All Forum Posts by: Kevin Siedlecki

I might have misunderstood the underlying assumptions of the model, but a net cash flow of $1875 on a single-family home seems very high.  Remember that both the 50% rule and the 1% are just rules of thumb (by the way, the 50% rule does include maintenance and vacancy), and the 1% rule is what you want to get, not what you should expect to get on any given property. The better the neighborhood, the lower that percentage is. You are basically accepting a lower ROI in exchange for the peace of mind of having good tenants with good neighbors.

The thing you might be missing is this: Can you actually rent a $375,000 single family home for $3750 in your market? In my market, a $375,000 single family in an A neighborhood will rent for about $2000-2500 max. The low end of that would barely cover all the expenses after mortgage, tax, insurance, and maintenance - nevermind vacancy. That's why I invest in multi-family homes a few towns away from where I live: it's where my ROI is best. If you can really achieve the 1% rule on such an expensive single family, then go for it, but the apartment cashflow sounds more realistic to me.

Interesting situation.  Do they both meet all of your established criteria?  My question to the rest of the community based on this post is: can you discriminate because of occupation?  If the stripper meets your income, credit and criminal record criteria, can you legally say "no"?        

If BP has taught me anything that transfers to the world outside of real estate, it is to hate the word "guru" and trust no one who claims to have any "secrets" to success in anything. No one can speak to a room of 100+ people and give any meaningful advice beyond the very basics about anything.  Success in any endeavor is too individual.  I've been debating paying for the upgrade, but for now I'm still using it free and getting a lot of value!

It was slightly higher than my other loans, but still under 5%.  It's a local bank in my area; I don't know if they'll do business 3000 miles away.  Also I don't want to put any contact info for them on here without their permission.  Shoot me a message and I'll hook you up with them.

I have no clue about them, but if they are offering a "system" and guaranteeing they can get you that much money, my guess is they are not legit. Any "system" being offered by a group like that is probably of no more use to you than the simple rules of thumb that are helpful in a broad sense but not necessarily true for any individual investment: the 2% rule, the 50% rule, the 70% rule... hmm might be time to come up with more creative names for all these rules.  If I were you, I would poke around here a little more and see what you can learn before you spend any money on a course or "system."

I would invest in Worcester/Lowell and just screen your tenants carefully.  In good neighborhoods of major northeast cities it is very difficult to find properties that make sense for an investor just starting out.

I don't think anyone will benefit from another heartfelt "NO" here, but @Mat O'Grady can add some real-world experience to the conversation.  Care to share your recent story in this thread?

That is definitely one good way to get started!

@Philip Williams Good luck!  I also sat around wanting to start investing for years before BP lit a fire under me.  Sounds like it's time for you to take action!  

@Bill Gulley, you are right.  I was taking "actually pay less" in a more abstract way, but as I re-read the original post, I see it your way.