All Forum Posts by: Jacob Pereira

I'm in the same boat, Eric. I've used a few, but none that I'm totally happy with yet. let me know if you find a good one and I'll do the same.

@ryan y.

Did you ever get this done? I'm considering doing the same thing in some of my Austin rentals and I'd love to see the results of someone else who's tried it

It's super-easy, but it's messy and you'll want to patch and texture the results, because it won't be perfect. If you don't have to worry about the flooring or furniture you could scrape most rooms in an hour or less.

Make sure your home is a later model do you don't have to worry about lead or asbestos. Otherwise, leave it to the professionals; saving a few hundred dollars is not worth your health.

Nice chart @David Ivy!

Does the pricing data show a similar tend? I'd expect it to be much flatter, but is there at least a slight bump in pricing in the spring and summer months?

Real estate is rarely the preferred investment if it's not leveraged. At that point, you may as well put your money in the stock market and expect 7-8% growth (based on historic averages) with none of the work. Some of the biggest advantages that US real estate offers is that loans are highly subsidized by the government.

The details have already been covered above, so I'll spare you that, but think of this; to get 100 units in 10 years without leverage would require you to earn a LOT of money (back of the envelope, let's say units average 100k a piece, you'd need 10M), but with the right lenders, you could probably get up to 100 units with only about $1M of your own money on the line.

How about Elgin? I just loaned some money to another investor for a few properties down there and it seems to be just starting to hit that growth phase that most of Texas is experiencing. Provided growth continues, I'd say it's a good bet.

I often hear this argument about the Austin market, but I still see plenty of good, cashflowing properties in Austin. Have you looked at some of the fourplexes in the 78724 area? You can still buy a building for less than 300k and get close to $4000 a month in rent there. I don't see the rent going down anytime soon, either.

I've also recently bought property in 78741; it's up-and-coming, but there's definitely a profit to be made if you buy right.

To be fair, I only started in 2013, so it may just be that I missed the good times and have always had to work a little harder for returns, but I'm fairly happy if I can make 2-3 times the cost of mortgage, taxes, and insurance. Maybe there are better returns to be had outside of town, but I'm planning on sticking with mostly Austin properties for the near future.

Hi Thomas,

I actually lived in Nyon for a few years as a kid, and I still consider Switzerland the most beautiful country I've ever been to. That said, my parents did lose a lot of money in the Swiss RE market (although they attribute most of it to Swiss laws being unfavorable to foreign owners).

As you are already aware, there's a glut of information on BP for how to invest in the US market. Keep reading up and educating yourself. The high salaries in Switzerland, paired with your marketable skills should allow you to have quite a bit of purchasing power in most US markets. 

In my opinion, you should try to find a local partner to help you navigate RE here. There's no substitution for boots on the ground, although I imagine the tax situation could get very complicated, depending on how you structure a partnership. I'm not looking for a partner or anything, but I'd be happy to give my thoughts on any properties you're looking at in my local market (Austin TX), if that's one of the places in which you have an interest.

Looking forward to reading more from you in the future.

Hi BPers,

I recently decided to (semi) retire and left my W-2 job, but now I'm suddenly confronted with a number of good deals that I can no longer get Fannie/Freddie mortgages for. On top of that, I have a bunch of properties that have a lot of equity in them, but I'm having a hard time unlocking it. Any advice from others who left the W-2 world?

Hi Tony,
Is your eventual goal to become an agent and you're trying to earn money to go that route? If so, there are easier ways to make the $500 necessary to get your license. I'd recommend just getting a regular job which will also help sustain you while you're trying to earn your first few comission checks. To be a good wholesaler takes a lot of time, experience, and dedication, and if your ultimate goal is to become a realtor, it'll likely slow you down, especially in a hot market like SA. Good luck either way.