservatively and never let the excitement of a deal override the numbers.

    Best of luck to both of you, and happy to connect!




    0Reply
  • James WachobBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Memphis, TN · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 887 votes
    4w

    Hey @Colby Lennon! Welcome to the community, and thank you both for your service! LTRs are a great place to start if your goal is to build a portfolio steadily over time. I’d focus first on learning how to properly underwrite deals, understanding your true expenses, and being conservative with your numbers.

    One of the biggest pitfalls for new investors is getting too focused on finding a deal and not enough on building the right team. An investor-friendly agent, property manager, lender, and reliable contractor can make a huge difference, especially as you start scaling.

    I’m a real estate agent based in Memphis and work with out-of-state investors building long-term rental portfolios. Memphis is a market worth looking at if cash flow and affordability are priorities, and I’d be happy to connect if you and your wife ever want to explore or learn more about investing here.

    Best of luck to you both as you get started, and thanks again for your service!

    0Reply
  • Colby LennonPro Member
    OP
    Henderson, Henderson County · Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 10 votes
    4w

    @James Wachob thanks for your reply! I appreciate the advice and I think the plan for now is to learn as much as possible. Then in a few months make a decision on what our next move will be. Most likely we will be looking to scale our portfolio, but just not sure what that looks like at the moment.

    0Reply
  • Colby LennonPro Member
    OP
    Henderson, Henderson County · Member since 2026 · 18 posts · 10 votes
    4w

    @Ismael Reyes thank you for your reply and your service to our country as well! We are learning that there is a lot to learn, but we are also thinkers as well. We have learned that “if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail” & it’s best to stick with the plan before emotions.

    0Reply
  • Aisha Umar
    Virtual Assistant · U, S · Member since 2025 · 55 posts · 15 votes
    4w

    @Colby Lennon Welcome to real estate investing! Starting with LTR and focusing on building a strong foundation is a great approach. One thing I’d recommend is getting very comfortable analyzing the numbers before buying especially vacancy, repairs, taxes, insurance, management, and actual cash flow.

    It’s also worth learning the market you want to invest in and having a clear plan for how you want to grow the portfolio over time. What market are you and your wife looking to invest in first?

    0Reply
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