All Forum Posts by: Joshua McMillion

@Dennis Guinto

In my opinion, I would REFI the property and most likely triple the cash flow from the home. It would be best to determine your goals and if this home is part of that plan. The WA home seems to be a good investment; it is appreciating, someone is paying for your mortgage, assuming you captured the depreciation on taxes, and it has the potential to cash flow. 

Whenever I decide this, I bounce the idea against my long-term goals. If the property is not a liability and will help me achieve my goals, I would keep it. For example, I just sold my LA property because the home was not appreciating at all, and I did not plan to scale in that market. On your other question, I would keep the property manager. You can try to manage the property from a distance, but why fix it if the systems are not broken? 

Sincerely, 

Josh   

@Charles Tucker Kimbrough

We share similar backgrounds, both academically with system engineering and professionally. The market is crazy right now, and it is causing several people to make poor decisions ranging from waving home inspections or paying well over fair market value. Just be patient, my friend, and try to view real estate investing through an abundance, not scarcity mindset. Deals will always come and go, but that is the beauty of real estate. There are countless strategies to employ across all markets. Eventually, with crystal clear criteria in place, a deal will come that meets your requirements. A quote I heard from David Green or Brandon Turner sums it up nicely, " learn to say no, so you can say yes when it matters." Stick to your guns, purchase for cash flow, not appreciation, build a team, and have fun!

Sincerely, 

Josh  

@Fernando Garcia-Martinez

I think this is a solid plan. Live with your parents while you are attending school. Start looking for residential multifamily up to a four-plex and use the VA loan to purchase and house hack. The great thing about the VA loan is it requires little money down. Once you have your cash reserves in place, you can jump in—no need to save the 20 or 25% required to purchase with a conventional loan. 

Sincerely, 

Josh

@Account Closed

Polo Vazquez hit the nai lon the head. If you are using the A loan and wanting to get into REI, then multifamily is the best way to get cash flow. You can purchase up to a four-plex, which included duplexes and triplexes. The other great thing about the VA loan is the capital gains tax. If you purchase a property and convert it to a rental once your contracted occupancy time is complete (1 year or greater), you have up to 15 years to sell the property before paying capital gains taxes, minus the period you lived in the home. 

If I have to do it all over again, I would house hack and find multifamily with a VA Loan. 

Best of Luck! 

Sincerely, 

Josh 

@Fahadbin Alam

Before you purchase a home or even start that process, you need to ensure your command will allow you to live off base depending on your rank. If you get the green light, I recommend finding residential multifamily and house hacking with your VA loan. If you go this route, please make sure you screen your tenant and don't just let your friends stay in the home. I have had soldiers do this, and it always turns out horrible.

Stay in touch, and if you need anything, don't hesitate to reach out.

Sincerely, 

Josh

@Jace Halttunen

That would be great! Thank you for the information. 

Sincerely, 

Josh

@Brad Scott

I'm glad I could help, please don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything! 

Sincerely, 

Josh 

@Bradley Auclair 

I would recommend finding a software program like rent ready or another system that allows you to scale and manage all aspects of property management. Also, read long distance real estate by David Greene. 

Sincerely, 

Josh 

@Brad Scott

Great question! I would start with reading the BRRRR book by David Greene. He essentially lays out the process of hiring a solid general contractor. When you interview the contractor, ask questions that centers around cost, schedule, and performance. Also, make sure that you shop around when it comes to pricing data to get quotes. That way, you can determine what rate is fair market value for labor. Material prices are a small price of the overall construction price, so I would recommend finding a contractor with systems in place to reinforce schedules. For example, maybe they use something like Monday.com to manage their jobs and personnel. Usually, most general contractors use subcontractors to complete specific assignments. For instance, my GC used granite and flooring companies on my last deal. If they do not have systems to map out all the moving parts, you will have schedule slippage. I would also ask if they make incentive-based contracts. You would create a contract for the GC that gives them a small fee if the job is completed to standard and on time. However, if they bust schedule, the cost is lost and each day over schedule results in a small deduction to the agreed-to price.

Hope that helped!

Sincerely, 

Josh 

@Jace Halttunen

Congratulations on creating a new business! I just started the process too. My wife and I just completed the company name and are now shifting to building a website. If you don't mind me asking, what software system are you using for a CRM? I was planning to go with Mailchimp and use Squarespace as the website creator.

Sincerely, 

Josh