All Forum Posts by: Jordan Malara

If anyone in Colorado Springs is looking for something fun to do tonight, you should come on out. Mike the appraiser has some great stuff to share!

@Linitha Tadsina As others have said, traditional long term rentals do not yield much cash flow at the moment. With the increased mortgage rates, property prices have not come down nearly enough to create cash flow in the LTR market. When investing in CO Springs (and most areas in CO) you have to keep in mind that it's a growth market where the benefits and wealth creation in real estate will come from appreciation and high principal pay down, not cash flow. As time goes on and rents catch up, cash flow will come, but likely not initially. 

If cash flow if what you desire, you may need to explore more aggressive investment strategies such as a value-add, fix and hold strategy. This would be where you buy a distressed property for under market value, fix it up, and then rent it out. This could yield you greater cash flow from your rental. If you're short on funds to buy a property with 25% down and renovate, then it may be worth exploring a 10% down investment loan option that @Grant Schroeder offers for 1-4 unit investment properties!

From my experience I have not seen a saturation of the market with investment properties thus far. There is still a huge need for rentals and homes to purchase. The military alone creates a transient population of over 100k people that are coming and going from CO Springs in a given year.

@Josh Levey A large factor of where you invest your cash should be based on your overarching goals within real estate. Do you want cash flow to quit your W2, appreciation to build long term wealth, or something else entirely? 

As @Ryan Thomson alluded to, house hacking is a great way to get started in a strong market and benefit from cash flow and appreciation with very little cash out of pocket and low risk. If you're considering CO Springs, hit him up as he is one of the best in the area!

Great stuff! Thanks for the rundown! 

Hey Colorado Springs, I’d like to invite all active duty, reservists, and veterans to join me for a new local meetup focused on connecting like-minded military real estate investors! My intent with this meetup is to support military members in their pursuit of real estate investing and financial freedom. This meetup is completely FREE with no sales pitch included. Just a space for everyone to come together, share their experience and knowledge, and foster mutually beneficial relationships. It will primarily be a time of networking and learning from each other, but depending on how the group grows, I may look at bringing in speakers for each meetup.

Meetup Topic: This month we will discuss assuming a VA loan. We will dig into how to find these properties, what to consider before assuming or letting someone else assume your VA loan, and the various pros and cons.

Future discussion topics include:

• Basics of investing while in the military
• Comparison of loan types
• Investing strategies
• Renting vs Buying in various markets
• Investing while oversea’s
• How to invest in real estate using your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
• Finding a Property Manager when you PCS

About Me: I was born and raised in Upstate New York before going down to Oklahoma for college where I studied mechanical engineering while also participating in Air Force ROTC. After graduation, I commissioned into the Air Force and was stationed at Schriever AFB in Colorado Springs, CO. Then, at about my 3 year mark in the Air Force I had the opportunity to transfer into the United Stated Space Force. During my time in the Air Force and Space Force I worked as a satellite operator and commander for the GPS satellite constellation (2 SOPS). It was during my first few years in the military that I discovered real estate investing and it has changed my life since. In a few short years my wife and I have gone from 1 door to 12 doors with a balanced portfolio of long term rentals, medium term rentals and short term rentals (Airbnbs). We are well on our way to financial freedom and my desire now is to help others get there too!

Thanks for putting this together @Ryan Thomson! Going to be a great event!

Thanks for the opportunity to share my journey and experience!

@Judd Meng I'm very familiar with the ADU/Mother-in-law suite house hacking strategy. I have done 2 integrated ADU conversions and constructed 2 detached ADU's as well. The details behind their feasibility on a plot of land is pretty in-depth so I'll PM you and we can find a chat about this specific strategy in more detail.

I also host a meetup twice a month in the area that you're welcome to attend. We traditionally meet at Goat Patch Brewing on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month at 6:30 PM. This next week (Feb 9th) we will be at an alternate location. You can find more details under "Network"->"Meetups"->then search for events in Colorado Springs. 

@Judd Meng I think the best strategy for you to pursue depends on your goals. Without knowing those, here is what I would say...As others have mentioned, you have options for trying to creatively finance an out of state deal due to your limited capital, but this is going to be difficult and take time. Pursue this, but also pursue an easier investment strategy at the same time so you don't miss out on valuable time IN the market. Maybe just start simple and try to get a good deal on a new primary residence, maybe even one you can add value to, that you can rent out in the future.

I agree with @Joe Garretson that house hacking is not a catch all solution as it is not a good fit for everyone, however, it is one of the simplest and most effective ways to get started. If there is one thing I have learned during my investment journey, it is that sacrifices yield results. I have grown from 1 unit to 12 units in the Springs over about 4 years. I didn't do anything special, I was just willing to move every year and house hack in different ways. Doing these things wasn't easy or convenient for me or my family, but we're doing it now so we can reap greater rewards in the future. My personal goal was to soft retire before I turn 30, so that is why I made the sacrifices that I did. I don't know what your goals are, but if they are aggressive, then you're going to need to take an an equally aggressive approach and step out of your comfort zone.

Hope that insight is helpful for you!

Hey Colorado Springs, I’d like to invite all active duty, reservists, and veterans to join me for a new local meetup focused on connecting like-minded military real estate investors! My intent with this meetup is to support military members in their pursuit of real estate investing and financial freedom. This meetup is completely FREE with no sales pitch included. Just a space for everyone to come together, share their experience and knowledge, and foster mutually beneficial relationships. It will primarily be a time of networking and learning from each other, but depending on how the group grows, I may look at bringing in speakers for each meetup.

I'd like to make this a monthly meetup, so I need the BP communities help to spread the word to get this meetup started strong!

Future discussion topics include:

•       Basics of investing while in the military
  • Comparison of loan types
  • Investing strategies
  • Renting vs Buying in various markets
  • Investing while oversea’s
  • How to invest in real estate using your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP)
  • Finding a Property Manager when you PCS

About Me: I was born and raised in Upstate New York before going down to Oklahoma for college where I studied mechanical engineering while also participating in Air Force ROTC. After graduation, I commissioned into the Air Force and was stationed at Schriever AFB in Colorado Springs, CO. Then, at about my 3 year mark in the Air Force I had the opportunity to transfer into the United Stated Space Force. During my time in the Air Force and Space Force I worked as a satellite operator and commander for the GPS satellite constellation (2 SOPS). It was during my first few years in the military that I discovered real estate investing and it has changed my life since. In a few short years my wife and I have gone from 1 door to 12 doors with a balanced portfolio of long term rentals, medium term rentals and short term rentals (Airbnbs). We are well on our way to financial freedom and my desire now is to help others get there too!