All Forum Posts by: Abby Paulson

@Adam Drummond Thanks for the additional information! Sounds like you have a good thing going if you can finish up the work and get it rented quickly! Sorry to hear it's not moving as fast as you would like though - that stinks. 

I'm about 4-6 months away from being able to purchase an investment home at approx. the 100K mark, so I'm starting to look into markets that run around that area where I can find rental income in the 1% range. Greenville has peaked my interest as I *think* it has good growth potential as a city for some appreciation and the price to get into the market there is within reach for me. Birmingham is another city I have my eyes on. I've been to both before for personal reasons so I have some idea as to the areas but nothing close to what a local would know. Any advice on Greenville, or others in general?

@Adam Drummond, would be curious for an update - how has this gone for you in Greenville?

@Shiloh Lundahl

@Llewelyn A.

I think you both put this very well, Shiloh in your responses and Llewelyn in your post. Discernment is critical, and in the context of this discussion we first have to understand that when we're talking about successful people's mentality, it's referring to those with money. Because with investing, success = more money. I agree with you that careful consideration is always necessary when taking advice since all it takes to appear as an 'expert' to someone is simply to know more than the person we're speaking to. We could debate about whether or not that qualifies as an 'expert' but that's probably more a fun philosophical discussion to have another time... 

As a young entrepreneur, I've noticed that people I identify as generally successful and admirable are usually 'successful' in more than just one definition of the word (e.g. not just millionaires). Success in one definition of it breeds momentum for success in others. So for example, if you're a real estate agent who is 'successful', I would also expect you to have solid relationships (marriage, kids, friendships, extended-family), be actually good or at least showing fast improvement with your hobbies, have a track record of being good at other things you've done in your life (e.g. "I worked at a coffee shop in college and by the time I was a senior, I was the manager.") The underlying and consistent driving factor is the mindset they're living with. 

To bring this back to real estate investing and who I would listen to: If they're finding success in real estate investing ( = making money), and they're having success in other areas, their opinion and advice regarding real estate will hold more weight. 

Thanks for all the interesting replies, a good conversation to be having I'd say. Like most things, I guess it comes to some pros, some cons - pick your poison. 

I'm surprised no one mentioned the accessibility (or non-accessibility) of a home purchase as a way to attract or deter older tenants. I figure there's certainly some ways to deter an older tenant (e.g. live in a place that gets ice in the winter and have 5+ steps up to the front door) that some might consider given the complaints of some of the folks above about things like "smell" and repair requests they've seen from older tenants.

Nonetheless, here's to hoping we all get the dream tenants like @Ted Klein's appears to be, regardless of their age.

@Kyle Beauchamp - hadn't considered that in the conversation we had... good point. Thank you for the insight. I guess if you'd like to have some kind of 'additional care' package as an option on the rent agreement it'd be a way to squeak some extra money each month, but may not be worth the hassle.

@Richard Heine - the reliability of the person you mentioned who has family nearby is exactly what I was thinking, the trouble is how do you go about finding out if they have family nearby and such...? I'm sure there's a way - there's always a way - but to do so without discriminating as @Andrew Johnson mentioned is another obstacle. 

"heartless profit-seeking landlord" made me laugh, that's certainly not what I'm thinking with this strategy, but the points you all make are very helpful and worth considering. 

Thank you all! Still interested to hear and learn more thoughts of others, especially if someone's ever run into the issues that Andrew mentioned and what results they ended up with...

A fellow investor recently said to me, "I want a 60 year old renter because they're stuck in their ways and I want them to be stuck in my home." 

If this is the target renter, you'd have to have single-story homes without stairs, which is certainly something to think about before buying. With the 60+ population growing as baby boomers get older, this could be a fairly good strategy at first thought. 

Curious to learn what others think of this concept. Please share!

Another company similar to SoFi is called Upstart. I don't know offhand their terms and conditions regarding using the money directly for real estate, but I was able to secure a 15.8K loan from them at an 8.6% APR over three years (monthly payment is just under $500) with a good credit score (700+) and solid W2 income (60K+ annually). In this instance, I did try SoFi first and they turned me down.

Just some food for thought for others.