All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Jaime Velarde

Treat it like a business and establish a firm set of guidelines. When they pay late or something comes up you will almost 100% be too lenient and risk losing your rent, friends, or both. 

You should never lower your standards in my opinion, especially for friends/family. You would expect the same from them. 

@Bill F. Thank you for the input. I will try and get all my ducks aligned before I start. Also, I plan on taking school during summer if they will allow my GI bill during that time. 

Check out the rental property calculator on this site!! It is under the "Tools" tab.

Very inspiring story!

I am transitioning out of the Marine Corps next summer and will be continuing my college education after. I hope I can be somewhere close to you in terms of success by the time I am 30!!!

Mr. Johnson,

Welcome to BiggerPockets!

It is awesome to see more and more military investors everyday. If I were you I would 1) set up some keyword alerts on things that spark your interest 2) attend a Real Estate meet up OR start your own 3) read all the books and listen to as many podcasts as you can 4) start finding leads and analyzing deals 5) make lots of offers and start ACTING!!!

Good luck,

Jonathan Velarde

Nice! Try and get in the loop with people who can give you inside info before it comes on the MLS. Bring value to someone in exchange for you being able to see deals and make offers before others come and snatch them up. The only tricky thing with VA loans is they can have some annoying terms and that might turn potential sellers off, but that's all in your due diligence period.

What school will you be attending? I want to attend Moorpark Community and then once I am eligible, transfer to UCLA. 

@Patrick Senas

Are you or have you used your Post 9/11 GI bill? If you're in SD that monthly living allowance is upwards of $2000 per month, not to mention if you are working your current job still you'll be raking in tons of money. Just know that the money from the Bill cannot be used as income towards your pre-approval (from what I understand). 

My plan when I move back to Ventura County next summer is to go to a CC, collect $2250 in BAH every month, live at home for free, work for my father ($700-1000) per week, and then actively seek an investment property, preferably a MFR.

If you have questions on Post 9/11 GI bill and the rates for your area check this out: 

https://www.vets.gov/gi-bill-comparison-tool

Congratulations on joining! This site is amazing especially for newer investors who have questions for anything involving real estate. You will get advice from all different spectrums. I highly recommend you download and listen to all the previous podcasts as well. 

That is good that you have target areas already picked out. Go check out the keyword alerts since you are a PRO member and plug in the terms that you want to be notified on when other people mention them! 

Good luck to you from another service member.

Keep the property and have the tenants pay down your debt!

Use the money to get another property that can cash flow and make sense for you and your current situation. 

@Nick G.

Thank you I will consider that going forward.

@Jo-Ann Lapin thank you!