All Forum Posts by: Jonathan R.

Welcome to BP Jason! There are several investors on the BP site in Wichita. There is a REIA Monthly Meeting coming up Oct 7th that I'm planning on going to (this will be the first time I've gotten out and about). If you Google REIA Wichita, KS you'll see the info. I hope the first flip goes well for you. I'm a buy and hold investor myself. I may consider flipping sometime in the future but am currently pushing hard to replace my W2 income with rental income first. I also have a problem with falling in love with the properties so I don't want to sell them. :) Good luck my friend.

I would reach out to wholesalers and see what they have. Most of their stuff is not on the MLS and well under market value as they know they need to make investors money. A good start is the "We Buy Ugly Houses" guys (otherwise known as HomeVestors). They are in most inexpensive markets. I bought one from them and it has been a cash cow. Many realtors don't know how to find investment properties that are not on the mls. I would do a Google search for wholesalers in San Antonio and see what you can find out. You can also do an mls search and see some stuff that is out there that is in your range but perhaps not the best deal and then drive for dollars and see if you can see some signs in the yard of people trying to do a for sale by owner. I know on the deal I bought they had a sign in the yard before deciding to wholesale the property; I could have gotten the property even cheaper had I seen the sign and had the courage to make a phone call. You can also search Home Path's website to see if you can find a good foreclosure deal, most of those deals aren't on the MLS. Or Hud Homestore. I would type in the links but they might get removed. Good luck.

I think investing with 35k is an excellent idea. I started with like 15k and am not looking back any time soon. As far as insight, look in C class areas. Look for a return greater than 1%. So, if a unit is all in for 50k you should be receiving more than $500 a month in rent. Do not overspend on the rehab but provide a feature or two that will attract a good tenant. For instance, I retiled the bathroom and put in an accent tile- it looked nice and didn't break the bank. Watch several podcasts. Fall in love with many properties. Offer well under fair market value. Jump in and have fun doing it.

I like the way @Account Closed thinks for sure. The whole Grant Cardone 10X thing is certainly a fun way to think... but perhaps you should get your feet wet on at least one or two of your sfr deals you mentioned initially. The Midwest and San Antonio are excellent places to invest. I see no reason you can't achieve greater than the 1% rule in those areas. If it were me, I would target my first single family home in a B-C area for less than 50k and rehab it for roughly 10k and get it rented out. Personally, I like a C area and rent it through section 8 housing so you know your rent will be there every month. I have a 2 bedroom 1 bath home all in after rehab for 32k that rents for $675 a month, perhaps a similar home in San Antonio would be 10k more but I bet the rent is a little higher there too. Anyway, hit a nice double or triple on your first deal. Perhaps if you really want to get comfortable, buy a house that needs a nice renovation on your second deal, a full gut even, I think that would be fun and then you won't be scared of much of anything. And then 10X it baby!!!! Good luck.

I'm not a real estate agent so I'm not going to pm you deals, you can find them easily enough yourself I assure you. Houses for sale in my area for less than 30k are very easy to find on the mls. There are several dozen in that price range for sure without even looking. I bought my first deal from a wholesaler for 18k, I put 14k into the renovation (this 14k included a new ac unit and furnace- contract labor is also very affordable in the Midwest), and it is rented for $675 a month. These sorts of numbers are possible throughout the Midwest. I would see if you have a friend/family member in the Midwest in an area you can buy a cheap deal and strategize with them to see a project through. I wouldn't make a mountain out of a molehill. If you've watched several podcasts you'll be fine, not a huge investment so it's a great way to get your feet wet.

I could buy 3 all in sfr for 100k and command $2100 in rent per month ($700 a month per home). You'd own those three properties in cash with no mortgage. You can leverage later to go after big money. If you can find a way to do better than that then jump on it. If not, look in OKC, KC, my area and other areas in the Midwest. C class areas. You'd have to gamble a little bit by being out of the area but I would go for it rather than a significantly smaller return in a local area. A lot of rich people on this site think similarly.

It is nice to see a fellow Kansan on here. I lived and rented in Lawrence for several years in my early/mid twenties before moving to Wichita, buying a primary residence, and then becoming an investor. I paid rent late all the time, typically by the 15th but my LL got paid when I got paid. I wasn't skipping a weekend at the Jazzhouse or El Mezcal, I'll tell you that much. I know that isn't what you want to hear but it is kind of the culture there. My LL was cool about it, he would call around the 12th or so but he never freaked out. He also never charged a late fee, he just yanked the deposit at the end saying we paid late all the time. We rented from him for three years because he was cool. If the checks return another time or two have them switch to money orders. Lawrence is a party town, lots of smart people with degrees working for $12 an hour. I suggest you build up your cash reserves to be two months ahead on the mortgage, be cool with the tenants, they will reward you for it. This LL I rented from had 30+ properties, it's no wonder he snowballed to such a big investor, he was fun. By all means don't let it go 30 days late but let it ride Clyde. The money is there, there just isn't a lot of it, the people are good people. Good luck.

@Taj Hayden good. Well, at least you know your market. I would pass on the condo. A long time ago people from the Midwest went to Alaska and California for gold and jobs. Today, I'm telling you real estate gold is in the Midwest. You can hang up there and keep analyzing bad deals or get in your wagon and make your life happen.

I was mostly being sarcastic, you can invest 20k without being in a war zone. Michelle is right in her belief that you should try to invest in your own area or the risks do go up. In my opinion, if the deals aren't in your area, go find them and take a risk. To me, 20k is not a lot of money, but it can be through real estate; if I don't invest it, I'll waste it. If wasting it is what will happen, I'd much rather take a risk in real estate. Last week I had a deal sent to me with an asking price of 21k and a county appraisal of 57k. The house needed 6k of work. That house will rent for $725 a month no problem. I bet it could be bought for 17k. These deals are in my area all day long, my next purchase will be in March, still saving. 6k a month in passive income is not as hard as Michelle believes it is. For me, that is 10 houses free and clear or 16 or so if their is debt involved. 5 years with a 50k a year job.

I disagree with the above poster. You can't will your credit score to your kids so you might as well use it while you are alive. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If I had 20k in my bank account before I caught the real estate bug I would squander it, I've wasted a lot of money in my short life. That being said, I like @Trevor Lohman and his advice. I bought a house all in for less than 20k this year. People try to scare you out of buying affordable properties because they fear you'll buy in a war zone. We live in one of if not the richest country in the history of the world, if these are war zones, war ain't so bad. Happy investing.