All Forum Posts by: Jake Rodriguez

Hi @Jake Rodriguez congrats on getting the real estate bug! The book you'll hear on the podcast all the time is Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, this tends to start most people on their business/investing careers and is my personal favorite.

After that some of my favorites starting out were Set for Life by Scott Trench, The E-Myth Real Estate Investor, The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner, and How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

These were huge in developing mindset and real estate investing knowledge to get started. Don't forget to listen to the BP podcast along the way!

Christian, Thanks for the response. Rich Dad Poor Dad and How to Win Friends were great reads. Ive read both of them more than once. Set for Life will be downloaded today! Thank you for the recommendations. I was listening to the BP Podcasts a lot but im in the military and currently on deployment with limited connectivity so ill have to focus my energy into books.

2 Votes

San Diego, California

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

The Millionaire Next Door was a good one. My favorite book when starting out was "Every Landlord's Legal Guide" by NOLO because it's full of practical advice for managing rentals, includes sample forms, and points you directly to your State laws.

Nathan, Thanks for the response! The Millionaire Next Door is on my short list. I think the Landlords legal guide will come in handy hopefully sooner than later. I would love to have my first rental before the 1st of the year!

0 Votes

San Diego, California

Quote from @Nicholas Coulter:

@Jake Rodriguez I started out in this order and it changed the way I look at asset management, money management and REI!

1. Rich dad poor dad - asset management and how to ensure my money was doing something

2. Set for life - Scott Trench - Everything you need to know about setting a strong financial base to invest in many areas!

3. The HouseHacking Strategy - Craig Curelop - This allowed me to eliminate my housing expense in Southern California saving over 25k+ a year!

You're on the right track with getting into collecting as much info as possible!

I can also suggest a few podcasts once you get through the books to continue to educate yourself!

Thank you very much. Ive read Rich Dad Poor Dad a few times now and I see it is a common recommendation. Set For Life by Scott Trench has been recommended a few times now so im going to be downloading it today! House Hacking Strategy will be on my list as well. Thank you again for your recommendations! 25K+ a year!!! Thats huge! I also like in Southern California. SD, the market went through the roof for the last couple years. I was lucky enough to buy my house in 2020 thank God!

1 Vote

San Diego, California

Hello everyone, I recently read two books written by David Greene (Long distance real estate investing and BRRRR) and Im all charged up and ready to start! Now I wanted to reach out to all of you and ask which book(s) you read that completely changed your life in the real estate space. Thank you :)

4 Votes

San Diego, California

Quote from @Dalton Thornsberry:

I'm in a bit of a unique situation here, but maybe not so unique as I'd imagine many investors are in something similar right now with recent appreciation, inflation, etc.

Situation:

I currently own one rental property in the Bakersfield, CA market that I purchased in 2017. Made some minor improvements and house hacked basically until I relocated for work. I now live in San Diego (my market here is impossible right now imo). The property is now worth almost double what I paid for it.

Access to the equity in the property is extremely hard to come by right now as HELOCs on investment properties are suspended from any lender I've contacted. I want to gain some working capital to acquire additional real estate in a neighboring market. Cash flow is around $200 a month right now (rent is slightly below market rate as I've had a long term tenant in place).

I could cash out refi this property but with the rates being what they are and lenders charging pretty ridiculous closing costs, the amortization schedule would not make sense and it would destroy the cash flow I do have in the property (I've worked with multiple lenders and brokers to run the numbers).

Question:

Do I sell the property, take my $120K in capital and 1031 exchange that capital into multiple, higher cash flowing properties with slightly lower appreciation potential?

A note: I do have a business partner willing to match that and all together we'd be in control of around $250k liquid capital. With that I do believe we could acquire 4-5 much cheaper properties outside of the existing Bakersfield market (ideally multi-family) and produce a real income to scale much faster (velocity of money and all that jazz).

HELP!?

Also, I understand this may be the best dilemma ever to have but I want to maximize my use of this equity in one way or another, if the market in CA does cool it would be a great selling point as well. I do think the existing property has more long term potential for appreciation as the area is an up and coming hub in Bakersfield, also close to the University there.

I have a similar question. I bought a house in SD California for 490k and the current Zestimate is 715k. I still live in it but I would like to get into REI. I cant imagine selling a home in San Diego CA , but if I can maximize the amount of equity Ive made in a different market i would be open to it. I still will live in SD though, so even if i sold i would have to find housing for myself and my daughter on the weekends. Since housing is so expensive i dont know if i could get into another property so i would then end up renting. I need help to figure this out. I was thinking of getting a HELOC to capitalize on the equity and invest in a market with lower purchase prices.

0 Votes

Bakersfield, California

Quote from @Raymond J. Rodrigues:

Hi @Jake Rodriguez! @Valentina Calla is a realtor in the areas that you have mentioned and can help guide you in the right direction with your long distance real estate investment needs! I hope this recommendation helps!

Thank you so much!

0 Votes

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

Quote from @Jake Rodriguez:

Hello everyone, my name is Jake. I am active duty Navy and live in San Diego, CA. I was fortunate enough to buy a home in SD California in February of 2020. I purchased a 3/2 SFH for 490k and the Zestimate is currently 715k. I would like to put this money into action to acquire some wealth building assets. Based on the recommendation of a friend/mentor, I recently read Long Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene and I am just about finished with the BRRRR book also written by David Greene. I am absolutely hooked on this BRRRR Idea and would love to get into a BRRRR situation in Deltona/Deland/Sanford area of FL. My father lives in FL and I think I would like to get a property there because it will give me peace of mind to know that I had someone in the area of my first investment property. I appreciate any advice from all of you and I look forward to your responses. Thank you!

You can apply for a line of credit against the equity. A bank can qualify you for up to 80% of the equity. It's essentially like a credit card in that you can spend it on anything you want and you only pay interest on the amount borrowed. I personally only use a line of credit when I need a large chunk of cash quickly and can pay it back in less than 12 months.

Thank you so much. If I am successful with my BRRRR it will be much quicker than 12 months.

0 Votes

Quote from @Kay M.:

Hi!

Has anyone begun their RE investment journey with a HELOC? How did this look for you when you first started? how far into RE investing are you now?
thanks!

Kay,

I am in the same situation and just made a post similar to this. I hope everything works out well for the both of us! Ill make sure to keep my posts updated and hopefully you do the same. Maybe we can learn from each other and the wealth of knowledge in these forums.

0 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Jake Rodriguez

Jake Rodriguez has started 6 posts and replied 19 times.

Post: What is your favorite real estate book?

Post: What is your favorite real estate book?

Post: What is your favorite real estate book?

Post: What is your favorite real estate book?

Post: Sell To Acquire Multiple, Better Cash Flowing Properties?

Post: I have over 200K in equity! How do I put that $$$ to work???

Post: I have over 200K in equity! How do I put that $$$ to work???

Post: Using HELOC to start RE Investing

Post: I have over 200K in equity! How do I put that $$$ to work???