All Forum Posts by: Landon S.

John P.,
I'm not a banking regulations expert, but I have the best luck with local community banks when it comes to "showing them the numbers."
If you can present the numbers well and have a professional attitude they would be stupid not to lend to you right? Building relationships with bankers is key if you want to go the bank financing route in the future.
Best of Luck

Brady Hanna,
Like you stated, that is a "rule of thumb." Some markets are better suited for buy and hold and rent may be 2% of the purchase price. Instead of focusing on the 2% rule, I have seen many investors aim at recieving a certain amount of cashflow per unit/bed.
The first property I bought cashflows $400/month and is a 4-bedroom, so $100 per bed. Not a "cashcow", but a good starting point.
Best of luck to you.

Blake Jackson, you found a great source of knowledge by coming to BP. I just graduated with a degree in economics down here in KY. I've rented out to friends throughout college and am currently starting to focus on growing my student housing portfolio. Just soak up as much as you can, and stay in tune with your local market.
Best of Luck,
LS

Jon C, As a fresh college grad, the classes that continually challenged me to think about real estate in new ways were monetary economics (dry subject, but powerful to learn how money can work for you) and basic Economics classes. Business law won't hurt either. Good luck to you. Continual learning is a must to be successful in today's economy IMO. Read, read, then read some more.

Albert Tsang
How high is the demand? Are the units ALWAYS rented? I live on a street where a landlord (owns three on the street) told me he has never had a full vacant month in 18 years on one of his houses. I would say that is pretty high demand for student housing.
Vacancy rates at 5% or lower?
If you can find good students and the demand is constant, I think student housing is a great cash-flow option in certain areas.

Justin Case
I am holding right now, but will most likely cash out within the next few months. I agree that the market can not perform this way for ever, but when you look at the larger picture, where is the common man getting a return on his investment right now? Not at the bank with a CD. Many people are gambling on the market.
Fund managers are having a party with cheap money floating around everywhere as well.
I'm very conservative and young, so if I have to wait until the end of the year or into 2014 for a correction to buy back in that's OK with me. I entered the market in the middle of 2008, so I have done well, but I do not want to get too greedy.
Plus side, is we can use this "easy money" to our advantage too in real estate!

Simon Campbell Totally agree with you. If one is in college for the right reasons, you are studying a subject that interests you.
I studied economics, not because I wanted to crunch numbers or work for the government, but because I enjoyed it and they way it taught me business.
An internship I had this year has opened many doors for me, and luckily it's in an industry that isn't my strong suit...investment banking. I'm still learning every day!
I'm lucky to not have to pay rent since I rent out my house to friends, and I like the idea of that on a larger scale...haha

Justin Foster
I know everyone has to pay the bills, but do what you want to do. Don't take the first job you get offered just because of the money. Life is too short to work a 9-5 you hate in my opinion.
If that means making 10-20K less per year to start out, and you enjoy waking up in the morning and driving to work, in my book sounds like a winning deal.
I might add that I would take a job where you can continually learn and grow as a business man.
"The most expensive thing a man owns is his ego."
Best of luck

-Landon-

Jesse Holmes
My boss, I would consider a serial entrepreneur. He owns real estate, a marina/speedboat dealership, and has his hands in some other interesting ventures. He told me his biggest piece of advice is not to try and re-invent the wheel, just find people who already invented it and learn as much as you can from them. Also, do what makes you happy and do something where you can help others. (the money is just a bonus) I'm not ashamed to admit I don't have the idea for the next Facebook, but we can all continually learn and grow as men not only in our personally lives but also in business.

Nick K. Jesse Holmes

Econ is a love/hate major for most of my friends. I came into college as a finance major but switched to econ/finance after I took a few econ classes. Jesse: I'm glad you have an appreciation for the field, I think it should be a required class as part of a "liberal arts" education!

As for my future plans, right now I got hired on for the summer at the investment banking firm I interned with for the semester. I don't want to stay there forever, but I enjoy going into work and I'm learning a lot. The partners at the firm are also very well connected with local business owners (including real estate) and have been introducing them to me.

This summer I am traveling and enjoying life. In regards to real estate this summer, I want to do a small scale flip (if I find the right deal) or buy another rental off campus like the one I currently own. What about you guys?