All Forum Posts by: Travis H.

@Randy E.

Oh, that's genius. I'm definitely looking into that. 

@Ben Leybovich

That's the general idea!

@Roy N.

Thanks for the tips. I don't think I ever would have thought to look into the parking or utilities thing. 

By the way, at some point I need to start looking for an REIA to be a part of. Know of any good ones in the Athens or Atlanta area?

@Jassem A.

I don't think I'm interested in the single fam stuff. I want to give the house-hacking approach a go, first. Y'know, just to see if it works. Besides, multi-family sounds a little more unconventional, and that sort of thing attracts me. 

Still, I didn't realize there were so many low cost places in my area. Kind of makes me wonder if any are in safe neighborhoods. It's worth looking at, though. Thanks for the feedback!

Brace yourselves. This one's a doozy. Skip to the line if you're in a hurry.

I joined this site quite a while ago. Then, I forgot about it.  

I just focused on other things, almost all of them crazy ideas and flights of fancy that led me right back to here.  It got a bit out of hand, and I'll run you through a few of them if any of you are curious.

Anyway, I've had some time to think and grow up a bit in the passing of a year. I still want to improve my cash flow to the point where I can retire, but I'm now under no illusions that it will be a quick or easy process. 

As far as I can tell, real estate investment seems to be the best way to go for me. I get a lot of free time because of my work (it's not a horrible job, mind you).  My finances aren't that bad. I've certainly seen worse.  And, most of all, I think I can do it.

But I'm a total newbie.  Since I'm going to be spending some quality time with you guys on this site, I thought I might run the ins and outs of my circumstances and goals by you guys. Maybe you guys can take a look and possibly throw out a few ideas.

I can't offer my own real estate thoughts in exchange, by the way. I'm a good cook, though, so if you want food advice, I can help out there. 

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Anyway, here's the rundown.

1. I currently own a home, though I'm in the process of selling. Monthly payment on mortgage is around $950 and I have $127,000 on the mortgage. I bought it right before the recession in '06, and have long since regretted the decision.

2. After the house sells, my girlfriend are going to rent until we get married, which will happen within the next two years. I talked to her about buying a multi-family and living in one of the units, and she likes the idea.

3. In fact, this is pretty much the first idea that I've had in a while that she's been fully on board with. That's not a complaint, by the way, as all of the ideas that she expressed concern with were terrible ideas. I'm thankful to have her as she's become a sort of canary for my various schemes.

4.  Long term goal:  Increase my cash flow so that I can retire and focus on real estate full time. While simultaneously cutting back on my expenses as much as possible, I'm going to increase my cash flow. Currently, I get about $2,500 a month from my job, and that takes care of my expenses and leaves me about $700 or so surplus once you factor in cash flow from my other assets. So, I need about $1,800 more, right?

5. I want to build this cash flow by buying multi-family properties. From what reading I've done on this site, that seems to be the most effective approach. Besides, I'm not sure that I'm a good enough marketer or salesman to try my hand at the others. 

6.  I am terrified of getting scammed in this process. There. I've said it. In fact, it's that specific fear that helped keep me away from this site. Not that I don't trust you, but, well, I don't really trust anyone at all when money is involved. We didn't have a lot growing up (single parent household), and I think that had a lot to do with making me this way. 

7. Here's my skillset:
-I have zero practical experience with sales, marketing, or business negotiations. I'm kind of an introvert, actually.
-I know how to do basic repairs--hammer and nail sort of stuff--and am generally a quick study when it comes to the stuff that I don't know. I plan to devote a sizable chunk of my summer to learning more handyman skills that I can leverage in buying a home (This Old House was one of my favorite shows growing up).
-I love research. It's weird.
-I'm a voracious reader.
-I seem to have a knack for putting together a basic budget on a spreadsheet. At the very least, my girlfriend seems impressed by it.
-I can do web design and a little bit of coding.
-I'm a good cook. That skill might not be useful in buying a house, but I'm sure I can leverage it one way or another. We all gotta eat, right?

So that's about it. Sorry it was so long. I just wanted to make sure that my head's on straight before I dive in to this thing. 

I'm just starting out, and from what I can tell, Rental properties seems to be the way to go for me right now. My goal is to get my cash flow to match my income for my job so that I can eventually leave it and focus on real estate full time.  From what I can gather, that seems to be the best way to do it.

I don't really know much about real estate, though. Definitely know more about bass than houses.

Something else I wanted to throw out while it was on my mind:

I'm a little bit concerned about being scammed when it comes to real estate investment. Well, maybe more than a little bit. 

Take Real Estate Investment Alliances, for example. I see a site like this:  http://atlantareia.com/ . This was one of the sites that came up when I conducted a quick Google search.

The huge gaudy lettering, cluttered layout, and busy text just scream scam to me (kind of like commercials that come on tv at 3 in the morning). Then again, I might just be a little paranoid.

Am I paranoid?

Are there ways to determine whether or not someone teaching me about real estate is just trying to scam me?

@Sebastian Villa

Hey, a fellow Georgian AND a fellow bass player! Cool!

I'm new-ish here, myself. I've been a member for a while, but this is my first time actually using the site. Maybe we can bounce ideas off of each other as we learn about this whole real estate thing.

Thanks for the info. I've actually tossed around getting some electrician training or plumbing training or something along those lines. I teach, so I have summers off, and I figured that devoting a few months to learning one of these trades would be helpful.

Would I be better off finding someone who could teach me or should I just try to teach myself? 

Quick version: In your collective landlording experiences, what would you say are the most consistent maintenance and repair issues that you run into, particularly when dealing with multifamily houses.

Backstory: I'm selling my house. Since this is kind of a new start for me, I've decided (after lurking a little bit on this site) to obtain my first multifamily property. (Also, is that a hyphenated word or just a regular compound word?) 

My finances aren't quite where I want them to be yet, though, so I'm going to wait until they are. In the interim, I want to practice some of the basic repair skills that I'll need to draw upon to be the sort of landlord who doesn't have to blow cash on a contractor every time the tiniest thing malfunctions. 

Thing is, I don't know where to start. So, I've come here to ask you: What are some repair and maintenance skills that I absolutely MUST learn to maximize my effectiveness as a landlord. I take book/YouTube recommendations, too!

Finally, do any of those skills require standing in order to practice? Weird question, I know. I have a broken leg with about three weeks left in the cast, but I'd still at least like to get started now with some of the easier tasks since I've got the time on my hands. 

Anyway, thanks very much for the assist. I'm planning on being much more active in this forum in the coming weeks. I joined a while back, but sort of went through an I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-my-life phase that seems to have come full circle. Is this what my thirties are going to be like?