All Forum Posts by: Ian Hoover

These are basic principle, I for sure have purchased homes not meeting the 2% or 50% rules but if I do I need a reason why.

Like a really nice area that will appreciate or every single item that will cost me a large sum of money has been replaced in the last 1-2 years (IE Roof, furnace, a/c, appliances, ECT)

@William Wong Student rentals can be very time consuming, I highly recommend that you do it in a market you are very close to if you do it.

You will also want to take steps to making sure you don't get burned, here are a few that I have done:

*Get parents to co-sign the lease, a student will be less likely to trash the place and not pay rent if mom or dad are going to be getting a phone call.

*If parents don't qualify for co-sign then make sure you get additional security (IE double deposit)

*If renting larger apartments to multiple students it works well for each to have their own lease with their own portion of the rent.

Hope this helps.

I think  Andrew hit the nail on the head, getting started in real estate you need to have capital, there is no better way to get capital thenot to leverage debt.

4% is a great rate and even 8% isn't top bad considering our market can get much more then that in a return on investment. 

The extra money you want to put towards your loans should be going into savings to pit a down payment on your first property. 

Eventually you can use the cash flow from your real estate to pay your debts if you wish to do so.

Welcome to BP and investing in PGH, I highly recommend you check out the learn tab it has a bunch of free information to help get you started.

If you ever have any questions feel free to reach out to me.

@Parag Shah

I recommend you do some research and find a Realtor in your area that focuses on investing in real estate, you should have that lined up before you start trying to buy a property.

A good Realtor will know how to negotiate and save you time and money.

It doesn't get any easier down the road, the banks always want to use your net even though we write off a good amount of our income.

Talk to Tod Novak with Mars Bank they are a small local lender and they make their own decisions on if they will loan or not.

His number is 412-651-5953 great guy and he is an investor as well so would be a good overall connection, tell him I sent you.

Welcome to BP! This site is a great resource for new and experienced investors.

Get active in the forums, ask questions.

Study the game of real estate investing there are a ton of free resources on BP under the "learn" tab.

Find a good realtor that knows the investing market.

Enjoy!

@Jeremy Pace

 We hope so! I will keep you updated we probably can't rehab for a few months.

Hi @Lawrence Ferguson

 Welcome to BP! I use the site on a regular basis it is a huge resource for any investor.

Pittsburgh is a great buy and hold market, if you want to learn more about the trends and help getting started my door is always open.

Hi @Tone Rob

 Welcome to the site, Pittsburgh is a great market to invest into.

I Invest and I sell real estate here, let me know if you every need help at all.