All Forum Posts by: Chris Tran

@Felicia Bridges I've basically gone down the same path and currently have a HELOC as a 2nd mortgage. I use the HELOC to BRRRR properties which allows me to use my liquid capital to invest in deals where I wouldn't get my capital back within 6-8 months to repay the HELOC.

I had the same frustrations as you since a lot of brokers do that bait and switch game since they're hoping they can talk you into a cash out refi on your primary. There are a couple of lenders that are offering good rates on HELOCs right now. Message me and I can send over the details.

You have screening criteria and if they're unwilling to prove that they meet it. Why bend over backwards and take the risk of bad tenants when they won't even go through your screen process in good faith?

If they lied to you and got away with it, 100% they'll do it again.

I understand the argument that you should just make the minimum payments to your school loans for now and funnel that money towards investing and while it works for many, I think that type of think is short sighted. 

Being successful long terms means that you need to be able to balance the acquisition of assets along with the reduction of liabilities. Good debt or not, debt is debt. You'll always feel the debt over your head and it only takes the market to turn or for you to get laid off and the tower will being to crumble.

After graduate school both my wife (then girlfriend) and I focused on paying down our student loans. She owed $70k and I owed $50k and we were both able to pay off our loans in under 2 years. Sure, we could have invested the money instead, but there's a huge value knowing that we're debt free and that it will take a lot of things going wrong for us to lose. 

Exactly the strategy that @Zack P. is advocating for.

People always focus on replicating the hyper-aggressive acquisition strategies and always forget about making sure their portfolios are also built for wealth preservation.

Agree with most of everyone in this thread. Not that finding the right deal to BRRRR is easy, but the general concept should be relatively easy to execute.

The devil is in the details so get out and network, network, network. Find the right deal, build relationships with the right rehab team, and the right banker and you'll be able to execute your BRRRR.

Getting funding these days isn't hard, but getting quality funding is tough. Lending is a relationship business so get out there and meet lenders to find the ones that are experienced in executing similar plans.

Making lots of offers in itself isn't a bad thing, but it can burn bridges when the majority of them are not realistic. 

It comes down to building a relationship with an agent and working together with them to develop your acquisition strategy. Once they understand what you're trying to do, a great agent will be able to help you identify properties that fit your invest criteria. It's not all about price, there are other ways to package terms that get you want you want without having to lowball every seller.

@Lane Kawaoka Plenty of good school districts in the KC metro. Check out Lee's Summit, Blue Springs, and even portions of Liberty and North KC among others. Lots of areas served by Great Schools rated 7+ schools.

CA is a tough beast to wrap your head around. The perpetual influx of people from other states along with big foreign money makes it very difficult to start your investing career here, especially if you're looking to buy and hold.

I've also thought investing in the high desert, but it's a tough proposition. Jobs are lacking and for as many people as we get coming to CA, no one really wants to live there. The folks that usually live out there are in it either for a niche lifestyle choice or because they can't afford to live in coastal CA. 

As @Lee Ripma mentioned, there's a few otheroptions out there:

1. buying long distance out of state
2. moving to a new market

Investing long distance is the path I've chosen because both my wife's and my family live in Southern CA and we just view the cost of purchasing our primary home as the "tax" we have to pay to live in Socal. We bought a home that suits our needs and we're under no illusion that it's an investment. Because we're in Socal there's a good chance it appreciates, but that's just a bonus.  

If you're not tied to Socal, option two is pretty appealing. I'd 100% rather do option two over buying in 29 Palms and commuting 2-3 hours to work everyday. On the flip side with most owner-occupant loan programs, you only have to live there for a year before you're able to fully move out. One year of that horrible commute would really suck, but it's only really 200 or so work days. 

At the end of the day, real estate investing is about building wealth so you can live the lifestyle you want. For me, investing/living in places like the high desert or even the Inland Empire and commuting to Orange County for work defeats the purpose of why I invest in the first place.

@Mike D'Arrigo Your comments pretty sums up my experience. MFH's in those areas are sprinkled about and it's not the norm to find them. 

As many have stated before, there’s no right or wrong answer for this. It comes down to where you reside on the risk reward continuum.

I’ve worked hard to get where I’m at so limiting risk and liability is just as important as increasing profit. Personally I’m not willing to risk a potential lawsuit or even worse, a fire, all because I wanted to profit from my tenants $100 (potentially) poorly self-installed light fixture. 

@Matt Pritchard just sent you an email, thanks again. 

@Daniel Y. sounds great. I work in Aliso Viejo so that works out well. When is the next meetup you’re attending?