All Forum Posts by: Jacob Pereira

@Steve R., it's actually the 1-year change in number of people in distress that they're talking about, not the total number or per-capita number. One of my big problems with a lot of Wallethub's mass list business model is that they take some seemingly correlated (and often very poor) data and throw it together to publish a list, without really understanding the implications. 

Without knowing the details of this particular data, it seems to me that it's logical that in a town with a large service sector that was faring incredibly well last year and was hit hard by the pandemic that there would be a big increase, although my suspicion is it's from a low base, and mostly of those people who already didn't have a lot of financial assets. I think there's a lot more information needed to pull any kind of actionable conclusions from what was offered here.

Hey Paul,

I'm always happy to meet likeminded people. I used to be in tech as well (data science) and walked away about five years ago and never looked back. Want to grab a coffee sometime this week?

Jacob

I disagree with all the Realtors who say figure out where you want to live before you look for a Realtor. It takes us 5 minutes to set up a basic search on our respective MLS systems, and that will give you a much better understanding of the market you want to end up in. Just be open and honest, and once you've found some properties you like, bid on them. I can't speak for other markets, but I do know that in Austin quite a few of us Realtors who post on BP also actively househack. My advice is to pick one in each market who is receptive to setting you up with the understanding that you might decide to go to another market and get a search started. It's hard to make a decision without information.

I used my VA loan many years ago on a duplex in Austin. Knowing what I know now I definitely would've done the same thing you're doing and bought a fourplex instead. Like you said, the question is a bit vague, but I'll tell you my basic thoughts and it might help you narrow your scope:

1. Decide why are you doing this? To make money, of course, but really you're doing this to improve your life, perhaps soon, perhaps far into the future, and perhaps at retirement. If you want a decent life now, realize that most fourplexes are in rougher areas and are farther away from amenities, so look for areas where that's not the case. Any Realtor on BP would happily set you up on your MLS, so reach out to a few markets that you think might fit.

2. What can you get? Since there's no longer a limit on the VA loan, talk to your lender about what the max amount you can borrow is. This will definitely help you cross off some markets.

3. What amount of discretionary income do you want to have? From a purely financial standpoint, it makes sense to maximize your loan and buy right at the top of what they'll let you buy, but that might leave you very little to enjoy life.

I won't mention things like where can you find a job, do you have a support system, etc. because I'm sure you've already thought of that stuff. There are tons of factors to consider, so as you get farther along in the process, please post more so we can give more detailed advice/opinions.

@Ivor Grisel, nog en Nederlander! Leuk om even wat in het Nederlands op BP te kunnen zetten. Om @Bert Declercq z'n vraag te beantwoorden, mijn ouders zijn allebei van Nederland, dus wij spraken het thuis. Ik heb het nooit op school geleerd, dus Ik maak best wat spel en grammaticale fouten,  zoals jullie wel zien.

@Bert Declercq, it's called Estreno. Thanks for the colleague request, by the way. Spreek jij ook misschien Nederlands? 

I actually have a cousin in the Netherlands who helps European investors buy larger buildings in other countries, but his company's focus has always been on larger markets like NYC, Tokyo, LA, Shanghai, etc. I brought up Austin to him a few years back and he said it was a bit too small and cheap for what they're looking for. Might be time to revisit that conversation.

@Alia Liu, all of us who have posted on here, have an incentive to have you and everyone else believe that the Austin market will continue to grow, so I think it's not unreasonable to take our comments with a grain of salt. That said, as @Dan Burstain pointed out, the data backs up what we're saying. Additionally, I'm not sure if all of us are putting our money where our mouths are, but I do know that at least @Jordan Moorhead and I hold multiple properties, and we're both looking to acquire more in the near future.

I will offer one slight difference of opinion with the consensus here on the rental market; on the low end it is still very hot, but in the luxury category (think about $4500 a month and above) it appears to be slowing down. I attribute it to people downsizing due to the recession, but that's great for most small-time investors, who tend to be more in the $1200-2500 a month range.

I can always trust @Neil Narayan to quickly post the relevant local RE news here. Reddit used to be my go-to source for local news that affects our industry, but I might just make Neil my new primary source. Thanks Neil!

@Steve Morris, you're getting a lot of hate right now, maybe deserved, but also maybe not. Why not just post the deal here? There are plenty of people on this site (myself included) with hundreds of thousands of dollars looking for wholesale deals with some real meat on the bone. If you have a good deal, buyers are easy to find.