All Forum Posts by: Mark Sossoman

Welcome fellow member of the NC BP Newbie Class of 2015! Let me know if you ever head up my way to Asheville.

Welcome fellow member of the North Carolina BP Class of 2015! Let me know if you're ever up my way in Asheville.

I am moving about an hour away from where I currently live. There's a good chance I'm going to be holding onto my current house and turning it into a rental. I guess that would make it my first investment property (yeah, I'm that new). I'm planning on investing in buy and hold rentals where I'm moving to, which is in the same state (NC), but 2 counties away from where I live now. I also have an interest in buy and hold investing in South Florida (Broward/Dade). 

So my question is, do I need to find a separate RE attorney for each of those 3 locations. I'm pretty sure the FL issue is a definite "yes", but I'm not so sure about the 2 separate NC locations/markets.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice!

~ Mark

Thanks to all for the advice. Truth be told, my wife was told by someone in the finance department where she works that I should consider becoming a cfp. The person who gave the recommendation has no knowledge of RE investing, and I was never seriously considering it. I actually only posted the question so that I could show my wife some responses like the ones you've all given. So again, thanks for the helpful suggestions. I start real estate school next weekend. Super excited!

Yes, but I'm no longer considering it, and I was actually never seriously considering it. I think I mentioned to you @Steve G. that I'm going to be getting my real estate license by the end of November, and then working as an agent as I learn all that I can about real estate in general as well as investing. CFP is off the table.

I am a public school teacher of 17 years who will soon be moving to Asheville, NC. My family and I currently love living near Morganton, NC (approx 1 hour east of Asheville), but we also couldn't be more excited about our upcoming move. My wife, who is a former teacher herself, recently started a new career in Human Resources. About a month ago, she landed a fantastic job in Asheville, which is the reason for the move. We have always loved Asheville and knew that we wanted to move there someday, but we figured it would be much later down the road.

Our long term plan has been to transition us both out of our teaching careers, and into ones that will provide more financially stability and opportunities for our family. Through much research, I have decided that real estate seems to be one of the most financially viable options for me that wouldn’t involve going back to college for a new degree. I have enrolled in a pre-licensing course that I will attend on the weekends from mid-October through mid-November that will allow me to continue teaching while I become a licensed agent. Once I have obtained my license and we have found a house in Asheville, we will be moving and I will start working initially as an agent. Long term, I hope to either continue working as an agent as I gradually become involved in investing, or to possibly even become a full-time investor at some point in the future.

I attended the September CREIA – Carolina REIA – meeting in Asheville, and I'm planning on becoming very involved with that organization. If there's anyone in the Asheville area who happens to read this post and would be willing to pass along any advice/suggestions/tips, or would be interested in meeting to discuss the Asheville flipping, wholesaling, rental markets, I would welcome any and all of the above!

To touch on the property management topic that both Ronan and Nick mentioned, all the info that I've read or heard about on the Bigger Pockets podcasts points to making sure you budget for property management costs even if you plan to manage your rentals yourself. That way you don't box yourself in to always managing yourself in case there's a reason in the future you want to turn your properties over to an outside manager. For example, once you transfer to a university, your classes and your travel time between school and your rental property may prove to not make self-management worth it. So find out what it would cost to pay a property manager in your area and make sure you will have positive cash flow even if you have to pay for management. Disclaimer - I have no rental experience myself. I've only learned this from listening to the podcasts and reading BP blog articles. Good luck!

Does anyone have any recommendations as to whether becoming a certified CFP would A - be helpful, and B - be worth the cost and time (approx. 6 classes over 1 year at $4000 total)? I am wanting to get into RE investing part-time to start out, and possibly full-time in the future. I am currently exploring the option of getting my RE agent/broker license in order to help me break into investing (I'm currently a public school teacher), but I had someone recently suggest that I should become a certified CFP instead. Any thoughts?