All Forum Posts by: Emily Valenzuela

Hello @Abraham Garza

It sounds like you are in a great position having one property under your belt, $100k saved up, and having the skills of a contractor. 

In regards to your question, I do not think you should take out a heloc or rush to pay down the rental if your rents are comfortably covering the mortgage. With $100k cash and some experience under your belt there are enough options available to you to finance a deal using DSCR loans, private money, or money from a small local bank. Also, with your skills as a contractor I would recommend sticking close enough to home that you can use your skills to help you have an unfair advantage with your numbers. I would also invite you to align yourself with some investor friendly agents by offering to run free estimates on homes in need of repairs. You have the potential to get a gig for your contracting business and/or place an offer to purchase the home prerenovations to help homeowners avoid all of the hassle.

I also think it sounds like you are very well positioned for the BRRRR strategy - Buy, Renovate, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. With your skill set (especially if you have a good crew working under you) you can go after homes that need to be updated or completely remodeled. Make offers that make sense from a flippers perspective. Purchase using anyone of the methods previously mentioned through this disucssion. Whatever financing method you use you should only need to put down 15-30% depending on the lender and the terms of your loan. The rest of your cash will satisfy reserve requirements and/or be used to pay your crew while they do the work. If you use a DSCR loan this money will be returned to you as work is completed so that you can keep things going with out using up all of your cash on hand. Once the property is completed refinance into a more long term loan. If you already have tenants in place this will make it easier to qualify for a loan with a small local bank for better rates or get a loan with one of the many companies that offer buy and hold loans for investors. When you go to refinance the loan, depending on how you did with your numbers you may even be able to pull some cash out of the property to add to any funds you have remaining for your next project.

 You are very welcome!

I loved everything about your post! There is so much that I personally resonated with. I commend you for putting yourself out there in this way. It truly is the best way to learn and stretch yourself.

As a former real estate agent this is what I have to say. Being an agent is not just a job it is a full time business that you have to pay to play. Additionally your typical real estate agent is not taught to think like an investor. They are mostly taught how to understand promulgated contracts and how to properly navigate the closing process. Beyond that every agent must seek further knowledge on their own. Often times, having a license ties your hands and keeps you from implementing many investor strategies. A more economical option might be to get a Popstream account or something similar where you have access to market data so that you can practice analyzing properties. Use this while soaking up as much free information as you can from places like BiggerPockets, local meet ups, and the University of YouTube. The local meet ups will also allow you to grow a buyers list and meet people in the industry who just may be inclined to take a go getter such as yourself under their wing. 

While you are practicing analyzing properties and once you have a buyers list (if you do not have an active license) make purchase offers. If your EMS job has you driving around the city all day this could be a great opportunity to make note of homes that look abandoned or neglected. If an offer you make is accepted and you do not have the cash, you can assign the contract to someone on your buyer's list for a fee.This is called bird-dogging or assignment of contract if you want to research that strategy. It can also help to supplement your income while you hold your W-2 job without all of the expenses of being an agent. 

Next, since you are still young and did not mention a wife or any kids (and assuming you do not have any) consider purchasing a home in which you can rent the other rooms out. Ideally, your mortgage should be covered plus a little extra for some additional income. As an EMS there are extra incentives available to help you get into a home. Don't purchase a home like a homeowner, create a buy box and purchase like an investor. Work with an experienced agent for this and share your vision with them. If you can not/will not purchase a home in a way that will allow it to pay for itself than wait to purchase a home to live in until after you grow a portfolio of assets that can pay for your home.

Learn strategies for building and growing credit while you have a W2 job. This is something I wish I had learned earlier in life. I always knew good credit was important, I did not understand how to grow access to more credit. This skill set can be a game changer no matter what path you take. 

Until you are ready to actively handle a project consider putting your money to work in the real estate space by investing in real estate backed notes with companies like Fundrise and Groundfloor. This will help your money to grow while you are deciding what to do with it. It will also help you learn how to think like the bank because essentially you are. 

Whatever path you take I have a feeling it will be an epic adventure as you are off to such a great start. I look forward to watching your jouney unfold! 

Hello, 

Thank you for sharing. It sounds like you and your wife are a relatively young couple starting out with quite a bit of cash. Your head is in the right place and you have great ideas. You have also already received some great advice on this forum. 

Since you asked for ideas here is one that comes to mind. Since you are starting out with a good amount of cash - put your money to work for you. You are in a great position to "be the bank" rather than create more work for yourself. You can lend money to people (that you know and trust) who are actively operating in the real estate space or work with companies like Groundfloor or Fundrise to invest in real estate backed notes.Since it is always a good idea to diversify, I like the idea of combining your first option with the strategy I just mentioned. Best of luck to you and your wife. 

Hey Chad, 

Thank you for sharing your story. Starting with $0 income $100k cash and a 750 credit score is not a bad place to start at all. Hard money lenders and private lenders often do not look at your income but rather the numbers in your deal. That being said the 750 credit score will help you secure a lower interest rate on this type of financing. My recommendation would be to flip a couple of houses first to grow your cash on hand. After a few flips start hanging on to some to grow a portfolio. As you are doing that you can learn more strategies to add to your tool belt. Best of luck to you my friend!

Hey Zach, 

As a former real estate agent I know for a fact there are deals to be had on the MLS. When I was an agent I would often track properties that I considered to be "MLS gems" properties that where in need of an update or serious repairs. I would run numbers on them from an investor perspective. I would then track those homes to see where they closed at. Over time I started to notice a few of the homes closed at what I would have offered or at least with in $5k of my number. As a real estate agent I was not able to succesfully do an assignment of contract and I did not have any cash on hand to close. So for me this was just a learning excercise I performed regularly. Now that I am no longer an agent I am not privvy to the closing numbers, but I know that those deals are still out there.

Just as with deals off the market remember to do your homework and stick to your numbers. If you go through the trouble of running numbers on a house, make the offer that makes sense to your strategy. If they say no just move on to the next one. Best of luck to you my friend and if you ever decide to check out the Austin, TX or Killeen, TX markets please feel free to reach out. 

Hey Mo, 

I'm in the Austin and Killeen markets. I own a Matterport camera and create virtual twin spaces of properties. These twin spaces allow you to walk a property virtually, and even take measurements of rooms and surfaces.They are useful for collaborating with contractors, and getting multiple estimates on a project. I'm also a real estate agent. If you have a project in my area that you are working on from out of state, I believe my services would be a great benefit to you. I would be willing to add my neighborhood insights along with the virtual twin space at no additional fee. I think this would essentially accomplish what you are trying to do. 

If you have a remodel project planned in the Austin or Killeen area, I have services available to help save you time and money. I create virtual twin spaces using a Matterport Pro. These spaces allow people to walk a property virutally and take measurements with a 99.9% accuracy. You can send these spaces to multiple contractors at a time for estimates. If your favorite contractor or designer has the tools available you may even be able to collaborate with them on your virtual twin space to see what the finished product will look like. 

Visit my site to learn about my services or schedule your property photo shoot today. 

Hey @Jose Guerrero I am an agent with eXp Realty, but I also collaborate with other investors.

Hey @Christian Mattila right now I am primarily focusing on single family however, I do come accross duplexes and quads in these markets, as well as the occasional mobile home with land.