All Forum Posts by: David Smith

Hi all,

I'm about to buy my first investment property in Orlando with the goal of becoming a real estate investor full time. As someone who grew up in a wealthy neighborhood (but not being wealthy) I kept on hearing that "the best deals are made on the golf course." I'm wondering how many investors on this forum have been able to take advantage of the connections that they've made by being a member of a country club.

Hi All,

For those of you who have had plenty of experience screening tenants:

On average, how many rental applications do need to review until you find a good tenant per door?

Great tip Lien!

I should have clarified it a little more. I don't have property right now. I want to buy two properties and was thinking of using a Heloc loan to fund my third and fourth. I'm clearly a beginner so I don't know what other options I have.

Thanks Aaron and Moises. These are some good tips! Especially Moises, your point number 2 I found particularly interesting.

Hi All,

I have a very ambitious goal to buy 70 cash flowing single family homes in Toledo in the next three years. Looking to make $150/month per unit. The problem is: I only have 30k down, which would get me a maximum of two homes at first. What do you guys think is the best way to reach my goal given that lenders are stricter these days? Heloc? Hard money lenders?

I would appreciate any suggestions or offers on partnerships.

A broker/property manager sent me a list of properties with cash flow information for each unit. They seem overpriced (one they had bought for 6k, rehabbed slightly, and selling me for 44k. However, these units seem to offer good cash flow. Any red flags?

Thanks, Evan. As someone who has lived in a student apartment I co.pletwly agree with you. There are always little issues that take up a lot of time to fix. Down payment is a min of 10% BTW.

Hi!

This is my first post. I found this forum because I listened to one of the bigger pockets podcasts and the guest in that episode bought a house in Boston near a University and rented it out to several students to maximize rent. He even converted the dining rooms to add another bedroom.

My wife and I want to use that strategy and buy a 4BDR home half a mile from a major University in Orlando. It's a completely renovated 3000sqf house and we're trying to squeeze two people in each of the two large master bedrooms and one in each of the other two bedrooms. So a total of six people will be paying rent. One of them will be my wife's brother who would be sharing one of the master bedrooms as he's currently interning in Orlando. The first batch of students will be his friends, people he's lived with before. After that, if he moves back to Virginia we were thinking of using one of our trusted family friends to find renters and do the property management part for us. 

Down the road we would also like to move into the house if I find a job in Orlando.

Now comes the part where I'm looking for advice.

Being a resident of VA I know the property taxes will be higher. Also, we can only do like 5% down. Maybe we can stretch it but we prefer not to.

What are some of the things you guys would recommend before we make this purchase? 

What are some of the things that first-time home investors always forget?

Is it safe to let everyone sign an individual lease?

I look forward to your comments!

David