All Forum Posts by: Jeff Roth

Look for a HELOC that allows you to lock the used portion into a fixed rate loan so the interest rate does not float up on you. Credit unions are good places to shop around for this type of loan.

Just make sure your cashflow from the investment property is enough to cover the expenses for that property and have enough to pay down the HELOC you used for the downpayment as well.

Happy to help!

1 Vote

Atlanta, Georgia

Hi Jason-

Congratulations on starting your real estate investing journey.

You are in good hands here on Bigger Pockets and their resources.

I too am a crypto/blockchain fan and do think it is coming to the IRL real estate word as well. I have Bitcoin mining machines hosted in Texas as my primary personal investment.

One additional book I would recommend is "Equity Happens" by Robert Helms and Russell Gray. Great resource!

As far as your focus, I like the BRRRR method starting out and agree with the duplex angle to have more than one door covering the mortgage and expenses.

Happy to help!

1 Vote

Toronto, Ontario

Congratulations on your success with live in flips.

Hopefully you have adequate equity in your current house to pull out to invest in other property.

If so, keep your current mortgage with favorable rates and take out a HELOC that allows you the flexibility to lock in a portion as a loan so the interest rate does not float on the used balance. Call around and compare rates and programs. Credit unions are good places to focus and they are less likely to reduce or close your line of credit if market conditions soften.

Happy to help!

0 Votes

Denton, Texas

Hi Beth-

Thank you for your service as a nurse. As the nurses strike here at the UofM hospital system, I understand this is not an isolated problem.

Support your decision to become financially and career independent with real estate.

Recommend focussing on the BRRRR method and you can find great resources on that topic here on Bigger Pockets.

There are properties that cashflow strongly and fit the BRRRR criteria within an hours drive of my location in Ann Arbor, MI.

You might look within that radius near you for these properties.

Find an investment friendly Realtor with relationships with wholesalers, property managers and contractors to make this experience sustainable for you and your family.

Happy to help!

0 Votes

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Hi Abel-

Congratulations on starting your education in real estate investing and coming to Bigger Pockets for networking support.

I agree with several comments already shared that you should focus on one area and become an expert in that area, look for an investor friendly agent in that area to help you build your team and avoid costly mistakes. I also think Southeast Michigan offers great investment returns at a reasonable price point with a diversified economy and abundant natural resources.

Happy to help!

1 Vote

New York City, New York

Hi Karla-

I like your thinking about next steps.

If you have a low interest rate on your primary house, I would keep that loan in place.

Then, see if you can find a lender that will do a HELOC that you can lock a portion as a loan so the rate does not float around as HELOC rates tend to do after you secure the next property with the HELOC funds.

This will give you a blended interest rate between the low rate on your first house and the higher rate on the Home Equity Loan that is still lower than refinancing your existing house and locking in a higher rate on the whole balance.

Hope this makes sense. Happy to help!

0 Votes

Tampa, Florida

Quote from @Alicia Marks:

Calling all BiggerPockets thought leaders!

We’re holding an open call for writers to become contributors to the BiggerPockets Blog. If you’re interested in submitting your name, email address, real estate specialty, and a 300-word writing sample on the topic of your choice, we’d love to review your work!

Submit here

Thanks for asking for contributors Alicia. Submitted material. Happy to help!

0 Votes

Quote from @Matt Myre:

Quote from @Jeff S.:

Looks like most of your blog authors are BP employees or authors of the books you publish, @Alicia Marks. There are a lot of avenues to get publicity and BP is one of the many. Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, a blog on your own website, authoring a book, and any of the various trade magazines come to mind. As you know, everyone always seems to want content.

With research and editing, writing a blog can take many hours and the outcome is uncertain. BP used to display the number of views for each thread and each blog, but not any more that I can find. How does one measure interest for a blog topic on your site and ensure they’re not wasting their time writing a post, or a series of posts, that either few read or that could be submitted elsewhere? I’m sure you keep metrics. How can they be accessed please, so we can make an informed decision?

Adding to @Brad S.’s question (Hi Brad!!), who owns the content, BP or the author?

Hi @Jeff S.! I'm Matt and manage the blog.

To clarify a couple of your questions and concerns:

1. There are only a few employees who write for the blog, Dave Meyer and myself being the main two. The rest are yes, authors, or volunteer contributors. The vast majority of articles written on BiggerPockets were actually written by volunteer contributors who wanted to share their real estate experiences/knowledge.

2. It is true that we've taken away some of the metrics. There are various reasons for why we've made this decision, but we understand how that can lead to some hesitancy from volunteer writers. Typically, if an author were to ask me what type of numbers they scored on an article, I'll happily share those statistics with them.

3. Before an article is submitted, the content topic/idea is pitched directly to me and we work through how we can best angle the content. Authors cannot openly post to the blog like they were once able to. This cuts down on irrelevant content and drives better numbers. It also helps us engage with different subsections of our audience. Yes, private lending content will get lower numbers than general news content, but we still serve the niche extremely well, and that's a win-win for us and the author since the author can drive traffic to their businesses/website in their author bio and build thought leadership in an already established audience. In essence, I work closely with most of our authors.

4. BiggerPockets owns the content once it's final version is submitted.

I hope that answers your questions! Let me know if you're curious about anything else.

I filled out the form Matt to be a blog contributor and sent in a writing sample. Happy to help!

Thanks for your help.

0 Votes

Quote from @Kimothy Bynum:

Quote from @Jeff Roth:

Hi Kimothy-

I love the hustle and the plan.

While I started later, the clear path for me is buying value add properties, rehabbing them (preferably lightly) and using the BRRRR strategy. Buy Rehab Rent Refinance Repeat.

I am fortunate to be within an hour's drive of a market in Michigan where I can buy properties like this and again next year with $500 monthly positive cashflow after paying a property manager to manage it.

Love the hustle. Best of luck. Happy to help!

Hey yea i want to get into BRRRR. I'm a realtor in the Michigan market and I want to know more about how to do a BRRRR. I guess just how to find contractors and manage that aspect of it? How did you get your first one?

Hi Kimothy-

Contractors can be found by finding investor friendly Realtors in your market for referrals. Also, if you intend to use a property manager for the property you can try to partner with them and their contractor resources for the rehab.

Locating properties can come from getting on wholesaler lists in your area, direct marketing yourself or working with an investor friendly Realtor in your target area.

Happy to help!

0 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Jeff Roth

Jeff Roth has started 0 posts and replied 220 times.

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