All Forum Posts by: Christian Becker

@Phil Denton

You’re in one of the golden cities in the Midwest.

Look for properties that are better than the 1% rule there. Mine are all around 1.4%. Avoid any D areas. Don’t want poor rental areas.

Look up and call all rental Management companies in your area. Get their details. Ask them if they will look over your properties that you're interested in. A good one will. Before you buy it. They don't want to manage in a poor area usually. Just by giving them an address and details on the property you're considering, like # beds and baths, garage or parking, SFR of roof, hvac, etc and sending them some pictures they can give you a good deal of info and tell you what they could get in rents there and what the neighborhood is like. And if you should buy there or not. If they want to manage there or not. They're your best consultants. Some will do a site visit for you, sometimes for a fee.

I wish I lived in your town or state. Use the rental management company. They know real estate. Having said that, I had to fire my first rental management company and the one I have now is great. First one wouldn’t do what I just listed. My current one does. But you can’t learn all of this from books. Gotta do a deal or two. Then you know. What other people know and try to warn you about. But don’t get discouraged. Takes a learning curve to get going. And you’ll waste some time, effort and money in the process. But I think you have to go through it. No pain, no gain.

@Jason Lehn

There is a FHA renovation loan that I have no personal experience with but was mentioned in one of the BO podcasts. Sounded like it was a pain to do with putting Some Money in escrow etc but can be done. Call around and ask lenders. Ask around and search BP and see what you find.

@Patrice Holloway

I found a local credit union in my town that does 10% down. Call every lender in your town and ask. Also consider FHA if it's your first. Requires 3% down.

@Kesha Ferguson

Look at FHA for your first deal. Buy a duplex or fourplex and live in one and you can get 3% down financing.

@Kris Tidwell

Reading and listening to podcasts on BP should get you excited and not depressed or fearful.

Try to fing a small deal and start. You can’t learn just by reading and listening. If not sure, run your deal by a friend or post it on BP for some input. Find someone who can give you some feedback.

@Goziem Ononye

Save up for a down payment. If you can get an FHA loan, it's a slow as 3%.

Look at some of the online websites for properties. Zillow, Realtor.com to get a feel. Network and meet people.

Pick an area you’re interested in if not your local area. If you live in the Midwest, start there. Almost any town. Then ask around on BO for a certain city. Find people and network.

I had heard the Midwest was good for Cashflow and started looking there.

@Leslie N Harmon

Check realtor.com. I use the app version of the site all the time. You can look up all listed properties in any town.

Besides that Zillow, etc. you don’t need a realtor to look at listings. Will give you some ideas on valuation too.

Rentometer.com will give you approximate rents you can expect for the area.

Google the address and get a street view and satellite view of the property and neighborhood.

Talk to some Local banks and credit unions. I’ve found some that offer 10% down loans on the first 3 properties. Not all require 20-25% down, because some hold their own loans instead of seeking them through Fannie/Freddie. Call all local banks and credit unions and ask them on t he phone what they offer. Tell them you’re buying rentals, single units, duplex and 4-plex. And ask about their tents and what they require down. First question I ask is “Do you sell your loans or keep them in house?”

@Tim Hudson

Interestingly, keeping it simple is what I was told.

My investment advisor told me that he wanted me to buy a rental. He said he didn’t care where or anything. Start with something small. He explained the 1% rule and said that’s all. Go and do it. Best advice. Got me started. I knew very little but it got me going and I got a decent deal. I now have 11 doors. Have learned a lot more along the way and built spreadsheets and know more. But that got me going. Keep it simple. You’ll learn more by doing one deal than reading and hearing about a hundred.

@Lane Kawaoka

Lane,

How did you make the jump to large apartment buildings?

@Curtis Woloshyn

You’re getting a bad deal I think.

One of my silent partners puts in the cash for money down and remodel and gets 50% share in the business for the next 10 years in return.

Another one who just furnishes hard money gets 12% per year and another 2% each time up front I use the money. He acts as my bank for my own deals.