All Forum Posts by: Kelsey VanSleen

I have been investing with Arrived Homes since their inception (September, 2021). I just made my fourth investment with them this morning. 

So far I am very happy with them. My first investment was $500 on a home in Charlotte, NC. Arrived distributes the rental income quarterly. So far I have received $25.50 in income for that property. They estimate my share of the property to currently be worth $657.50. 

Pros:
1. Low initial investment amount ($100 is the minimum purchase)
2. High cash-on-cash return
3. Truly passive income - you make your investment and they handle the rest
4. The company only buys nice, newer homes
5. Easy to diversify
6. Good way to test the waters of an area to purchase homes in before committing to buying property there on your own

Cons:
1. New company with no real track record
2. No control over the investment - they decide when to sell the property. They say their plan is to hold the properties for 5-7 years
3. Currently there is no way to cash out of your investment early. So your cash is locked up until they decide to sell the property
4. Inventory seems to sell pretty fast. So if you find a home you want to invest in, you have to jump on it before it's gone

I plan on continuing to invest with them. I'm essentially investing in one house per quarter. I might double that in 2023. 

I Have been in Arrived for about a year. I have gotten dividend payments as promised. I like the investment model and the platform is nice and clean and seems like they offer very nice properties. Have you invested since your post?

After investing for a year, what were your returns? Just found out about Arrived and curious if it's a good way to diversify my portfolio.

I don't think being an agent will help you achieve your goals. I think managing contractors or flipping might be a better option.

@Kelsey VanSleen

One thing to consider is you will have to be an agent for two years an establish your business before you can qualify mortgage loan. There's ways to get around it if you have someone else to but on the loan or do owner financing. But it does bring challenges for helocs or refinances on real estate when you have not shown you make money from real estate yet.

Being an agent is worth it for investing in real estate only if you help others buy and sell real estate too. Getting the license only for your own real estate investments is not worth it in my opinion. 

@Kelsey VanSleen, "I also have changed jobs a lot in my life", to me, this is a bit of a red flag. If you're going to pursue sales, you better be in it for the long run. Becoming a full-time real estate agent means running a business 24/7. It takes years to develop a pipeline of clients. David Greene, host of the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast likes to say, "As an agent, you're never working, but also always working." This couldn't be more true. What is a day in life like as an agent? 80%-90% of your day will be spent prospecting for business. Needless to say, no one is going to give you their business right off the bat. To acquire someone as a client, you need to first add value to them in some form or fashion, then and only then, is it appropriate to ask for their business. I highly recommend that your read "SOLD" by David Greene to understand the concept of the sales funnel and how important prospecting is. I can't speak on behalf of the COS market, however, I'm almost certain that every market across the U.S. is saturated with agents. The successful agents in the industry share 80%-90% of the business while the "unsuccessful" agents fight over the remaining 10%-20%. That is the pure reality of our industry. Your first year will most likely be slow. In year two, you'll acquire some business. In year three, if you make it this far, you'll know for certain whether or not you'll remain in the industry. Other honorable book mentions are "SCALE" by David Greene, "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" by Gary Keller, "The ONE Thing" by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, and "Pitch Anything" by Oren Klaff. As a side note, while it's not impossible, it's a lot harder to finance deals as a 1099 self-employed individual than W2 employed. What is your current profession? 

@Dan McDermott welcome to CO Springs! My wife and I have been house hacking in the area for about 5 years now and I truly think it is one of the best ways to get started. Location wise, it really depends on your overall strategy and comfort level, but overall I think there are 3 great areas to house hacking in CO Springs - central downtown, Old Colorado City, and Ivywild. All 3 areas have homes zones for multi-family (AKA you can convert a SFH into more units) which make them great for house hacking. Additionally each of these areas is growing and in the path of progress. Of theses areas mentioned, Ivywild is the area that is south of downtown like you mentioned, and is pretty safe. My first house hack was in this area. However, if you go 5-10 min further south you would hit B Street, a notorious street that wouldn't be as safe. This is where an agent more familiar with the downtown area can help you out because there are similar cases in other parts of the Springs as well. There are other places that you can house hack that would feel more suburban, but due to zoning you would need to get a little more creative with the approach.

Hope that helps a little bit! It’s hard to wrap up each area in a short message so feel free to reach out if you have more specific questions. I specialize in helping people invest and house hack in the area and would be happy to assist you in any way possible. Best of luck!

How about a cash out refi? Would that be better to do than a HELOC?