All Forum Posts by: Bonnie Low

It's a bummer, but cash is still king. We've been doing this since 2016 and cash buyers have always been our nemesis. We've offered on countless properties - usually with hard money since that's the kind of properties we tend to buy - and even though we can close in 10-14 days typically, sellers will almost always go with a cash offer, even if it's lower. It's frustrating to go through the 'highest and best' process only to be told that you had the highest offer, but the buyer consider the cash offer to be the best offer and went with that. As for buying vs. speculating, that's just investing. That doesn't make it any less frustrating when you're trying to build your business, though. Your best bet is still to go with off market deals, pocket listings, use a wholesaler or word of mouth.

Hey @Devin Monroe - maybe the way to think about it is 'Can a good PM save me money?' The key word being Good. Everybody knows there are a lot of lousy ones out there but if you get a good one, I think it's a worthwhile expense. Fortunately, we've had good property managers. We did our homework, interviewed multiple companies, looked at their procedures and systems and it's worked out well. It saved us time and money not having to advertise vacancies, screen tenants, deal with maintenance requests, handle turnovers, collect rent or deal with evictions (luckily, that's never happened so far). They also inspect the properties twice/year and that alone is worth the monthly cost because we're out of state landlords and the trip back twice/year would be costly, albeit a write off. We also get tidy paperwork monthly and at the end of the year which we just hand over to our accountant. While it does take a bite out of cashflow, I'm pretty sure if we had to do all this ourselves not only would it eat up time we could put to better use doing other things, we would be liable to make costly mistakes. Also consider that most companies offer a break after a certain number of properties, so that can help.

Congratulations for having a nest egg to work with already and for having the insight to target real estate investing as a financial vehicle! I have to second what everyone else has said about buying something you can house hack. It's so great for so many reasons: have someone else pay all or part of your mortgage, use this time when your personal life is very flexible to live with less so you can have more later, and you learn a lot about owning, maintaining a property and dealing with tenants. It's a great way to get started. And you need somewhere to live anyway. I think if I was starting at such a young age, after I got the house hack purchased, I would be looking for properties that are going to appreciate comfortably over the next 5 -10 years. That may mean properties you pick up under market and add value to or buying into up and coming markets. That 5-10 years will go by in a blink of an eye and you will have made solid returns for little effort. I can't tell you how many markets we've looked at and didn't pull the trigger on years ago and have kicked ourselves over it ever since (Boise, Denver, Nashville, Austin to name a few) as the appreciation would have been significant! I'm assuming at your age you're not looking to retire too soon so cash flow would be less of an issue for me in that timeframe. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

This is really handy information, Mike. Thanks for sharing!

@Andy Pate yes, there's an impact from that debt, but it just becomes part of your debt-to-income ratio. The fact that it's deferred and you have zero payments right now does not in and of itself hurt you. It's still a trade off, though.

The loans you have on other properties already probably won't interfere with your ability to open a new escrow. If I understand you correctly, you want to buy one now and the other in about 4 months? As long as you have the income, credit and down payment for all of these transactions you'll probably be able to find a lender who will do multiple loans in that time frame. I'd talk to a lender now and tell them what you want to do. They may be very motivated to know you're a serious buyer and should work hard to help make those deals happen for you. But you should know that escrows are taking a long time right now. They say they're backed up due to COVID. Appraisals are taking 5-6 weeks and underwriting is taking longer, too. So I wouldn't count on a 30-day escrow right now. More likely plan for 60+ days when all is said and done.

I think you'd need to enlist the help of a local Realtor. I'm not sure how else you'd obtain that information on your own. Ask them to set you up with a daily or weekly MLS feed for properties that fit your criteria so you can start to get a feel for what things are listed for. Most are more than happy to do this for a prospective client if you're a serious buyer.

@Joseph Hartley you already have the two most important elements of financial literacy: awareness and willingness to learn! I'm not even joking. So many people - of all ages - don't take their finances seriously and wonder why they can never get ahead. Huge props to you for recognizing this on your own at such a young age and pursuing the knowledge. It's too bad we no longer teach about finances in schools - not that it was ever covered much - but my 19 year old son says the same thing. He also wants to get into investing and the more he learns, the more he's frustrated with traditional education. Learning by doing is so overlooked. With your interest level and your willingness to put yourself out there I would highly recommend you start going to local Real Estate Investor Association (REIA) meetings in your area. They're usually free and commonly held at a local restaurant or meeting area. You might feel out of place because you're so young and so inexperienced, but most investors I know would love to take someone young and earnest under their wing and help in any way they can. You might find someone you can work for to soak up some knowledge and get your feet wet. You might find a mentor. You might find a future business partner. At the very least you'll make some good connections with Realtors, lenders, contractors and other investors - all of which will prove invaluable to you. I have a feeling whatever you decide to pursue you'll do well, so go get it!

If you're looking for a Realtor in Billings I can recommend one, though I don't think she's on BP. My son played football for Rocky Mountain College in Billings and we considered moving there and looked at a lot of houses with this Realtor who has become a friend. I spent a month there looking at properties, but he ended up transferring to Boise. Kids! Anyway, if you need a recommendation, hit me up.

Congratulations on this deal! I love Chico - I went to Chico State and worked for Butte County for many years. We sold our home in Chico just before real estate went through the roof and I've wished many times we would have stayed there. It's a great town for raising a family, too.