All Forum Posts by: Antonio Evans

@Antonio Evans, I wouldn't say BiggerPockets is harsh, more like BiggerPockets is filled with realists. Having 60k in debt is going to hinder your ability to qualify for a loan. I read your other post, and it appears that every single person is saying get rid of the car payment. That is solid advice.

Regarding the section 8 brother, you can rent an apartment to him, but section 8 comes out and certifies the place - so you have to pass inspection. Living with him would most likely disqualify him from the program.

Wholesaling sounds easy, but it is tough to get started. Let's say you have a property under contract, who are you selling it to? Do you have a list of cash buyers?

I think house hacking would be the best way for you to get started. You may want to rethink your plans of having your brother live with you if he plans to keep his section 8 voucher. 

You will need to calculate rehab costs and have cash for that and carrying costs. I would start searching today, just to learn about the market. Practice running the numbers and figure out how much money you need to have in your market. It is ok to spend a year looking and never put in an offer. You want to be prepared when the time is right. And get rid of that new car by the way...

Well something to remember, if your brother is on Section 8, he won't be able to live in the unit you do. Your income more than likely will disqualify him from the benefit. If you try to make it appear as if he is legitimate renter it could be classified under fraud and cause more issues for both of you. I would just approach this carefully.

Maybe you get a triplex and it has a smaller unit in which could be approved by the program and he could rent it, still not sure on the legality of it. 

Haha, I am so mad at you. You have a paid for car and you dropped $25K on something new! 

Lets say your car payment is $450 per month, so by selling your new car you would save up $5400. Add that to your $10,000 and you would have a $15,400 down payment. You can probably buy a duplex that is between $60K and $100K with that down payment, depending on financing. Lets say the property is $100K and your payment with tax and insurance is $650. You rent one unit for $650 and live in the other. Now your saved rent money combined with money you saved on car payment is over $1000 per month. You could save up over $12,000 per year to put towards more properties. Maybe my numbers are off some, but you get the point.

Haha, I am so mad at you. You have a paid for car and you dropped $25K on something new! 

Lets say your car payment is $450 per month, so by selling your new car you would save up $5400. Add that to your $10,000 and you would have a $15,400 down payment. You can probably buy a duplex that is between $60K and $100K with that down payment, depending on financing. Lets say the property is $100K and your payment with tax and insurance is $650. You rent one unit for $650 and live in the other. Now your saved rent money combined with money you saved on car payment is over $1000 per month. You could save up over $12,000 per year to put towards more properties. Maybe my numbers are off some, but you get the point.

First of all, pay down all that debt prior to getting deeper into additional debt.

My first impression was that you should be driving a 10 year old car you paid cash for and not a new car you owe $25K on. If you can sell the car and break even, I would get rid of it and use the $10K to pay cash for a car. If you are under water on the car, it may be better to work hard to pay it off. If you keep that car, drive it for 15 years. 

Debt for cars is bad debt. I pay cash for all my cars. Debt for income producing property is different. 

You may not like sales, but it will give you highest income producing opportunity of any career. I recognized that years ago when I took a part time job in sales while I was in school. I was selling electronics on pure commission working part time making $30K a year in 1993. I worked in sales for years and no I didn't love it, but I was good enough to make money for real estate purchases.

I would suggest for your first purchase to house hack a duplex. Live in one side and the rent from the other side should pay your payment. Imagine that, no car payment and no rent payment. Then working in sales you can save all your cash to buy rental properties.

Good luck!

 If I were you, I would sell that car. You are young. Go spend 6 months in Buenos Aires or Chiang Mai (both very low cost of living), responsibly get in trouble there. You NEVER know who you will meet, what business contacts you can make, or what you will learn. Don't rush into buying real estate with $5k in the bank mate.

I am also single with no kids, but this military / physician  career path I find myself in prevents me (sort of) from doing what I described. But travel has been my BEST teacher, hands down. The months I spent traveling taught me more about life than 13 years of post high school education ever has. I usually don't rant like this, but alas.

A lot of things you have to learn by doing. I can hook you up with a couple I work with. She is a part time real estate broker who doesn't mind dealing with those cheap HUD and Fannie Mae Properties most realtors can't be bothered with. I use her husband for a lot of my repairs and rehabbing. Don't let the fact that you are on the road a lot stop you. If you live in one units you buy you'll be there more often than most landlords!

BTW, I live in the Oak Forest Neighborhood south of McDowell.