All Forum Posts by: Amy Zemser

Thank you Doug! I'm stilling mulling and reading and stewing and worrying. My neighbor, a commercial real estate guy (very successful) says that you don't get anywhere investing in SFHs and that if I want to make money as a landlord I should start with nothing less than a four unit. I don't understand - what's the difference between owning 4 SFHs as rentals vs a fourplex? Isn't it all a matter of the deal/cash flow/particularities of each case, etc.? 

I get that finding a house at 75% of ARV is hard, so why shouldn't I use what I learned from my wholesaling course and direct market to motivated sellers? Probate, absentees, Junkers - all houses with high equity...

I've been reading this stuff for about 2 months and frankly I'm completely overwhelmed by the options. Everybody has a different piece of advice and I don't know who to listen to. 

250k in my own home and want to build a retirement portfolio at 46 years old - what would you do? 

Thanks again, all! :-)

Hi there BP friends...

I've been spending some time trying to figure out how to acquire my 3rd rental unit.  Here are a few facts: 

1. We have no "cash." We are levered up.  

2. Our home has 250k in it (mortgaged 50k)

I'm casting around via county records, driving around, center of influence, tax lien auction (happens in the spring in my county) etc. for a junker in a good neighborhood to either rehab (Brendan's BRRR example) OR just purchase with an FHA203k while we live in it, fix up, and then rent out.

This means we would leave our home (legal 2 family with in-law apartment rented + rent out the portion we live in as well) and get the FHA for the cheap down and rehab financing. When our FHA home was complete, we would rent it out and either

a) return to our original home or

b) get another FHA to do it again (is this possible?)

Is FHA a one-time only situation? If my goal is to own a million dollars in real estate in ten years, is this a good start? I like the BRRR thing as well but I'm getting mixed messages about getting the heloc on the house we live in now. I realize people do it all the time but as a novice investor the idea scares me. I've heard that one shouldn't take out a LOC on a home that you are actually living in, that it's too much of a liability. Not to mention that if my Dad (who bought me the house with all that he had) discovered what I was up to he would have an aneurysm.

I thank you all in advance for your valuable opinions.  

Best, 

Amy

Hi Mike H.  

Your response was intense and I'm still recovering from it. Are you for real or are you some kind of real estate unicorn?  You seem to take it all in stride -- does this process ever cause you anxiety? 

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond so thoroughly and thoughtfully. Would you consider talking to me on the phone to clarify a few things you mentioned that I don't fully understand?  Or would you prefer that I ask my questions here in the forum? 

Again, I am continually amazed (and grateful) for the time that folks are willing to put in to explain things to novices.  

Best, 

Amy

Hi BP friends, 

I'm a landlord in upstate NY looking for some advice about generating revenues to purchase another buy and hold.  

For the past few months, I've been reading a great deal about wholesaling (I even started blogging about my journey here on the BP site). I took an excellent day-long course on wholesaling here in upstate NY that was incredibly informative. But, in the end, I'm circumspect, and when I shared my hesitation with someone here on BP -- and shared the fact that I have about 250k in equity in my own home -- he encouraged me to put this money toward buying another rental property.  And to forget about wholesaling altogether. 

That's hard to do.  I've spent so much time planning for wholesaling.  But, okay.  

Can someone here explain the process of using home equity to buy a rental property in a bit of detail for me?  Or recommend some further reading on the subject? Forgive me if I have overlooked a vital BP post on the subject. 

Here's what I understand thus far (forgive my novice naivete): I take out 100k on my home and purchase a buy and hold for the same price that cash flows out enough to pay off the equity line, pay all rental costs, and provide cash on the plus side to reinvest in the next property.  Where I get a little confused comes next: How would a potential refinance go on the new rental property? And would I then take out another equity line on the new buy and hold to purchase the next?  If I think about this too hard I imagine myself holding up a mirror to a mirror where my eyes are rolling into the back of my head like a pathogenic animal and I'm trapped inside infinite regress...

I love landlording and want to build a rental empire that includes retirement income alongside a way to revitalize my neighborhood. But we're levered up on our 1 main rental property and I admit I'm pretty scared to take out $$ on our house.  Not that I wouldn't, but I need to spend some time reading and learning about how this scenario plays out in the long term.  

Thank you in advance for taking the time to proffer up insights. All best.    

Hey Jesse, 

I live in Kingston and I've only found the one meeting in Poughkeepsie.  Where are all the Hudson Valley investors hiding?  

I went to the meeting in Poughkeepsie, though, and it was really useful and informative.  I can connect you with the guy that runs it if you like.  

Best, 

Amy