All Forum Posts by: Cara Kennedy

Hi James, a municipal/ site design engineer can lay one out for you pretty cheap. Or if you have any drafting skills yourself, you can draft it and they can edit it to help you meet local standards/ ordinances. Good luck!

Hey @Josue Fuentes - Google! He's the first person to pop up. Jim Aydelotte.

Hey @Oliver Graybar - being physically distant poses a challenge, but putting in effort to meet people could pay off. If you're within driving distance of any REIA's, consider joining and making the haul once a month to go and show that you're serious in this side of the business. Otherwise, stay active on here and focus on growing your education and online network. I've had people show interest in me even on here (who are states away in distance) based on my interest, persistence, and eagerness to work in this space. Good luck!

Hey @Josue Fuentes - The Lease Option Coach has some great content. I'm not sure how much of it is free or not, but his experiences in this space are vast and he's a wealth of knowledge if you are interested in a coach. I've taken one of his all-day workshops and find his content really valuable. Good luck!

Hey @Jeremy Bourgeois - congrats on picking a focus. That's a crucial first step, so you're making progress by having done that alone. Next I'd recommend starting to grow your network. Look for the local REIA groups that will be in the area you'll move to and see if you can find some wholesalers to get on their buyers' list. It would be nice for you to tell them that you're starting out and won't purchase until (insert time frame) so that they know you're working on connections and market knowledge. Off-market properties are the preferred way to buy, so getting a deal funnel with wholesalers and/or a realtor will really help you learn about the local market you'll move to.

If you haven't yet, practice with the rental property analyzer tools on BP. You should definitely have an idea of your budget that takes into account all aspects of a property. Also, one thing a lot of new investors leave out is understanding how to stretch their capital and how many deals are actually attainable. I'd spend some time planning out a financial strategy for investing, HELOCing, BRRRing, re-financing, and rehabbing so that you know how much money you'll realistically have to play with once you have one property on the go. Having cash tied up and not knowing what to do next is a surefire way to bring your investing to a complete halt.

Good luck and safe travels with your move!

Hey @Cliff Young, I don't know wholesalers out that way but both cities sound like very stable job and population markets. Get going! And I've heard great things about this book, in case you haven't read it yet: 

@Oliver Graybar - Hey Oliver, good find! I'm an engineer as well and I find our training and work experience translates REALLY WELL to real estate. I would caution that you want to ensure that you have a good team and people more knowledgeable than you to take on this project successfully. I think it's something you can handle, but you'd strengthen your decision-making and potentially overall project success by bringing in someone with more experience. 

I've had people show interest in taking a small equity stake in a property in exchange for them helping you manage it. It's a small price to pay for accelerating your knowledge, strengthening the project, and building a lasting relationship with someone with years of advice and experience to share. I'd consider being more open to a mentor for your own benefit.

Good luck and great find!

Hey @Leon Collins, I haven't purchased a mobile home before, but from what I've heard here are my thoughts:

Increase the repairs to at least 7-9% unless vast improvements have been made recently. I'd even consider going as high as 12%. From everything I've heard of mobile homes, the repairs are one of the things that renters/owners commonly have a hard time keeping up with. Keep the same in mind for CapEx and consider raising to 8-10%.

Unless you have a steady tenant base, I'd increase the vacancy to 10-15%. I go conservative on vacancy so that I'm covered regardless, plus I would expect that mobile homes (unless it's the nicest one in the area) will be vacant for longer than an average rental.

Make sure you run comps on the property to even make sure the cost of the property is worth it. This is higher than many that I've seen, though the 4/2 has it's advantages.

Good luck!

@Tripp Atkinson - Hey Tripp, I'll send you an email shortly. Have a great week!

@Charlie Shew - it's never too late! Good for you for thinking outside the box now. I echo what a few people said that diversifying into small multi-family homes (2 to 4 units) is a good way to get going. And working alongside someone more experienced will really help your growth - that's been my approach and it has accelerated my knowledge much faster than when I was studying/working on my own.

Also, with your funds in your self-directed IRA/ 401(k): if no one has mentioned it yet it's best not to OWN property in those vehicles so that you're still taking advantage of every tax benefit that you can in regular taxable accounts. If you haven't explored it yet, look into private lending for your retirement funds; people are often looking for loans for 6-18 months at ~12-15%. This could be a great way to get that money working for you while you sleep!

All the best to you and good luck with the work ahead.