All Forum Posts by: Christina J.

Welcome, Kent! 

My husband and I have been investing in long term buy and hold rentals in Chattanooga for about 3 years now and we're loving it. True that there's fewer "deals" to be had these days, but if you're in the market for buy and hold, you can still find cash flowing properties that will help build your portfolio. 

Best of luck to you on your search and let me know if you have future questions about the CHA market!

Welcome, Adam! 

I focus on buy and hold long term rentals, but I've explored the airbnb model for several of our properties, and I'm a (painfully) frequent user....my input is limited, but here goes:

 - if I were you, my first step would be to study up on the local ordinances around short term rentals. More and more local councils are curbing or eliminating the ability to rent short term. 

 - the best way I've found to determine if there's a market is to go to airbnb / vrbo / homeaway and search for similar properties. Note the number of properties, avg per night cost, and how yours could be differentiated. 

 - reaching out to a local real estate agent could also help you gauge the market - they often get requests for short term rental location assistance for folks moving to the area or between homes. 

 - I'm sure you've thought of this already, but your town doesn't have to be tourist-heavy to be a good airbnb location - I've seen wildly successful short term rentals located near universities and hospitals and nowhere near a tourist destination. 

Best of luck to you, Adam! 

Welcome, Sheryl! Sounds like you've got a solid plan for building your investments.

I don't want to contribute to your analysis paralysis, but if you haven't subscribed to the Bigger Pockets podcast yet, I can't recommend it highly enough. I lurked in the forums and listened to the podcast for several years before making the leap to buying my first property. The education I received through the podcast was invaluable in giving me the knowledge and confidence to do the first deal.

As to the paid mentor, only you can say what's best for you at this stage. But you might try your local REI group first, to see if you can find local folks willing to partner with you on the process. Once you have the resources in place and find the right deal, the paralysis often lifts and you're able to make the decision.

Keep being brave and putting yourself out there - it will pay off. 

Best of luck to you on your journey!

Welcome, Arvind! Sounds like you've got a solid plan for building your investments. 

A few thoughts:

If you haven't subscribed to the Bigger Pockets podcast yet, I can't recommend it highly enough. I lurked in the forums and listened to the podcast for several years before making the leap to buying my first property. The education I received through the podcast was invaluable in giving me the knowledge and confidence to do the first deal. 

One additional factor that helped me in the early stages of REI was having the advice of a trusted real estate agent. I know a lot of investors don't like paying the fees, but on those early purchases, our agent saved us so much time and money and was an invaluable part of getting us off the ground. Since you are evaluating multiple out of state locations, this may be more challenging, but I bet you could find some folks here in the forums who can point you in the right direction.

 Other key mentors along the way have been a community banker, and a title company owner - all contributed to our knowledge base about the buying, lending and closing processes.If you haven't already started talking to lenders, I would recommend starting that process now. The more you learn about closing costs and procedures, the more time and money you will save in the long run. 

Best of luck to you on your journey!

Hi, Lacy! Welcome to Bigger Pockets. Sounds like your goals are consistent with many of us....financial freedom and security. You're in the right place!

If you haven't subscribed to the Bigger Pockets podcast yet, I can't recommend it highly enough. I lurked in the forums and listened to the podcast for several years before making the leap to buying my first property. The education I received through the podcast was invaluable in giving me the knowledge and confidence to do the first deal. My husband and I are eight properties into the adventure and no looking back!

Best of luck to you and feel free to post questions in the forums along your journey. Lots of friendly folks are here to help.

Welcome, Vanessa! Sounds like you have hit the ground running already. 

My husband and I first started talking about REI because we were considering a vacation home that we would rent out when we weren't in town....same as you, those numbers just didn't fly. So we turned our attention to buy and hold rentals and love (almost) every minute of it.

The BP podcast is the best, right? I lurked in the forums and listened to the podcast for several years before making the leap to buying my first property. The education was invaluable in giving me the knowledge and confidence to do the first deal. Eight properties later and no looking back now!

Best of luck to you!

Welcome, Wayne! Sounds like you have a lot of great experience to build on for this round of investing....even if it's all "what NOT to do"!

If you haven't subscribed to the podcast yet, I can't recommend it highly enough. I lurked in the forums and listened to the podcast for several years before making the leap to buying my first property. The education I received through the podcast was invaluable in giving me the knowledge and confidence to do the first deal. And it's made managing the properties so much less stressful because I always now I can find answers to questions here.

Best of luck to you and your bride!

Welcome, Grigorly! 

If you haven't subscribed to the podcast yet, I can't recommend it highly enough. I lurked in the forums and listened to the podcast for several years before making the leap to buying my first property. The education I received through the podcast was invaluable in giving me the knowledge and confidence to do the first deal. 

Best of luck to you!

Welcome, Daniel! Sounds like you're way ahead of the game with your job skills - I wish I had half of those abilities to take care of our rental properties!

My top recommendation is always to plug into the podcast - it was a huge key to my success in those early phases. Since it sounds like you're already tuning in...I recommend connecting with a real estate agent that you trust who can help you identify opportunities in your desired neighborhoods. And if you haven't started talking to banks / lenders, that would be a good next step, as well. Understanding the lending process and variables will save you time and money once you locate the deal you want to close. 

Best of luck!

Welcome, Allan! Sounds like you're way beyond a newbie in real estate! Congrats on the properties you've already acquired and your goals for growing. 

I'm sure moving to a new country is overwhelming enough, much less working to launch a real estate business, too! 

My top recommendation for next steps: If you haven't subscribed to the podcast yet, I can't recommend it highly enough. I lurked in the forums and listened to the podcast for several years before making the leap to buying my first property. The education I received through the podcast was invaluable in giving me the knowledge and confidence to do the first deal. Eight properties later and no looking back now!

Best of luck to you!