All Forum Posts by: Craig Curelop

Hi @Garlin Smith - Welcome to BP! 

With $50k, I would personally look for another buy & hold property or a house hack. That is because my goal is to accumulate buy & hold properties as passive investments. 

It depends what your goals are. Do you want to remain living in SoCal? Do you want to get into real estate as a job? If you want to start flipping, maybe you use that to help fund your first flip and get you into the game. 

There are tons of real estate niches. I suggest you continue to interact in the forums, listen to the podcast, and read a few of the recommended books so you can understand what niche is of interest to you. 

@Austin McAnena - I'm not sure how tied you are to Orange County. There are a couple of options. 

1. You could relocate to a cheaper area.

2. You could find a property that is within 2 hours of where you live? I'm sure there is something within a 2 hour radius. 

3. Keep saving until you can afford OC prices. 

@Austin McAnena - If you love your full time job in nutrition and healthcare and view real estate as a relatively passive investment. I would recommend buy & hold. 

Flipping can be very time consuming and there is a strong possibility that you will either lose money or some other part of your life will suffer. Whether that's your full time job, time with your family, etc. 

My suggestion would be to focus on ONE THING an do it really well. Flipping is essentially a full time job. So you'd be working two full time jobs while maintaining your buy & holds... that can be overwhelming. 

@Cole Hagen - Two years ago, I was in almost the same exact predicament. Scott has it exactly right. If the Company is offering you a match, take it... it's free money! There are ways to leverage your 401k to gain access to that capital sooner rather than later. For example, you can take a loan out for up to 50% of it, which is essentially the capital you put in initially. 

I do want to caution you that there few companies remaining that match the 401k. While you are lucky enough to be at one of those companies now, assuming you will both be at this job for 13+ years AND assuming they will continue to offer the match for this period of time is aggressive. 

@Tony Lin - I believe HELOCs are typically the lowest interest rate loans you will receive on equity in your house. I'd recommend taking a HELOC out and investing in a rental property.

@Levi T. - Putting myself in your shoes, I would not be a fan of tenants using my assets to their economic benefit. 

However, I would contact them and tell them this. You are aware of what they are doing and it is absolutely against the lease. You have the ability to evict them, but won't as long as they agree to the following:

Write up a "sub-leasing addendum" to your lease that includes something along the lines of:

1. The tenant is responsible for anyone that comes into "enter property address here." In the event an AirBnB guest damages your place, the tenant is 100% liable to fix everything. 

2. The tenant is to share 50% of anything made through AirBnb with you (the landlord). That way, you have some additional passive income while doing minimal work. 

Most AirBnbs work nicely. It's the bad apple that spoils the bunch. I'd suggest giving it a shot. 

@Bradley Fulp - What everyone said above is absolutely true and I couldn't agree more. House hacking is the way to go for your first investment (I am currently doing that right now). 

If saving money is a challenge for you, I highly recommend Scott Trench's book, "Set for Life." His book talks about how to live more frugally so you can save and invest wisely. 

@Ryan Gilroy - I am not too familiar with the D.C. market. However, I would suggest talking to a couple of lenders to see what you qualify for. Once you have your price point you can begin shopping around different neighborhoods. 

I would recommend doing a house hack - where you obtain financing for 3.5% down (FHA Loan) - live in one unit, and rent the others. That way you live for free (or cheap), while gaining land lord experience.

In the meant time, I highly recommend you start reading, listening to the BP Podcast, and interacting on the forums. This will help you avoid some of the pitfalls that many landlords fall into. 

@Kevin Keefe - Hey Kevin, welcome to BP! 

Congratulations on saving $60k! That's a great start. Even better than you are looking to put that into real estate. 

My suggestion would be to look at some multifamily properties around Rutgers and house-hack it. 

If you're unfamiliar with that term, it means to put low money down (typically 3.5% using an FHA loan), live in one unit and rent out the rest. That way, you have someone else paying down your mortgage so you live for free (or very little).

After one year, you can refinance out of your FHA and do it again and again for the next few years. You can still invest in other properties as well, just not using an FHA loan.

If you are looking out of state and are interested in investing in the Denver area at all, let me know! 

Hey @Brian Lenescar - To answer your question of "should you get your degree?" 

My recommendation would be YES. Especially if you are getting substantial financial aid. The reasoning for this is that after getting a degree, you will be able to get a steady W2 job that pays well. Having a W2 job that pays well allows financing your loan to be MUCH easier. 

If you are passionate about real estate investing and want to put your license to work. I highly recommend you transact as an agent or do some flipping & wholesaling on the side. When you have made more money for 2 years (this is when banks believe you) in real estate than at your W2 is when you should quit your job and focus 100% on real estate. 

Hope this helps!