All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Styer

Start saving up money now. Your first move should be a house hack. If you don't know what that is start reading up on it. You will need money for a downpayment. The sooner you buy the better.

See if you can find an investor or agent that needs help, even stuffing envelopes or plunging toilets. Tell them your goals and ask if they will help you to learn. You should be able to get your real estate license once you graduate HS if you actually want to be an agent great, if not don't waste your time/money, it's not necessary. Listen to podcasts, and read up on the subject, here and/or in books. Start learning about houses and how they work, what does it cost to replace a hot water tank? How much does vinyl plank cost per sqft installed? These are things that'll be second nature eventually but you need to learn first. 

There's plenty more but this is a good start. Follow through.  

You need to use the appraised value, not taxable value. Depending on location, taxes are usually in the 1.8%-2.8%. Looks like this property is about 2.5%. Hope this helps! 

Find a local Property Management company that can help you with what would be the best path for you. They should be able to connect you with the folks that you need help from to determine costs of repairs, and if it's worth keeping them as a rental or selling. The last thing you want to do is keep letting them sit there as your costs are just going to go up and up. 

Just listing to the bigger pockets podcast and learning from folks who have done it helps a lot. Also, there are many great REI groups in Columbus, check out COIN. This is a great plan and such a smart way to set yourself up for the future

Are you looking for full property management or just someone to lease the property for you?

With this amount of information, I'd go with Property B, chances are in 10 years you'll be more happy you own that property. It's possible you won't even be able to purchase that property and cashflow by then, so you'll have "gotten in" at a good time. A D area is going to come with a lot of headaches once you move out. 

No one truly knows the answer to your question and anyone who says they do is just guessing or a liar. Here's what I always say, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is today. 

The short answer is maybe. If you're able to get out of a hard money flip before you go looking for a loan you should be fine. If it's all cash, then you don't need to worry about DTI, but that's less cash to show a lender for preapproval. But if you take on debt for a STR, it will affect your DTI. Good luck!

Are there local companies that will do it for you? That is where you should start. Also, what size of multifamily? I know here in Columbus there are several companies that perform this service and then follow up with doing the readings, but they do not work with properties less than 20 units which leaves a lot of investors out in the dust when it comes to sub metering water. It's become pretty much impossible to sub meter anything less than 20 units here, unless the property was sub metered before this change, which is unfortunate. 

Are you a part of any local real estate investment groups? How about Facebook, any groups there? You want to get it out to as many people with as much information as possible.