All Forum Posts by: Aroldo Villarreal

Hi Rafael,

I factored in 6 weeks till leased with holding costs being $2,340 (already factored into the cash out of pocket). I am doing hard money loan. No transfer tax.

I'm really new to REI, can you tell me how you got the $10k buffer? And what does buffer mean? I was planning on renting for 1-2 years to get experience in that, but I don't know if that's a bad idea.

This is a wholesale property which comps are at $158k but selling for $108k. The GC came in with an estimate of $23k for everything that it needed, so the offer went down to $101,500. I'm focusing on capital gains, not cash flow (which would be about $3k/year), but the capital gains would be about $21k with $22k out of pocket. Would you do this deal?

I am really new to REI and don't have experience. I joined Lifestyles Unlimited and am reading Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and both keep talking about having an "abundance mentality". My question is, with so many real estate investors out there, are real estate investing opportunities really that abundant? I didn't know just how many RE investors were really out there until I joined LU and BP. Did anyone else have this question when first starting out? I am going to go through with my REI goals, just starting to get a little scared with so many experienced people out there doing it full time!

@Brian Mathews

Brian, thanks for the advice. I will be following your advice on this one. New Braunfels is great! I've lived here for about a year now since I moved from San Marcos and it is a beautiful small town, though it's grown a ton since the 90's. We ride our bikes to Gruene too, but now the traffic is getting bad because of construction. The thing that HASN'T changed are the bikini girls, those are abundant! Makes me wish good real estate deals were like them, haha.

@Troy VanMaanen

Do I qualify for an FHA loan if I already have an investment property? For example, let's say I buy a rental but still have a couple of months left in my current lease contract. Since I have a rental already and I would want to buy a home, would that be a problem? I also hear there's some kind of program to help first time home buyers who are just married or something like that. Have you heard about that?

@Brian Mathews

I've been watching many Robert Kiyosaki videos and am about to read his "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" book, and he keeps talking about liabilities an assets. I understand the difference, but he keeps saying to avoid liabilities. I know a house and a car are liabilities rather than assets, but I would think it's inevitable to get those, or am I wrong? I also think that I'd rather pay for a home that is mine rather than pay rent, but there's so many different opinions out there that it gets a little hard to decide which is best. But in my opinion, I would agree with you. Like I said, I'm not experienced, so it is difficult to make a choice when many experienced investors have different points of view. I am willing to invest about $50k, but don't really know if that's enough or not to get me on track to achieving my goals.

Also, can some explain to me how the @someone's name thing works? I tried before and am trying again, but it doesn't turn into a link!

Brian, I don't have debt besides my about 9k of student loans. I paid off my truck 2 years early so that I didn't have that payment. I am going to start looking for a multifamily unit like Maverick said. It seems that many people on here agree on the fact that buying a home is not that much of a priority anymore these days, and it makes sense. That can wait, just gotta get my fiance to see from my point of view. Annette, yes, I hear that a ton as well that a home is a liability.

Hey Rick, thanks for your reply! Here are the answers to your questions.

Are you married? Are you in a serious relationship?

Not married, but got engaged in December and planning on getting married in June 2015.

Is having an additional source of income important to you right now? If it is, how much do you want?

I want an additional source of income to eventually replace my current one. I have set my 2014 cash flow goal for at least $7k, but would eventually in the future want a cash flow of $50k. I'm really doing well with my finances, but I don't see myself working for 40 years at a job that doesn't have a huge margin of growth (I'm a teacher).

Are you willing to work with partners?

Yes! Willing to work with partners if it is going to help me with my goals.

What area would you buy your home in?

I would buy my home in San Antonio, TX and invest in the same place. I'm trying to relocate and live over there permanently.

I'm really new to RE investing. I graduated college three years ago but haven't bought a home yet, still living at an apartment. I want to get into RE investing, but don't know if I should buy my first home for myself and wait to invest, or just go ahead and invest. Also, if I do invest first, will I have a problem when I want to buy my first home for me to live in? I am pre-approved and am ready to go to start investing OR buy a home for myself, but I don't know which path to take first. Any help?

Thanks to all of you for your replies! I will make the best out of the Lifestyles registration. I will keep you posted on my progress and you will be hearing more from me. Sorry, I'm ALWAYS asking questions!

I just joined BP and had joined Lifestyles Unlimited about a month ago. It cost me $6.5k and upon reading many discussions about them, mentoring in general, and how there's tactic to get you to join programs like LU, I feel like I just threw away REALLY hard earned money. They do email us deals and I have made offers on about 5, none of which have gotten accepted or rejected. I'm brand new to REI and I hope I didn't start off with a mistake already. Any comments?