All Forum Posts by: John Barrett

@Alex James Sindelar I would start by talking to a lender (credit union or mortgage broker) to figure out what sort of financing options are available to you.  With regards to the Physician's loan program, you would need to validate what medical occupations qualify as different lenders could have different requirements.

In your post, you mention that you are looking to relocate to the Midwest in the next few years.  If I were in your position, I would not be looking to purchase a property just yet.  Rather, I would be focusing on maximizing my income, reducing my expenses and building up a strong cash/cash equivalent position to start investing once you pick your new location.  There are high transaction costs associated with all real estate purchases and unless you have an option where you can create a decent amount of equity, you could end up in a position of selling in a few years and just breaking even. 

I know the majority of advice is to jump in and take action, but in my experience building your cash reserves is one of the most prudent actions you can take as a newer investor.  Home run investments tend to get all the attention, but stable growth and not taking unnecessary risks is what builds long term financial success.

Best of luck,

John

@Courtney Clark We are currently still purchasing properties in WA state.  I really believe you need to focus on the deal and make sure that your deal makes sense.  While the market will continue to be challenging (tight supply & government regulation) this will also create opportunities for you to lock up deals while others wait.  This situation is not static and will change as we move through the next year.  There really hasn't been much direct support for landlords but there are still programs that have funds to support tenants to pay rent.

You can always come up with a reason to wait and invest later but lack of action seems to me to be one of the most common regrets that investors have.  There is no return without risk.  All you can do is make sure you are getting the maximum return for whatever risk you are willing to accept.

Best of luck,

John

@Karl McGarvey I have been investing for number of years now and I have never met anyone who has had their loan called.  This could become an issue going forward as banks in the future look to get out of really low interest rate loans but currently I view this as a non issue.  That said, I don't have any investments setup as partnerships, so this could just be a blind spot for me.

For what you are specifically looking to do, I would suggest you use an asset based lender.  You are going to pay a slightly higher interest rate but it will give you the flexibility that you are looking for.  While a 30 year loan products are really attractive, in my experience investment groups tend to transact properties a lot faster.  As such there would likely be more upside for choosing a shorter loan period to lower your monthly costs and maximize your returns.

Regards,

John

@Karl McGarvey Why would you not buy the property in your personal name and then transfer it into your LLC? Other options would be a commercial loan, a loan via portfolio lender (most often community bank) or an asset based lender. There are pro's and cons for using each of these various types of lender by mostly it comes down to higher interest rates and / or shorter loan terms.

Best of luck,

John

@Jesse Munos If you are really busy with your day job and making a good salary, you might want to look into investing via a syndication.  This would allow you to participate in the appreciation and tax benefits without any of the responsibility to manage the project or book keeping.  While your returns will generally be lower than what you could generate if you were to take on the work yourself, investing via a syndication is generally the least amount of work on your part.  I don't invest via syndication as I like to do the work but many others on BP do and have success with this strategy.

Best of luck,

John

@Codey Chapman Unfortunately, it really depends on what is in the purchase and sale agreement and any addendum that you signed.  If for example you purchased the house "As Is", then there would be no requirement for the seller to fix the defect in the septic system drain field.  On the other hand, if seller agreed to a specific remedy (compensation for the cost to repair or to fix the drain field) that would need to be completed.  Generally if repairs are to be completed that is a condition of closing the loan.

If you are saying that your agent misrepresented this on the sale of the property, I would try and work out a solution with them or their managing broker.

Best of luck,

John

@Jason Delgado Alonzo Congratulations on plan to build a rental portfolio.  Properties in the PNW (especially multifamily) are pretty expensive at the moment, but you can still find deals that are a little further out from where the majority of buyers are looking.  Spend your time saving up as much cash as you possibly can between now and when you plan to purchase.  Some unexpected event will certainly arise once you have found and closed on your investment property.  If you have cash reserves, this be an annoyance.  It's when you don't that it can be come a crisis.

Best of luck,

John

@Annie Johnson I am in the Everett area but would love to be included in a Zoom networking.

Regards,

John

@Kobe McDaniel There are also a number of groups both on Facebook and Meetup.com that are all PNW focused. The nice thing about those groups is it will allow you to focus in on topics with local investors who are doing what you are interested in, in this area.

Best of luck,

John

@Kobe McDaniel Check out both meetup.com for local groups who are specializing in wholesaling.  This will allow you to network with people who are investing this way in this area.  You can checkout the WAREI Facebook group as it is a large community of investors locally and many do wholesaling.

Just a couple observations from my "non-wholesaler" perspective: I see a lot of people get super excited about wholesaling only to discover it is a lot of work and then drop it after a short while.  This market (PNW) is particularly tough to wholesale in as the shortage of inventory makes it easy for owners to sell properties in just about any condition.  There are a lot of different viable strategies for investing in real estate.  Networking with others to find the one that best matches your interests, skills and resources (time or money) will serve you well.

Best of luck,

John