All Forum Posts by: Drea Na

Hi George,

I'm sure you could find a deal that you could get into with no capital at all - however I can't see how getting into a 3/4 unit place with no capital is a smart move. You will absolutely need a reserve for vacancy and repairs at minimum. 

In your shoes I highly recommend saving and educating yourself on the market, attend meet ups with local real estate investors, get the pro account on this platform so you can use and get good at analyzing deals on the calculators.

There's several books on this platform that you could educate yourself with.

Hope this helps :)

Hi Benjamin,

I was recently in almost the exact same situation - only difference is that I had been in the real estate game for a couple of years, and...for me cash is king.

I recommend having a substantial runaway before jumping into real estate investing (20-40k liquid) because things go sideways fast, and without a reserve it's easy to get into trouble.

If taking the latter will not allow any wiggle room let alone saving for real estate, I say option A - put your head down, learn on the weekends, listen to podcasts on the commute, read a few pages a night, and set a goal to move forward.

Hope this helps!

Drea

Hi Garrett,

Congrats for figuring this out early!

Before you quit - create a plan! Unless you have about 100k saved up somewhere - start your plan of keeping expenses super low, if you're living at home, stay there (as long as you can tolerate) to save money for your exit. If you live on your own, consider a roommate to decrease expenses. 

There are several ways to make money in real estate, but you need to educate yourself. There are several books on this platform - highly recommend books by David Greene - he aslo has a podcast I recommend. He tends to keep things super easy to understand.

You'll also want to make sure your credit is on point - solid time (2 years) on your w-2 job, great credit 700+ and about $20-40k in the bank should set you up nicely to qualify for a loan depending on where you're investing - and have funds in reserve.

Finally, find something that you like or love to do for your full time job that you can get into so that your heart doesn't faint before you can get your first deal!

Hope this helps :)

Drea

Hi April,

First off - you got this! And you have several options. My first step for you though would be for you to envision and write down what you want your retirement years to look like, and what you think a reasonable life expectancy is for someone in your condition (obviously, no one knows how long they have).

And understand how much you'd need to live on a year, and for how many years will you need that much.

Then build your plan off of the numbers and what you want to see. Because the truth is, no real estate investment is truly passive - there is always something that you're going to need to do and be aware of so that you can pivot in this industry appropriately.

I wouldn't do a heloc to buy another property at this point, as you will still need to pay it back, which one rental property won't do generally. I would be looking at some form of house-hacking to reduce your expenses and increase savings.

Hope this helps :)

Congrats! You're on your way - one thing to keep in mind - your numbers. They tell the story better than you can imagine lol. Also automate rents/applications/follow ups as much as possible. Check out David Greene's book on long distance investing - great resource! 

Build your team in the area if you haven't already - get referrals for handy men/property managers etc from this platform. 

Hope this helps!

@Caleb Rivero First off -You got this! 

Next, as mentioned bankruptcy won't do anything for child support and student loans, doesn't seem like there's any point in going down that road.

I would lay out all the credit cards - call the companies, negotiate (sometimes they will lower the interest or stall it altoether for a period of time). Can you move all the credit card debt to one card and make one payment? Don't ignore them, call and see how they can help, some will let you defer a payment to give you some breathing room.

Be honest with yourself and your debtors - build a bullet proof plan of success forward and don't beat yourself up. You will get through this, build discipline which will support your real estate journey in the future.

Hope this helps :)

Drea

Hi @Kevin Dehesa - welcome to the community! Couple things:

First, have you tried using the biggerpockets calculators? They are pretty spot on when looking for cash flowing deals as there are a lot of levers that can be adjusted to squeeze the most out of each deal!

Second, the bay area is a tough market, I recommend connecting with David Greens's team at the One Brokerage. David wrote the book on BRRR and his team is exceptional.

Finally, I always have to stress the importance of keeping track of your numbers from the beginning be it spreadsheets (not recommended lol) Quickbooks Online or a bookkeeper - this will ensure that you make decisions based on the numbers and not on hear-say.

Hope this helps!

Drea

@Samuel Walker Hi there! Welcome to the community- 

I agree with the advice the posters have given, this may not be the time for a fix and flip strategy (although, almost any strategy can work given the right circumstances) as there doesn't seem to be as many people buying at the moment.

That said, I think what will be critical for you to assess at this moment is what you really like doing. Is it demo -ing/following up with contractors/managing tight timelines...consider what skills, and resouces you have, and your risk tolerance. 

Finally, I can't say enough about the importance of keeping a tight eye on your numbers, and make decisions based on the numbers, not the feelings :)

Hope this helps!

Drea

Hi Rodney!

Welcome to the platform - you are definitely in the right place for a newbie, still the site could be overwhelming for a new person, so here's my share...

Identify what you want to do, and what your current skills are (lay tile, replace toilets, collect rents, build teams... (David Greene has a number of books on wealth building/10 different ways to make money in real estate etc..)

Understand your numbers - and as an investor set up a seperate bank account for your business from the start. This will help you make decisions based on knowledge, not guess work.

Connect - go to REI meet-ups in your area, listen to their conversations and ask as many questions as you need to, to gain understanding of the market you're in and what markets would be good to invest in.

Hope this helps,

Drea

@Graham Kim ok got it. Melissa in this thread gave some solid information about affordable properties in the markets she mentioned and you've received some solid advice and feeback in this thread. 

The only other thing I'd say is to make sure that you keep good track of your numbers from the start - be it a spreadsheet, platform or bookkeeper- and make your decisions based on the numbers. Continuous education and nimbleness when the market shifts is going to be your best friend!