All Forum Posts by: Jonah Kolsrud

@Byron Wilson 

Two questions come to mind when I read through your problem. 

1) Will allowing animals make a major impact to the community and bring better/higher paying tenants? If you feel the answer is yes, then you should figure out a way to include a small community area to take animals out, but not allow people to keep dogs outside. Maybe limit the size of dogs to <35 lbs or some rule as such. If the answer is no you don't feel it would make a significant difference in tenants then don't bother.

2) Do other mobile home communities in your area allow it and is it a a feature that will detract future tenants from wanting to rent there? If the answer is no it won't cause significant lack of future tenants then again don't worry about it. 

Just my 2 cents!

@Andy Braun

Partnerships if operated correctly could be a great way to take REI by storm. Make sure you're team is aligned, have a well thought out business plan, and always use the vetted legal counsel. I would recommend reaching out to some of the syndicators you find on the forums and picking their brain! In the mean time I would check out this forum post, I thought it was helpful in having partners under and LLC.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

@Mike Biasatti

Wholesaling could be a potential avenue to get over that hurdle of a down payment, but I have noticed that most people who attempt to wholesale part time struggle to get the ball rolling. I see you have a full time job, so perhaps a different avenue could work to get over that down payment. A few options that immediately come to mind are an FHA loan (3.5% down), USDA loan is 0% down if you meet the criteria, or you could find a deal and bring in a partner who could fund it.

I lean towards the idea that if you find a deal that will provide a good return, you can always find someone who will come in to fund it. A good reference point to if you want to get even more creative is to read Investing in Real Estate With No or Low Money Down by Brandon Turner.

@Dana Tenebruso

I think it is tempting to lower your standard, but I recommend sticking to your guns. If you haven't done so already, I would look into having professional photo's taken of your unit that way you will be attracting the highest end tenants for that given area. For $100-200 you will likely see that returned in full by getting tenants who better fit your criteria.

Just my 2 cents! 

@Sergio Segura-Brito

Congrats on starting at such a young age and finding such a powerful resource in Bigger Pockets! My advice would be starting off with the basics to build a proper foundation. Start with education by listening to the podcast. Go to the library and read a book on real estate (a popular choice is Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki). An alternative option if you're looking to go faster is find a local real estate meetup and start to network around. 

You can skip the education faze of this if you want to go chasing deals immediately (many have succeeded but equal if not more have failed). If you do start out wanting to find deals, I recommend at least having the REIA to go to and get feedback on these. Give episode 386 a listen and then determine your path!

@Joe Matthews

Congrats on accomplishing the hardest part of the journey which is just getting the means to jump in REI! I am not super familiar with the FL market, but my advice would be to identify where you have a competitive advantage over others. For instance, if you and you're extended family all live in Melbourne, FL you likely have a much more in depth knowledge of each area and can get a better grasp on what areas to look at vs. avoid. So find your market which you know like the back of your hand or have friends/family/colleagues who know a market and start looking there.

If you're going out of state I recommend reading the Long Distance Real Estate Investing book by David Greene and identifying a market with this spreadsheet (FYI I'm not the author, but found it very useful!).

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

@Patrick Orefice

Really appreciate the advice! Given that you're local to Charleston, have you seen many investors make these conversions or is it less popular because there isn't enough juice for the squeeze? Based on flood zones, I would assume the attic conversions would be more popular.

Hey BP member,

I am on the fence about buying the intention journal, but am intrigued by the mastermind aspect of it. I currently use a best self 12 week journal to track my current goals and daily progress, but would consider switching. Has anyone had experience with the BiggerPockets journal and had good outcomes from the mastermind groups or has it been something that most buyers of the journal overlook?

Thanks in advance!

@Robert Bird

First off, congrats on your stroke of luck and welcome to BP forums! Consider it a stroke of luck you found this platform before winning the game show also!

If I were in your shoes, I would recommend reading a few books on REI (I would recommend Set For Life by Scott Trench and The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner). I would second recommend listening to the podcast episodes. Starting here will build your foundation to make a great first purchase and mitigate risk of jumping into a deal too quickly. While you may have just found some wealth quickly you want to avoid losing it quickly also. There is no shame in taking a few months to build a good platform to accelerate your investing career off of.

Third thing I would do, once you get over educating, is to build a criteria for what you want to invest in (1- property type, 2- location, 3- condition, 4- price range, and 5-profitability wanted) and also your strategy (being a first timer, house hacking is arguably the best intro into REI and it will only cost 5-10% down payment while also having tax benefits when going to sell). Once you have these things to a tee, start analyzing deals and making offers with an agent.

This is just one path you could take, there's a million different directions you can go in REI so be wary of each and always keep the end in mind! Focus on what makes you happy and you will always be on the right path.

@Mallory Guerrero

Just a creative idea if you wanted to try a hail mary. If I think from the tenant perspective, why wouldn't I want to move the first thing that comes to mind is because moving is a logistical nightmare and it means I have to pack everything and figure out where to go. You could perhaps try and fix that problem and offer some kind of a cash for keys option (less than your first offer) and also pay for a full service moving company to solve their problem of packing stuff and also moving it to their new location.

I hope something works out in your favor on this one, sounds frustrating to say the least!