All Forum Posts by: Alexander Zurn

@Thomas Duvall The Millionaire Real Estate Investor is a good book. The ABC's on Real Estate Investing. These are a few well known books! Good luck

@Account Closed interesting... Is it a summer destination? Perhaps AirBnB?  Again, it's something to really consider especially if you're at the beginning stages of this. Drive through some nearby neighborhoods and see who is outside on a weekend. Look at potential listings and see if they have an open house, maybe you will run into other people attending and can get a better idea of who is looking to rent. Discuss with a realtor! A popular one at that. They ideally would have a lot of potential tenants they are trying to find homes for.

@Aljawaun Golden that is a question out of my jurisdiction my friend. I'll be just as curious to see! Good luck

@Account Closed that is an interesting question. At first thought, I thought bedrooms and after reading your intentions I thought sq ft.

I think something that is very important to consider in new construction is your target tenants. What are the demographics of the area and your hopeful tenants.

For example, a family of 3 may enjoy the 1200 sq ft 3/2 but probably wouldn't be attracted  to 900 sq ft. 3/1. On the other hand, a group of college tenants would prefer the cheaper & smaller 900 sq ft. 3/1 oppose to the bigger & more expensive 1200 sq ft. 3/2. These are just examples but something to consider.

@Aljawaun Golden yes, you would likely refi from a new lender and use that money to pay off the private lender. Whatever the outstanding equity is, you (ideally) use the rents from the Duplex/Triplex to pay the mortgage.

@Jamie Brown start watching the area that you want to buy in. Figure out the high and low prices. Look back at past sales records on sites like Zillow, Redfin and see where prices were 2, 3 years ago compared to where they are now.

The BP Beginners Guide is great! It seems like you want to purchase MF's and buy and hold them (?). The Beginner Guide will help you narrow down a niche and goals. Follow this and you should be good. The podcasts are great too. BP Podcast Episode #200 is perfect for you. It is a step by step guide to Beginning in REI.

BP is a great forum and you'll be in good hands here!

Good luck

@Carl Gorman welcome to BP!

You've done well by starting to watch your market (/area). Now you'll have a baseline for 1, 2, 3 years from now to see where prices go and be able to make an educated guess as to where they will be going in 4, 5, 6 years.

With the info you have gathered now, I would recommend looking at the past few years. 2012, '13, '14, '15, '16 sales in those areas and identifying where the prices have come from to where they are now. This will also give you a good idea of where they are going. You can use this to establish if the market is going up/down/sideways/etc.

The BP beginners guide is great for getting a foundation of REI and I highly recommend it. You'll want to select a niche to focus on (SFH, MF, Commercial property, etc.) watch 1 or 2 of these markets and determine what it is you are trying to do (House Hack, Flip, Buy and Hold, etc.). These are a few first steps that you can take and study on a daily basis. Once you've "mastered" these beginner steps more intermediate questions will come your way. Soon you'll have a great foundation of the market and your goals and you'll be able to utilize both to make a smart purchase.

A recommendation, if it's big enough, buy a commercial property for your company and rent out other units. In 8 years when you need to expand further you can move your company out, rent the space you used and combine it with the rent you're receiving from others units. Something to think about!

Good luck

@Aaron H. that sounds typical of a turnkey opportunity provider. Giving you a lucrative return… I don't know your experience/knowledge/situation, but if it is THAT good how have other passed on it? Are you the first to hear of the deal?

The important thing with turn key properties are to do your OWN analysis. Approach the property as if you were buying and renting it out on your own. Do you still see the 40% return? WITH the property management fee you would be paying? Find comps (rental & resale value), use the BP Calculator, and understand the numbers going into it. 

Ask them questions too! Even though it seems that they have the power because they are offering you money, YOU are in control. Put them on the hotseat, get every ounce of info out of them and read their body language as they tell you more. Ask: "Why shouldn't I do this?" "What am I missing?" they should provide you every detail if they are going to use your money to better their business.

@Jonathan Woelfel a good strategy to pick up! From what I've seen, a seasoning period of 6-12 months varies from lender to lender. LTV ranges between 60-75%, I've seen 80% before but again it depends on location and lender.

Both are things to explore and find out prior to purchase, I think. Simply call up banks and lenders and ask these questions, then pick the best ones!

Good luck

@Stephanie Medellin Thank goodness we have these forums with people smarter than me. Good catch!