All Forum Posts by: Matthew G.

@Joe Barton It depends on the type of debt and what interest you are paying on that debt. If you have credit card debt, I would probably pay that off first since those are usually high interest. If you have school debt, then I would probably keep that because those can be more flexible in repayment if you lose your job. If it is other type of debt, you can look at the interest rate and compare that to the rate you are getting from your rental. If you get a higher rate from your rental and you factor in vacancy and maintenance, then investing in a cash flowing property would probably be better than paying off your debt.

The preference to pay off your debt is also really personal. If it makes you sleep better at night knowing you don't have to worry about it, you can't really put a price on that. If you approach it analytically then pick what makes you a greater return on your cash.

@Luke Fouch you can try Wave Accounting. It's free and you can either create a new company for each flip (assuming each one is it's own LLC) or you can just create a different expense account for each flip. It's accounting software so you can easily split transactions if you need to divide a credit card expense between projects.

@Ryan Beasley for Facebook ads, you can't target by keywords. Facebook you target by profile (demographic, interests, or behavior). Every market is different, so I wouldn't rely on someone else's conversion statistics.

Facebook/Instagram ads is a good platform once you learn how to use it. CPC is around $2 so it's not too expensive either. You want to be very systematic when creating ad sets so that you can measure CPA and optimize what is working.

Consider the area you are targeting and the profile of buyers in that area. Once you have a couple different buyer profiles, create an ad set that targets each one. One profile might be for the growing family, you can target anyone who has an interest in parenting. Maybe the area has a lot of new places to eat out, you can target people who frequently express interest in food. With each audience you want to have an ad that speaks to them. For the family, have ad copy that hits why you want to raise your family in the area. For the person who likes to eat out, explain how the area has the hottest new restaurants.

This will allow you to maximize your ads effectiveness and increase your conversion rate.

@Darrin Jackson You can search Bigger Pockets, they have a list of hard money lenders. You can also try going to your local real estate meetups and networking with fellow investors there. They should have some local hard money lenders that they can refer you to.

As far as getting into contract on a deal, your real estate broker should be able to help you with that once you know what your offer you can make.

If you need any references for hard money lenders, PM me and I can send you some I've worked with.

You sound very eager and ambitious which is great, but creating a real estate business isn't like becoming Instafamous. With no money, no credit, no degree, you are asking people to trust you with their hard earned money on something you've never done before. If you are planning on abandoning your degree before you get your business running, what does that look like to investors? They might see you as someone who can't complete what you started. Would you want someone like that investing your money?

Rather than thinking big and never being able to get started, think smaller and just complete your first deal. With that experience you can grow bigger and bigger.

If you want to get successful fast, there are other businesses and opportunities that you can start. Real estate is great for building long term wealth, but getting deals, finding financing, building your network is something that takes time and patience.

If you aren't employed and don't have savings, you will have to get very creative to get started in real estate right now. Do your family or friends trust you enough to loan you money or partner with you? If not, rather than focusing on what property you should buy two or three years from now (the answer might change if the market does), you should focus on what you need to do today to position yourself later.

You can start learning as much as you can and going to local meetups to network. If you build up your network now, when you have the ability to purchase a property, you will have people you know to help you.

One of the biggest things you can do now is make money. You need two years of tax returns for conventional financing. If you want to try to flip a property you will need at least 10% down, fees and rehab. You can try to wholesale, which is mostly paying for marketing to find deals. You can see most investments require some money to start. I recommend getting some W-2 paying job but also working on a side hustle if you are really serious about getting started in real estate.

If you don't have a degree in some STEM related field, it will be harder to earn a higher starting salary without putting in years to work your way up. That's why it's important to have a side hustle. I have an engineering degree, but it was my side hustle that propelled me to FI within a few short years.

Good luck and if you have any questions you can always PM me.

@Jonathan Edmund You'll want to compare both lenders and contractors. Hard money lenders are usually pretty competitive, you might be able to save a few thousand dollars, but if your offer price is way off then it's unlikely to account for the difference. Contractor prices can vary wildly so make sure they are all bidding on the same scope of work and that the work you want them to do is inline with other properties in the area to get your ARV.

PM if you need some references for lenders.

@Jeff Driessen Keep in mind that flipping isn't just about being able to rehab a home. You'll need to create a network to find deals, find funding, etc. If you are borrowing money, then you also need to consider speed when working on projects (holding costs will be expensive and being a one-man crew will only hurt you). Just because you can do a lot of the rehab on the home yourself, doesn't mean you should as an investor.

You could try attending the Inland Empire Real Estate Investment Club which has a monthly meetup. You could learn and network there. The guys who started the club are experienced flippers so you can probably learn a lot from them.

@Michael Zuber One thing more millennials probably have than Gen X and baby boomers is school debt, which is why they aren't buying houses/cars. Generally your advice is sound, spend less and make more. I think the underlying question is how does someone realistically achieve that based on their current situation. That's there harder question to answer that requires more information about the person. Until there is an actual plan of action, the advice is more inspirational than anything.

@Engelo Rumora Your blog must get a lot of traffic since you've seem to have mastered clickbait titles ;). I understand the point is to rile people up to get them to read and respond to your post, but it may affect your credibility. If I met you at a meetup and you had this point of view, I probably wouldn't trust you with my money since you would be way too biased.