All Forum Posts by: Ryan Baker

Why don't you have any credit? Maybe take some time and try to repair it? How bad is bad? Maybe you can use that money to pay off some bad debt and obtain some small financing to improve your credit? Then you'll have more financing options available.

I listen to the BP podcasts all the time, and I hear about people buying 10,20,ect properties in their first year. How do you finance a property for long term investing? I am closing on my first rental this week, and I put 20% down and obtained a traditional loan from a bank. Even if you were to finance using a commercial loan or private lender you'd have to put at least 20% down (correct?). Is everyone just saving up a ton of cash to do this? Do the people on the podcast (especially those with <20 units) just have a lot more cash than I do? Or is here something I'm completely missing?

Municipal Bonds are either individual or packages of debt to city government (municipalities). They're fairly safe (for the most part). They tend to have very low yields. I'm not sure who told you to expect 6% but that's probably pretty high right now. One advantage is that they're tax free. These qualities (safe, predictable, tax free) make them good options for retirees living on a fixed income. They're probably not the best option for wealth building. I don't know your situation but probably best to read up and explore options. If your looking for a short term place to park money a savings account or money market fund is more liquid, if you're looking for long term wealth building a stock based mutual fund or simply buying an investment property will likely work out better.

@William LoPresti Welcome to BP! I'm also located in Sarasota, and am in the healthcare field. I think REI is a GREAT way to spend that extra time, and definitely a great way to build up wealth for future passive income. I made it to the Wednesday REIA a couple times, but haven't been in a while. It's a great group I just haven't been able to go personally. Best of luck!

I haven't yet.  Just got back from looking at a few properties with my realtor.  Next step will be to make some offers and see what happens!  Exciting!

Thanks for all the helpful opinions! I've been having a tough time finding anything north of 7%. I guess I've been feeling a bit impatient to get something going. The search goes on...

First of all congrats!  I'm in a very similar boat just starting out.  My approach has been to read as much as possible on real estate investing, and listened to the podcasts.  I also began saving as much as possible for my first purchase.  Once I felt comfortable with what I had read, and had saved up enough, I contacted my realtor and started viewing properties that would cash flow positive.  

A lot of people will recommend reading, connecting with your local REIA group, and start looking at properties! Best of luck!

I'm currently looking for my first rental property in the Sarasota/Bradenton (particularly Bradenton due to costs) area. I've been searching through the MLS for 2/2 or 3/2, 1100-1400 square foot properties in the $120-150K price range. What I seem to be finding is rental rates of about 1400-1600 a month for this type of property. This tends to create a Cash return of about 5-7%, and cash flow 150-200 a month. My question is: if you're getting your desired cash flow, who cares what your CoC or Cap rates are? Is it completely ridiculous to consider buying something like this? I've heard multiple versions of "criteria" involving similar requirements for SFH, which require cash flows of $100-200 a month on various podcasts and posts. So if this criteria is met, does it really matter what the return is on a SFH rental?

I've been to a couple meetings.  Haven't been lately due to work and family developments (new baby!!).  The group is absolutely wonderful and very, very friendly.  I look forward to attending again once things calm down and finances are in order.

I see you're from Florida.  There is a great book called "Asset Protection Guide for the Florida Physician" by Kirwan.  The tone of the book is directed towards physicians, but the information is absolute GOLD for anyone looking for asset protection information.  It is very Florida-specific, so it would be extremely helpful for anyone investing in Florida.  

Basically, to start out, I don't know that it would be of much value to start an LLC. The bank (mortgage holder) will have first claim to any value held in the home, leaving only your equity as a lawsuit target. Usually it would be much more profitable to go after the homeowners insurance company rather than you personally, as they're likely a bigger target. Obviously this changes if you have a large equity position in the house, or substantial assets that are available (i.e. not a primary residence or retirement accounts).   Thus having a good homeowners insurance policy is likely much more valuable than forming an LLC as a beginning investor.

P.S.  Obviously nothing replaces the advice of a good asset protection attorney.