All Forum Posts by: Grant P.

Hi Yash, first of all, let me just say congratulations on taking the first steps to reach out and work towards a goal that you have planned out. I was in a similar position as you a few years ago. I took the same route, posting here asking for advice on my first house hack. I have since continued in my real estate journey and became an agent myself with the goal of helping people exactly like you. 

I've thought about situations like yours on many occasions since I became an agent. Even though the market was tough when I began, high-interest rates in our area are such a high hurdle to overcome, and you need to be incredibly motivated.

Your short-term goal is ambitious depending on your current cash on hand and income levels. A primary residence is very attainable, but an additional rental investment might depend on whether or not you're comfortable investing long distances in cheaper markets. As David Greene loves to mention on the podcast, house hacking is definitely the way to go when starting out. Especially in the northern Virginia area. If you decide to rent out your primary and transition to another house hack in one year, you'll be well on your way to your goal. Sadly for northern Virginia, multi-family residences are few and far between (as you've likely noticed), so at the very least I'd say attaining a primary residence to start building equity should be the priority, and once you have a home base, working towards that investment through more creative options. 

I think your next step should be talking with a lender to learn more about the home-buying process and get an idea of what your household can afford, then narrow down a location you're comfortable with from there. I can send you a connection, pass along the lender I use and recommend to all my first-time home buyers. 

Hope this helps! Would love to talk with you more and see how I can help get you started on your goal!

Quote from @Tim Jacob:

I'm talking about purchasing a place for around 200k so if you put the 20% down it would be 40k for that.

 Thanks Tim! That's good to know. I'll send you a connection in case I decide to look into Baltimore in the future. 

Quote from @Tim Jacob:

Have you thought about Baltimore.  For around 200k you can get an A grade townhouse that's relatively turnkey.  A lot of people want to run down Baltimore bc of the crime but again I'm talking about A grade areas.  Not D grade areas people think about in Baltimore City.  If you go A grade things should be fairly easy to manage remotely though you may want to pay for someone to lease it if you can't commute over there so it wouldn't be an issue if you move far away.   A grade in Baltimore can be close to a 1% property.

 Hi Tim, out of curiosity, when you say for $200k, are you talking about purchasing a townhome outright or a 20% down payment on a $1m townhome? Thanks!

Quote from @Suraj Haradagatti:

Looking for my first rental investment property and I need some advice. I’m currently in Loudon county and I was thinking to make an investment somewhere closer to where I live, an hour or two hours driving is fine. But anything eastwards DC is very expensive and will not result in any cash flow. As it’s my first investment I want to keep my budget under 200k. Considering this are there any areas that I can find properties in this budget and make sure the property is rented out. The numbers are not working out for Herndon, Reston, Fairfax as it will be a negative cash flow. Hence I started considering out of state like silver spring Maryland, Colombia ohio and Raleigh. Any suggestions here? I would love to connect to folks in the area as to what they are doing. Please leave a comment 

Hi Suraj, you're not alone in these difficulties. Typically the path most people take when accumulating investment properties in the area is through house hacking. As Ika pointed out, and what I tell people is the further out from DC you go, the more opportunities for cash flow you'll find. That being said, cash flow is ideal, especially for such a large investment you're looking to put down, the appreciation from the properties closer to DC will give you the greatest long-term impacts on your wealth than regions far out from DC. 

I'm an agent and an investor myself in the area. Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions. 

Hi Tom! Welcome! There are definitely some like-minded investors in this area. There are a handful of meetups closer to DC where you'll find flippers, wholesalers, and conventional lenders. I don't remember seeing too many hard money lenders attending, but those are present in the area as well. 

I'm an investor and realtor primarily focused on helping future investors get started with house hacking. I'm based in PWC as well, just moved back last month actually. I find that the further out from DC the more opportunities there are when it comes to real estate investing. Hope to see you at some of the meetups! One is hosted monthly in Tysons Corner, another monthly in Chantilly. 

There are a few avenues to take this, but it sounds like you're looking for hard money lending. Have you reached out to any hard money lenders in the area? That's where I'd go first. 

Are you rebuilding from the ground up, or renovating it to an upgraded state beyond what the home was before the fire? 

This is my first time coming! Which table is the meetup? 

I don't see too much of an issue of negative cashflow when it comes to a house hack if your intention from the start is to treat a similar property as your residence along with your abilities to afford the expenses without any rental income as a supplement. I'm in a similar position looking for my third property; what you've described is exactly what we're experiencing. As others have said, what doesn't cashflow today in this market will likely appreciate and cashflow in the long term, which is why I haven't been dissuaded. It'll just take a bit more work on the front end to find a deal that fits your criteria as a resident and investor, along with more work managing the property by renting by the room, even if you need to move out. 

Hi Everyone,

I set the location for Richmond since that's the closest to where I am, but specifically, I'm looking at counties in Northern Virginia (Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince William). 

My Fiancé and I are in the process of evaluating our options when it comes to housing for the mid to long term. One of the options I'm looking into is purchasing land and placing a modular home on it.

I realize this is no small undertaking as there's a lot of prep needed even before construction begins, such as land/lot development, paperwork, foundation, and site preparation. However, I'm confident in my ability to navigate these obstacles if enough resources are available to research and help me through the process. 

Has anyone here gone through this process for my region or know someone who does? If so, I'd love to have a conversation to understand better the process and pitfalls that might arise. 

A few general questions I have off the top of my head involve financing such an endeavor, how the zoning works (such as what if I put a duplex prefab rather than a single-family home), and the timeline from start to finish. Also, if there is a recommended prefab/modular builder that is recommended for my area.

I really appreciate any help you can provide.

Quote from @Steven Foster Wilson:

Quote from @Grant P.:

As someone who grew up in Dayton this is news I'm really excited to hear!

 I am sure you have seen the market change drastically. 

 Definitely, especially around the suburb where I grew up. My parents both have two fully paid off homes in Kettering and are nearing retirement, so I'm encouraging them to consider options other than selling.