All Forum Posts by: Clayton Swansen

Good evening all! Or at least where in the world I am it is! I am fairly new to BP, and I am literally giddy to have found such a wealth of information, and people willing to share their knowledge and experience all in one place. Being that I now have all of you good, kind, and savvy investors to tap for some advice, I do believe I shall take advantage... so here is my question in the form of a medium-long and winding story: 

I am a bit of a slow bloomer in the area of adulting... I have spent my life in the military, and then college, and then traveling for work and for pleasure, and soaking up all that there is to see and learn and do in the world... essentially doing anything but learning to build wealth, and setting down roots somewhere. 

Then a few months ago I happened upon my now beloved BP podcasts, and then Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and Think and Grow Rich, and... you get the point, my friends. I am learning to change my ways, my perspective, and my goals for the future... and I must say, it is exhilarating. I feel that in pursuing this new objective, I have learned more about myself and the fascinating world of personal finance in the last few months than I have in... maybe ever. We are talking life-changing, people. And this is coming from a guy who always scoffed at people who talked about this or that "life-changing" book or PODCAST! But it's true! I am beyond excited to apply what I have learned to the task of freeing myself forever from the bonds of debt, and unwanted employment. Someday you will hear my story as told Brandon and Josh on the BP podcast!

But before that happens, I shall offer up my dilemma for you, in hopes that I might solicit some kernel of wisdom from one or many of you kind souls... 

I swore after listening to BP that I would never rent another abode again. I have a VA loan available to me, I am eligible for an FHA, and I have about 15k saved for investing purposes. My goal was to find a place to house hack, but the market has gone b-a-n-a-n-a-s where I live in northwest Washington State. With competition so fierce, I am running into a bit of a time crunch... not a good place to be when trying to buy a smart investment property. You see, I spend the major part of my time working overseas (5 weeks out/3 weeks home on average). I've been couch surfing (read: bumming) the last year when I am back in the states, and I am incredibly grateful to my kind friends and family, but I can't tell you how old this is getting for all involved.

So I decided to settle a bit for now, and find a reasonable home to live in that allows me to easily cover the mortgage, and at the same time continue to save more, and look for another property to buy and hold. I have a home in mind. It is a small, well taken care of beach cabin, two blocks from the beach, in a great summer vacation area... winter not so much. I need a turnkey on this one, or nearly so, as I just don't have time or money for major renovations right meow. This means I likely won't be buying a killer deal, but I will still be paying a low-ish mortgage. Less than $1k/month including insurance and taxes is what I am shooting for. In a year or two I would want to either rent it out, or Airbnb it. I feel that we are at the top of the market or damn near (like I have a clue what I'm talking about), and so I think I would have a hard time getting out of it within the next 5-10 years with any worthwhile profit. Or, in the end, is it just smarter to rent, not lock myself in, and buy myself some extra time?

I sincerely thank you for accompanying me on this little journey, friends, for the lending of a sympathetic ear is counted among the finest things on earth. 

Hi Evan! My name is Clayton as Tony mentioned in a previous post. We are up here in Bellingham. It's not a bad drive at all from Anacortes to make it here after work one day, and I think you'll find that everyone is great in the group, and worth the drive for what you'll learn, and the ideas that it can generate. A few of them are extremely experienced in REI, and kind enough to share their wealth of knowledge about REI in general, but they also have a strong understanding of the local markets and sub markets that can be very helpful too. I'm a former Navy EOD Tech, so you'll be in good company! We hope to see you soon!

Thank you, Russell Brazil!

Hello everyone! BP is my new favorite way to learn about REI, and I like to come here to get honest and direct answers to my admittedly plebeian questions. The level and amount of knowledge on here, combined with the good will of experienced investors is just amazing, and to not tap into this would just be crazy! But I digress... I was reading Millionaire Real Estate Investor, and in it is mentioned the 1.00% rule which even Mr. Keller admits seems high, and instead opts for .8% when calculating rents. I know this is probably sounding very much like a broken record, but in my area there are no 30k homes you can fix up and rent out for $300+ a month. The only thing for, shall we say, 100k is a tiny apartment in a fairly undesirable location... And even if this mythical beast existed, squeezing $1000/month out of it would be on par with squeezing the truth out of a politician... Not gonna happen. Or maybe I am just not seeing the forest for the trees. Maybe I am missing something. Maybe I need a paradigm shift! Anyhow, as Arnold would say... Your advices are appreciated!

David Dey excellent info! Thank you, sir!

Greg S. Do you make a distinction between mobile and manufactured, or are they more or less governed by the same principles?

Wow... Thank you for lowdown Greg S. That's a lot to consider. Very glad to have this resource, and experienced people like you to tap into for information!

Hi everyone. I am curious about investing in mobile/manufactured homes as rentals. The prices are much lower, and rent seems to be about par. This seems like a great way to create a lot more cash flow on my investment. Does anyone who has experience in this area have any words of wisdom on the subject of renting out such properties? Thank you!

Hi all! Has anyone had an issue with lenders saying that you need to prove at least 6 months of expenses saved up when buying a multi family (duplex) property with a VA loan? As I understand it, a 2,3, or 4-plex is viewed in the legal sense as the same as a SFH. So if I am not required to have that for a SFH, why must I show it for a MF? Something doesn't jive here. Any insight is appreciated!

Thanks for the excellent post, Sterling! So... What's holding me back... Money. Money is the big one. I have a VA loan available to me, and a modest amount of emergency savings, but that's about it. My Pacific Northwest town is exploding right now, and there is currently no such thing as negotiating on price. It is take it, leave it, or offer more. I barely qualify for a loan that is competitive, and I'm pretty sure, were I to purchase a home/investment property with no money down, it would be hard to gain equity, and I can't fathom prices continuing much higher than they are now. I can't buy a house here that is listed on the MLS for 250k that will eventually rent for 2.5k... i.e. The 2% rule (?). So therefore, my only option is to find a distressed home with a motivated seller through my own means, which is going to be a hell of an experience having had no previous experience, I can already tell. My other obstacle is the VA loan itself... Very restrictive in what one is authorized to purchase. No fixer-uppers with a VA. More like an updater... Which again is tough to find for any reasonable price... So this, sir, is my dilemma! Please feel free to poke holes in all of this.. I'd love to gain new and differing perspectives on my situation. Thank you!