All Forum Posts by: John McConnell

Sounds like an amazing first deal.  I think the only thing holding me back at this point pulling the trigger on my very first is being comfortable enough in my estimation and number crunching... I see you say to follow your gut but I am sure there is an underpinning of being able to mentally go through the numbers.  Of course your gut feeling was used many moons into your investing career so you had a better handle on the situation.  Can I ask your negotiating process on that first deal?  Did you have the number of 60K set in your mind as a solid estimate or did you just throw a half off number from the sellers original price?

I guess it is time to set up a "military" keyword. great thread.  I am just getting started but these are all things I will need to be concerned with.  Active Army but I think this will be my last duty station.  I am actually trying to build out and go the other direction..  eventually buying property in Europe and managing from a distance from here with the aspiration of living both here and there seasonally.  Thinking on things I have read and heard in the past couple weeks about having properties in places I would like to spend time.  I think it would be great to have an apartment in a few European cities that I can reside in even if only for a few months out of the year.  I wonder how many military people have their properties near military bases?  Does that seem to help the vacancy rates?  Would you recommend trying to buy near bases rather than in random other places around the country or globe?  I would think that as long as the base is not set to move or close any time soon that being near a base would be ideal.  Does anyone who has property near a base know if there is a way to charge the BAH rates up front?  Great thread!  Good luck!

Welcome @Evan Jacobs best time to start right now. Doing the same myself. Look around and gather all the knowledge you can. I would also recommend some of the great books that bp pub has put together. Depending on what route you are wanting to take thereis definitely plenty of info out there! I also recommend REIA meetings. Great place to exchange some info and meet others doing what you want to do.

Welcome @Matt Crow. Would love to bend your ear anytime about southern NH multi. Brand new green twig and brand new to the area. Migrated from kentucky/Midwest and trying to start my investing adventure. Currently scouring MLS and other resources looking for a decent owner occupy multi. I live in Nashua and have just recently heard I should check out Milford NH. Looking for 3-4 units and not afraid of rehabbing although I haven't done it yet...I have done plenty of my own fixing work on apartments/houses. Don't forget to check out the podcasts!

Interesting. Thank you Richard and Jd for your insight. Yes looking for a house hack multi in my area is definately a little challenging. I will check out Milford for sure. Right now I have been looking in Nashua and Hudson. Visually looking just south of Nashua as I drive the country back roads back and forth to Devens everyday. Lots of nice SFH along my route and a couple that look like potentially good investments (tall grass and generally neglected houses in nice rural area next to decent schools). The REIA groups, especially the black diamonds group, have been very helpful and I have met some really great people so far. Learned all about esbestos last night in Worcester from a seasoned lawyer who deals specifically with that subject all over MA/NH. I have a great agent here in Nashua who has me linked into the MLS listings directly... I am venturing to guess that my best values will not be found there. Seems like the housing market in general is going up gradually around here too. I have also been checking for HUD and pre/foreclosures trying to get a repeatable criteria and process for evaluating properties here. Thanks so much!

Besides driving neighborhoods, connecting with a local agent, scouring zillow, attending meetings and meeting locals what else would you recommend to someone jut coming to a new market. I am from the Midwest and have moved around quite a bit being in the military. I just recently moved to the New England area and the houses here a very different from what I have been exposed to. I will be here for about 5 - 6 years and I am just trying to start investing...looking for multi 3-4 plex in the so. NH middle MA area. Thanks for the post!

Awesome update! It just gets better every single day.

Wow an amazing story. Sounds like you have the know how and drive to do some great things. I would see about finding a fixer upper maybe from a wholesaler or just a for closure in an area you want to live. Some creative financing would be a world of help and with you fixing skills you could turn anything into a castle. As far as the current situation with the floors maybe trading sweat equity or something like that for the financial portion. I would assume that the landlord is going to change or update the floors anyway when you leave so for them to not want to get a more durable solution for a discount... I wouldn't hesitate to ask. Go in with a couple of solutions I'm sure he will pick one. Your request is not unreasonable.

"The mass of men (and women) lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things."

Henry David Thoreau, Walden & Civil Disobedience

So the alternative to not getting started is to live in quiet desperation.

So I guess my greatest fear is not making the numbers work on paper so that I don't get a good deal. I want to try to at least cash flow out the gate but for whatever reason I can't seem to make the numbers look right. Maybe I am being too cautious in my calculations. Some of these properties are from people already using them as full rental properties. I want to own/occupy my first 3-4 plex. I'm not really too worried about the financing or any of that other stuff...not scared of jumping out of an airplane so jumping in head first into real estate shouldn't be that bad. I just want to make sure the numbers jive before I pull the trigger. I am ready mentally to start just not comfortable with the calculations yet. Maybe I just need to find a wholesaler who has something that works...let them explain it to me... And just grab if it's in a good neighborhood and passes a GC inspection when it comes to the structural and important stuff. I'm not so worried about cosmetics either. I can fix or have that fixed after the fact. So do I keep crunching until I have crunched 100 or so properties? Then narrow to 10 and 3 and then buy 1?