All Forum Posts by: Craig Curelop

Hannah Wilkinson - I have found that the best contacts and team members come from recommendations and referrals. Join a local real estate Meetup, setup coffee meetings with local real estate investors (www.biggerpockets.com/meet), and ask them who they use as an attorney.

@Nicholas Grieco - As was mentioned above, it all depends on your student loan interest rate. I am in a similar position as you, but I graduated a few years. I am drowning in student loans so my interest rate is fairly high (6%), but I opted to save as much as I can and am now looking to purchase my first property. Given your engineering background, I'm going to assume you'll be able to easily make your monthly debt payments and still save some cash. I would recommend you save your money and purchase your first property with a house hack in the next couple of years. Your net worth will grow exponentially more with a real estate purchase vs. a debt pay down. As for your niche to invest in. Wholesaling and Flipping are typically full time jobs. Obtaining a loan without a steady income is extremely difficult too. Since you will likely get a high paying W2 job upon graduation and will be able to qualify for a loan, I highly recommend you start with a buy & hold house hack. Hope this helps! Best of luck!

@Isiah Ferguson - If you've got a duplex that you have 100% equity in, I presume you are cash flowing nicely from the property. 

Whether you take the job or not depends on your goals and your risk tolerance. Taking the W2 job will be much safer, will allow for easier financing, and with a bit of frugality you can save a significant amount of your income from the W2 to invest in real estate and achieve financial freedom over the next ~10 years.

If you are on a sprint to financial freedom and are not afraid to take risks then putting the investment into your own business might be worth while. Just remember that going off on your own will likely come with significant financial set backs that will double as education. 

@Scott H. - I highly recommend you get her to read (or listen to) Rich Dad Poor Dad. 

Another thought would be to have her read this blog post. It shows why real estate investing is one of the best ways to significantly grow your net worth! 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/02/1...

Hope this helps!

Craig 

@Charlie Cummings - welcome to BiggerPockets! Definitely a great place to be to learn and network with real estate investors. 

If you're ever in the Five Points area, let me know and we can grab a coffee and chat! 

@Tony Hightower - I would be sure to confirm with the current lease how much the tenants are currently paying. Also be sure that the new appliances are of quality rather than "lipstick on a pig." Double check taxes (county tax assessor website), insurance (get a couple quotes), and utilities (call the utility companies) to get a gauge no how much you would spend on each. I would also look at comparable rents around your area to see if the $730 is market rate. 

Make sure to run the numbers through the BP calculators and if you're property cash flows make an offer, due your diligence, and close it! 

Best,

Craig

@Shawn Munoz - It is legal for banks to deny a loan for such a low amount. Usually they do this because it cost them the same to underwrite a loan for $50k as it does for them to underwrite a loan for $500k so it is just not worth their effort. 

To simply give up because a couple banks would not give this to you does not make any sense. Talk to private lenders, call other banks, friends and family, etc. If none of these work, maybe you use your funds (presumably $10k) and get a 10% down payment for a $100k property? Or FHA your way to a $280k multifamily property. There many ways to finance - take a look at Brandon Turner's Book on Real Estate Investing with No (or Low) Money Down. There's a lot to learn in there.

http://get.biggerpockets.com/nomoneydown/

Hope this helps!

Craig 

@Arthur Clark - If you can comfortably afford the 3.5% on a down payment for multifamily unit, then I would recommend doing option 1. Don't quit your day job, build the cash flow from the property, spend wisely, and save up for the next property until you have your second and third. Eventually you will be able to leverage your current assets to purchase larger and more properties. 

Option 2 is a little more risky if you are new to investing. You have to worry about controlling your rehab and if you're not super handy, it will probably cost you much more than you think. 

While there is no right or wrong answer to this as both align with your goals to accumulate property. I just think Option 1 makes more sense since as it is less risky, more units (likely higher cash flow), and will give you some experience managing multiple units. 

Hope this helps!

Craig

@Antonio Loscavio - BiggerPockets is a great place to start. Within the site are millions of forum posts, blog posts, etc. All of which can be extremely overwhelming. My suggestion would be to start listening to the podcasts daily (start from 1) and read the Ultimate Beginners Guide to Real Estate Investing (link below) 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investin...

As you listen to the podcasts, write down the recommended real estate and business books at the end of the show and start reading those. Educate yourself for ~6 months then jump in and make your first purchase. 

@Jared Abbott - It is tough for me to gauge the relationship between you and your real estate investor/mentor. I would suggest having a conversation with her, see what her plans are, and then decide if you want to be part of it. Great success often times follows great failures and 5 months really is not THAT long of a time, especially if you are in the Raleigh, NC market. 

I would suggest picking up Uber/Lyft driving part time as a means to make some extra income for you and your family. You can save up some money and start doing a few deals on your own. 

Hope this helps! 

Best,

Craig