All Forum Posts by: Derek Dame

I would definitely talk to a lawyer. I would assume your business is set up in some sort of entity? That in itself should limit the exposure to your home. If not, I would follow the advice of Ed E. Setting up a revocable trust should protect your home. I do believe that they have to be set up for 5 years before they are completely protected. 

@Ali Mo I do not have a lot of experience on this subject. I would assume, if you increased your gross income by $1,000 per month, you would have to pay more on your student loans. I am also going to assume you are on the PAYE student loan program? If so, it appears this has a 20 year payback schedule. I don't know what your personal finances look like or how much your loans are for. Would you be able to pay for the increased payments? 

I personally believe in investing in real estate. I think, if you wanted to, you could build up a real estate portfolio and pay down your student debt. Hopefully, your rental property would be able to net $150 per month. That would offset any increased costs you may have. I would recommend finding a property that would net enough profit to be able to offset the increased student loan payments. That way you are paying off student loans faster, and hopefully building equity in a rental property. It seems like a win-win situation. Good luck!

@Marcus 

@Marcus Johnson That is not how you should view a student loan. Anyone who has taken a student loan signed a promissory note and promised to repay that loan. The US government has backed $1.3 trillion in student loan debt. As of June 2014, there were over 7 million people who have defaulted on their student loans. Who do you think pays for that when people decide they don’t want to repay their debt? The US tax payers. This is one of the reasons why the US is almost $20 trillion in debt.

BTW there are only a few select degrees or situations when the government would actually forgive, cancel, or discharge a student loan. Some of these being teachers, public service jobs, joining the military, death or permanent disability, etc.

I still have student loan debt and I am able to further my investing career. Sure the student loan hurts my DTI a little bit, but I see far greater returns on my investment by not paying them off. I have closed on a duplex and a 19 unit apartment building in the last 5 months. If you want something bad enough, you will find a way to get the property. There are so many ways to invest creatively.

 @Jamir Burney 

I would definitely start your investing career. I think it all comes down to the numbers. I have been able to get my student loans down to sub-2% interest on a variable rate. I have reduced my student loan payments to the minimum so I can have more capital to invest. If you could find someone to co-sign your loan, that would help your DTI greatly. I am in the process of closing on a small apartment complex with a partner in a week. We should see a CoC return of 10%. We will be getting a much better return then if I paid down my student loans. When I bought my primary residence, I was able to put just 5% down on a conventional mortgage. My DTI was also high when I bought it. I just refinanced, only 1 year later, to get rid of PMI though forced appreciation. Keeping looking into other lenders. You will find a bank to get you a loan!

I recently read a real estate book that had a great example for this. I can’t remember the name of it right now…I have read too many lately. The person was considering paying cash for a new vehicle or buying rental property. By investing in real estate, he was able to cash flow enough money to make his vehicle payments. After the vehicle loan was paid off, he had a great cash flowing rental property that would continue to produce income for as long as he owned it. In the meantime, his tenants were paying down his mortgage. Never underestimate the power of real estate investing!

Good luck!

@Josh Renz You are welcome! Hope you find some valuable information in them!

Do you guys want to make these meetings monthly? 

I have found that a lot of the MF's are pretty old too. Some appear to have some value. I haven't looked into many SFR's. I would prefer to stay in the MF game. It looks like I have stayed away from the high crime areas thus far. How many properties do you currently own?

It is doubtful that you can find too many properties for less than 70% ARV. I yet to find any to work in the past 6 months.

Would it be possible to move the meeting to around 6:00 tomorrow? If not, you call all start without me and I should be there around 6:00.

Hi guys, 

I am from Bismarck, ND. I am currently working on closing a deal in Sioux Falls with a partner. Homes are priced a lot better than Bismarck. Are you guys still having trouble getting homes to cash flow? I am primarily looking at multifamily properties for my investments. Does anyone have any tips for an out of state investor?

@Patrick Ryan What are your thoughts on the Minneapolis market? It seems to have had a nice run up and getting to be a little toppy.