All Forum Posts by: Noah Bacon

This post is largely not staying on topic anymore and we feel like the majority of points made on this subject are already posted. Please reach out to [email protected] if you have questions or comments.

Hi Carson!

Welcome to BiggerPockets and thanks for joining!

Here are some tips for networking and making the most of your account.

1) I'd fill out your profile fully before you do anything else! As that will at least help folks that you reach out to know that you are a real person, with a picture and professional bio. Particularly be sure to include your goals for real estate investing so that folks can help you.

2) Go to the Search bar, and look for some local members in your area! Reach out to a few of the folks, perhaps those with hundreds or thousands of posts in this forum, and connect. You can do that here.

3) Check out some of the local meetups that you can find in this forum! There are so many so be sure to filter by your location.

4) Review this comprehensive 64 page deck on the state of the 2023 housing market (in your resource page as a member of BiggerPockets!) for real estate investors put together by Dave Meyer and available for all BiggerPockets members.

5) Consider meeting with a few agents in your area even if you are just getting started! An investor friendly agent can do all sorts of helpful things, like setting you up with a search for properties or connecting you with folks who have recently done deals like the ones you want to do.

6) Consider analyzing a deal or two in your local market, just for practice, with a free use of our Rental Property Calculator (or other calculators).

Hope this helps! Please reach out with any questions you may have!

Hi Gary,

I love the idea, and am currently using the same strategy as you to put low down payments on a primary residence then move out to add another long term rental to my portfolio.

I always analyze my deals looking for a long term hold, so if you are comfortable in the short term not cash flowing or breaking even I would say keep acquiring with the long term outlook in mind. If you are going the conventional route, you will eventually payoff the PMI or look to refinance once you have enough equity in the property.

Cashflow is one of the most important factors when starting off, but based on your comfortability with the cushion from your home in Ohio, I would keep looking for ways to scale and gain equity faster with more properties in your portfolio. 

Hi Oscar, welcome to the BiggerPockets Community! 

You are in the right spot for real estate investing education and we have so many tools that will help you get started. I would highly recommend checking out our BiggerPockets Store where you will find a wealth of knowledge!

When I first started out, I was a very active listener to BiggerPockets The Real Estate Podcast and from there read Brandon Turner's Rental Property Investing and Scott Trench's Set For Life. 

This is a great idea, and will show your children first hand the value of real estate investing. Your concerns of increased risk with roommates around a college university are absolutely valid, but if your daughter will be living in the house I would assume you can trust her with general upkeep. After graduation, you will have 4 years of principal pay down from the students and will have more opportunity to sell, refinance, or pass the headache of renting rooms over to a property manager! 

When I was starting out, I also was most interested in the Buy and Hold Strategy as well. I would recommend surrounding yourself with additional strategies on how to acquire a property with the intent to hold it long term. 

Brandon Turner's Rental Property Investing would be great place to start. This book will show you different routes to acquiring your first property, and help you get more familiar with the language and terminology in real estate investing.

This is a great topic, and I currently am contemplating the same dilemma. I would start screening local PM's to your market, so when the time does come to move out and scale you will have one less thing to worry about. I always think to myself when an issue occurs at my rentals "paying 10% to a PM would be much easier than dealing with this on my own" and it always seems to be true. If you are content with the returns with a monthly management fee, I would absolutely say it's time to seek professional management. If you are using every last bit of your cashflow to scale to the next property, I would say keep self managing until you can make the exit into your next investment comfortably. 

If you are looking to stay away from the 3 you mention (Craigslist, Airbnb, or FB Marketplace) I would post that you have a room for rent all over your social media accounts. In my experience when renting out rooms, referrals are going to be your most reliable bet. 

2023: Starting out, Scaling, or Staying Put? How have your plans changed, or have they stayed the same since the beginning of the year? 

@Leah Deminski is the Pro Membership Master! Please reach out if you want to unlock these amazing perks as a Pro Member!