All Forum Posts by: Jared H.

Wow. I wasn't expecting such a varying amount of opinion! 

I think it may be more beneficial to pay it down a bit and then continue to invest in more real estate in better rental markets while letting this one pay itself off for the long term & possibly selling later when it makes sense. It would have saved me more money to do a 5/1 ARM if I had planned on selling it early. But since I'm on a 30-yr fixed, I think this may be the best solution for my situation. (Perhaps taking advantage of the 500k tax break before 15yrs). Yes, appreciation in this area is significant.

In short, I've decided to pay it down to self-sustain as a rental and continue to purchase property in better rental markets in the near future. If anyone thinks this is a bad idea, please explain why. I value all opinions.

Thank you for all of your feedback and advice, it's highly appreciated!

Yes, I am planning to rent it when I am forced to PCS in 2 years which is not defaulting agreement. We will be occupying the property while I am stationed here.

EDIT:

Also, we will be using a conventional if we decide to purchase any more homes as we move around.

I'm new to the real estate, in the military and just purchased my first home (3bd/2ba/2car garage) with the VA loan on Oahu for a little over 500k and it's estimated rent is $2,400/mo. I understand this is not sustainable with the mortgage so we are going to pay $50k on the principal to make it self-sustainable.

We should be able to save approximately $50k/yr combined for the next 5 years safely.

Should we pay 40k/yr additionally on the home principal to get it paid off in under 10 years to earn fixed income and sell when we want to retire/start a business? Or should we (after setting aside 30k for repairs/vacancy & paying down 50k for sustainability) continue to pull loans and buy in better markets for more rentals?

We're both young (22/23yrs old) so we'd appreciate any advice from you seasoned guys

Great read with useful information... Nice plot twist at the end too. 

Perhaps not a great approach to a bunch of investors though.

I'll quickly introduce my situation here. My wife & I will be able to save $5,000 a month combined starting December (living in a van soon to save & pursue real estate; sounds extreme, I know..) We are both 22yrs old. This amount of excess income will increase as we work our way up our career paths.

We currently do not live in the area, but wish to invest in the market back home in 2018. (Shasta County, CA). I have great credit (over 750), and my mom is willing to manage the properties for free (she has an AS in business administration [studied real estate, but didn't make it due to personal issues at the time]), her fiance works as a general contractor and is willing to help fix up any homes for low pay/free on weekends or small cuts if flipping. I also plan on moving back over there within the next few years; thus my reasoning to invest over there.

With an excess cash flow of $5,000/mo, free management, and low-cost labor how would you invest in my situation?

Thank you for any input you may have.