All Forum Posts by: Dylan Bowman

@George Horton Hey George and welcome to BIgger Pockets. This place has helped me in more ways than I can count with all of the tools and resources this site offers. Use it as much as you can. If you haven’t already, check out the podcasts. Good idea with the real estate license. That’s always good to have.

Hey BP! I hope everyone is doing well.

I am to the point where I “think” I know enough to actually start investing. I have been reading books and scrolling through the forums daily. I just got to episode 100 on the BP podcast. I am finally going to start putting together the right people in place to help me get started. Aka the “team”.

Getting started I know I need a good real estate attorney, real estate agent, bankers, title agent, contractors and eventually a CPA.

My plan is to start with wholesaling because I don’t have a ton of capital in reserves to start flipping... yet. But I want to eventually start flipping and also keep some as buy and holds.

My question is: What are the questions I should be asking these individuals. What should I be doing to interview these people so I can determine if they can actually help me reach my goals. Aside from how much they charge hourly. I really don’t want to get them on the phone an make it seem like I don’t know what I’m talking about or I’m not a serious customer just because I’m new.

Thank you for any input you may be able to help me with.

Ignore: Visalia, Ca, California, Tulare, Fresno, county, Hanford, porterville, Lemoore, Bakersfield, Sacramento.

@Vernon Johnson Time to get creative. Look at different ways of financing. You can seek out seller financing with a low down payment on a home that can use some work. Make sure the math behind everything makes sense first. And then use the rest of that 20k to rehab. Refinance and repeat.

@Kris L. They are just pointing out all of the little flaws and things things that come with an older home. They broke the sprinklers though and the property management charged me to have a sprinkler guy come and fix it. They also had to get mail box keys for the home and that cost 85$ which they credited to their monthly rent. That’s normal for the Landlord to pay those things right?

@Marian Smith I honestly haven’t done any of that yet. I’m still really new to landlording and I’m learning this as I go. But yes 4 and I guess all the complaints were upon the initial walk through and they still moved into the property. All of the complaints are really small and petty. They want me to pay to have the blinds trimmed because they are to long for the window. Also a bunch of other things similar to this. I wish I could upload some photos and the pages the property management company sent me to show you. I know the home will eventually cash flow but I’m just trying to weigh my options and look at what’s better for my future. Whether that be sitting on the property and keeping it for years or selling in and hopefully launch all of my investing goals. (Which I obviously haven’t yet)

@Dave Foster Thank you, this is great to know! I would have put off selling the home if I thought I would have to pay a capital gains tax.

@Laticia Braxton This is all excellent advice! Thank you. I will definitely be putting this to use

@Percy Matsunaga Thanks for your reply. I did not think about Capital gains tax. A 1031 exchange might be a good option

@Kenneth Garrett Thank you for your input. The complaints are very small and minor. So far the complaints are from the window blinds being to long. Or a broken sprinkler head that they broke. Or a cabinet door not closing correctly etc. but I will definitely look into those options

Hello Bigger pockets community!

I’m an now learning the hard way about how important it is to make sure the numbers and math behind a deal need to make sense in order to do a deal unfortunately.

I bought my home to live in a few years ago in Visalia California. The purchase price was $166,000 and I did not know much at all about real estate investing when I made the purchase. I owe $150,000. I have since put about $10,000 in rehab costs and moved out. My mortgage is $1150 per month and I am renting it for $1350 per month. I can sell the property in todays market for about $215,000. Which is a lower priced comp for this neighborhood. It is also under a FHA loan that I have not yet refinanced. I've had it as a rental now for about 3 months and I have been negatively cash flowing every month since. The tenants are in a one year lease with a local property management. The home is in better condition than when I lived in it, but I have since received a a 5 page list of complaints from the tenants that they feel need to be addressed.

My question is since the property is negatively cash flowing, what would you do in this kind of situation?

I have thought about refinancing the property into a conventional loan to get rid of the PMI and bring my mortgage payment down a little. But I may still be negatively cash flowing.

Or should I cut my losses and sell the property once the year lease is over and use that money to buy more properties?

Any other options that I may have overlooked?

Thank you in advance for any and all questions answered.