All Forum Posts by: Bryan DeSellem

@Alina Trigub

Wow! There’s a lot of good books on this site, I don’t know how I haven’t found this before. Thanks!

@Andrew Syrios

Thanks. I appreciate the suggestions. I’ll be picking these two up before I make my next deal.

Hi everyone,

I'm relatively new to the Real Estate investing world. I have one duplex which I am in the process of rehabbing now (I'm using the BRRRR strategy). I expect to be complete around March next year and want to be ready to dive right back in. With that being said I want to educate and prepare myself as much as possible to ensure I make the best financing decisions on my next deal. I'm looking for a good book that focuses and explains different investment strategies preferably one that includes commercial real estate financing. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

@Remington Lyman

Thanks for the advice Remington. I see this opportunity in several locations and when the projects kick off they brings in several hundred contractors. While their companies pay them per diem which allows you to charge higher rent the contractors also notoriously damage the property they stay in.

Hi All,

That might not be the best title for this question. I work for a large utility company and have been involved in a couple of facilities that were being built/commissioned. I have noticed during these large construction projects rent in the area skyrockets and nearly every rental is full, however this is only temporary (2 to 3 years). I’ve seen this where I’ve lived in Ohio, Virginia, and now Maryland. Back then I wasn’t involved in real estate at all but now that I am I wonder if that’s a opportunity I should take advantage of or steer clear of. Anyone out there that has been involved in such a market? And what was your experience?

Thanks in advance,

An Ambitious Newbie

@Eamonn McElroy Thanks everyone for the information, I will have to sit down with a CPA and see what my options are. One side of the duplex is being rented and has been since we bought it, we are doing one side at a time. I do like the idea of making the rental income non passive income by becoming a “real estate professional”, that’s definitely something I will have to research. Thanks again.

My wife and I are new to real estate investing. We recently bought a duplex and we are currently having it renovated. We will have a fair amount tied up in renovations when we are done, somewhere in the ball park or $65k, we only paid $35k for it though. I recently bought a book to read up on landlord tax laws, “NOLO’s Every Landlord’s Tax Deduction Guide”. In there I read that if you make over $150k a year you CANNOT DEDUCT ANYTHING RELATED TO YOUR RENTALS. This is obviously a huge blow to my entire real estate investing plan. So one question I have is does anyone know any tips to get around this unfortunate law? I have an LLC that “owns” the property and once the property is rented I don’t see making more than $15k a year from it. It sounds like I can write off my losses against that but that won’t be until next year or the year after. How long can I carry losses over?

Thanks for the advice everyone. I got pre-approved for a traditional loan today for this property and was surprised by the amount they require down on an investment property and the interest rate. They want 25% down instead of the 20% I was assuming and closing cannot be rolled into the loan and i guess rates are higher for a investment property (6% with a credit score of 790) I think I’m going to max out a HELOC I have on my primary home ($35k remaining) then if necessary dip into my 401k for a small amount, this will keep my payment down as my HELOC is for 30 years and the 401k is 5. Once the rehab property is done, refinance and pay off the HELOC so my primary is no longer at risk. My goal is not to use my personal savings. What are your thoughts on the banks pre-approval, good/bad? I just started investing in real estate so this is my first investment property bank loan.

My wife and I found what seems like a killer deal near where we grew up, we now live 8 hours away. The house is a duplex that is currently rented for $1200/month per side and the asking price is $120k. The only thing the house needs is new appliances because they are the owners and they do not come with the house (strange I know). Naturally there is a lot of interest in this property due to the fact that they just dropped to this price last week from $160k, so there is a good chance I will pay more for the house. My question is: should I consider using a 401k loan of up to $30k to fund this? I’ve never took a 401k loan but I understand how it works. It will have a 6% interest rate and a 5 year term. At the same time I am rehabbing another duplex that will eat up most of my other funds, so purchasing this other property will have me stretched pretty thin. Is the deal worth pursuing and using a 401k loan, thoughts?