All Forum Posts by: Kevin Siedlecki

@Account Closed - I've never heard of changes to the property having any affect on the mortgage once it's closed. It is unlikely that you'll be able to convert a single family to a commercial property, but even if you did, I don't think you'd have to get a new mortgage. 

@Michael Dunn - lucky for you, you have some misunderstandings of income, expenses, and taxes that are going to make your tax situation a lot better than you fear. You'll definitely be able to claim a tax loss on that property, and the one you won't have rented until March.

Think of your investment portfolio as a business. You are only taxed on your profits. Your profits right now are $20/month plus the principal you pay on your loan, so instead of $6000 income, your actual income is around $500, maybe, the $20/mo plus the amount you've paid in principal. 

This particular case is going to be more complicated than that because the structure that is attached to your residence, so get a CPA to look at it and tell you how that will work. You're only going to be able to write off a portion of the taxes and insurance. 

The most important thing is to talk to a CPA to make sure you are categorizing your expenses properly. But the bottom line is you are going to pay way less in taxes than you think!

@Danny Rodriguez - Listen to the podcasts here to decide what strategy interests you most and fits your strengths best. You'll heard dozens of different strategies from hundreds of successful investors. Once you've narrowed your interests, you can start looking into books that will help you learn more about that specific strategy. I don't think anyone could recommend a book on REI in general. There's too many options for there to be a good comprehensive book on the whole subject.

@Brandy Vee - I ran into this issue this winter, too. I didn't even know it was a Hubzu property until I made an offer. They actually added a "technology fee" to my offer when they accepted it, even though I offered traditionally, realtor to realtor. In the end, I chose not to get the house. They were incredibly slow the whole way, because neither realtor had anything to do with it. The deal went through Hubzu and their brainless paper-pushers.

If highest and best period ended, whether on Hubzu or any listing, that means they had multiple offers and accepted one, so they will not accept an offer now. That said, you might put it in, so that they know if the deal they accepted falls through, you are interested.

@Account Closed - Listen to the podcasts. You will hear dozens of different strategies, and hundreds of ways to implement them successfully. Figure out what you think will work for your skill set and commitment level, then check out the books that guests recommend at the end of each show to learn more about your potential niches. 

@Linda S. - Yep - everyone has thought about doing it. TV makes it look so easy! 

@Harry Sevin - What exactly do you need help with? If you don't know, then I suggest reading the The Book on Rental Property Investing and The Book on Managing Rental Properties, and listening to every podcast with Mulit-family in the title or description, then coming back to the forums with more specific questions. 

@G Pyros - I don't think anyone here would answer that it is a hobby. However much you enjoy it, you have to run your real estate investing as a business. There is a lot of money at stake, both on the positive side for growing wealth, and the negative side of big repairs, lost rent, and liability for lawsuits.

For me, investing takes up about as much time as a hobby, but my rental portfolio runs as a business. If you treat investing like a hobby, you're probably going to get burned. Golf is a hobby, because if you don't feel like going one day, you can stay home and read a book instead. If you are investing with that mindset, something is going to go wrong for you, either a tenant not paying rent, a repair that needs to be made, or a personal injury lawsuit because of a repair you didn't feel like making at the time. 

Bottom line, investing can be enjoyable and only take up as much time as a hobby, but it's not as flexible. If you are needed on a project, you can't decide you don't feel like dealing with it that day. So you either need to be available all the time of put systems in place for the portfolio to run without you. Either way, you have to have a business mindset to have any kind of success, and to avoid potentially costly mistakes.

@Liz Cole - I wrote a 4-part blog series about my first purchase that might help! Take a look:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/6815-a-few-yea...

Hope it helps!

@Joshua Wilson. 

2) I hope I've misunderstood the plan, because if I understand correctly, I think both "deals" are potential disasters. Do I understand correctly that you're going to pay $1650 plus taxes and insurance to live there, and then hope to refinance when the 5 year term is up? What do you mean by "lease" with 4k down and the same monthly payment. 

4) What is your exit strategy? You are paying high end market value on a single family house that needs $10k in work, and is too expensive to cash flow as a rental. What is the long-term plan?