All Forum Posts by: Kenneth Hynes

@Nick Lee @Pyrrha Rivers 

I am active duty as well, but have not invested in the 30K market yet.   Lee your plan is good but really believe you must know the area i order to build your systems.  I am a long distance landlord in 4 different cities, but was able to build contacts and know the area because i lived there, and when I PCS'ed I put those systems into place (PM, maintenance, banking)  so  it helps alot to  know the area 

ken

@Sean Mcguire 

First welcome to BP.  It is a great site for netwroking and information.  For your primary residence .  @Nathan Brooks  and @Laura Williams have some good tips above.   One tip that I picked up here is while you are starting out and saving money for your investments, start driving / visiting areas you would like to invest in so you get a feel for prices, rents , house conditions etc, and visit and look at lots of homes and open houses so your eye get used to looking at repairs / upgrades that are normal in a particular market. I really dont think you can look at too many properties, and the more you look, the more knowledge you will gain for that market.  

I have also done the primary into a rental several times in my mile (My job moves me arounf alot) so another tip is look at houses through the eyes of your target tenants. If you want families in your SFR, follow the tips of Laura above

ken

Welcome @James Judge 

BP is a great resource. Full of great tips and reads. There is a alot of great information and contacts that also do the buy and hold / rehabbing strategy you are looking to do.  One tip that I picked up here is while you are starting out and saving money for your investments, start driving / visiting areas you would like to invest in so you get a feel for prices, rents , house conditions etc, and visit and look at lots of homes and open houses so your eye get used to looking at repairs / upgrades that are normal in a particular market. I really dont think you can look at too many properties, and the more you look, the more knowledge you will gain for that market

Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast- A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice. And you get the benefit of having over 80 past ones to catch up on.

Read some of these books ; personal favorites are the McAvoy books

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/04/14/best-real-estate-books/

Welcome @De Juan Washington 

  As stated above , BP is a great resource and a great way to network in your area and learn about the investing side of real estate.  

Check out the freeBiggerPockets Podcast- A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice. And you get the benefit of having over 80 past ones to catch up on.

Read some of these books ; personal favorites are the McAvoy books

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/04/14/best-real-estate-books/

@Chance Cooper 

Are you  going to use a PM to manag your property when you PCS?  If so  have a year to interview / check some of the local ones out

For the unit; echo what Prashant said.  If you are in NC, then check out the A/C as well.  Also check to see what utilities have to kept in L/L name versus tenatns name.  Had a small issue with my property in Colorado when I PCS'ed.

Only other thing I do is to have a service come in and do a deep clean after teh movers have moved everything out.  This includes a steam clean of the carpets ; sort of sets the standards for teh tenants when they move in

@Jennifer Casey 

Welcome Jennifer .  

Welcome to BP.  BP is a great resource. Full of great tips and reads. One tip that I picked up here is while you are starting out and saving money for your investments, start driving / visiting areas you would like to invest in so you get a feel for prices, rents , house conditions etc, and visit and look at lots of homes and open houses so your eye get used to looking at repairs / upgrades that are normal in a particular market. I really dont think you can look at too many properties, and the more you look, the more knowledge you will gain for that market.   I am relativley new to the WA market myself, so still looking to build my team as well.  

Read some of these books ; personal favorites are the McAvoy books

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/04/14/best-real-estate-books/

So your mortgage balance is $224 K and you believed it valued at $190K  , so you are 34K underwater ?   What are the rest of your expenses and your monthly cash flow?  you may have to talk to you r bank about doing a short sell and getting out from your current housing predicament 

@Joseph Blauwiekel 

What other costs are you figuring into your total befoer you get to your cash flow ? you have to take into account both your fixed (PM, Insurance, taxes, are you paying any utilities?0 as well as the variable ( Vacancy, maintenance , CAP EX repairs ) that wont show up every month but you stll must bidget for. There are some good REI spreadsheets in teh file section that can help you analze properties

@Jason K. 

Welcome Jason K -  How long have you been in WA?

BP is a great resource that you can utilize.  Check out the Learn tab above for the podcasrs.  Also there is a blog post abotu the best RE Investing books out there  that is worth checking out.

@Alexander Johnson 

Welcome Alex, even though you are a squid.....

BP is a great resource. Full of great tips and reads. One tip that I picked up here is while you are starting out and saving money for your investments, start driving / visiting areas you would like to invest in so you get a feel for prices, rents , house conditions etc, and visit and look at lots of homes and open houses so your eye get used to looking at repairs / upgrades that are normal in a particular market. I really dont think you can look at too many properties, and the more you look, the more knowledge you will gain for that market.  This also helps you out when you PCS into a new area.  Any idea where your first station will be 

Check out the freeBiggerPockets Podcast- A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice. And you get the benefit of having over 70 past ones to catch up on.

Read some of these books ; personal favorites are the McAvoy books

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/04/14/best-real-estate-books/