All Forum Posts by: Okeoma M.

I am also trying to invest from afar and even though I have family in the area to view the property for me I recognize that they aren't investment minded so I am also working with a property management team. I spoke to a number of local investors and got recommendations for property management companies. After interviewing a few I picked one and they have been super helpful in the process. They are willing to send their agents out to take a look at the properties and let me know what they'd price it at and what type of work they think it would need to be move-in ready. That being said, I haven't actually bought my first property but I thought I'd share just in case it was helpful to you.  I feel that the only way to invest out of state is to have a strong and knowledgeable team on the ground so I would start there. 

Good luck!

 Hah. This made me laugh. In some ways I have the opposite problem, my husband is so frugal that he doesn't understand the benefits of spending money to make money. Congrats on the household budget! Ours is still a work in progress!!

I agree. Your comment kind of speaks to what I am afraid of,  he's generally supportive but I'm not sure he fully understands the sacrifice that may be involved and I don't want any resentment down the road. 

I like the idea of celebrating successes together! Hopefully we'll be having that nice dinner in the near future ;)

I am just getting started and so far my husband has been supportive but generally disinterested in my long-term real estate plans. I generally manage the finances in our family so it's not that unusual for me to be taking the lead.  I hope he'll just get more excited about the idea once the cash starts flowing ;). 

How much support are you getting from your spouse/partner? I know every marriage/relationship is different, but would be interested to hear if any one has any tips or warnings they'd like to share!

Just wondering, what kind of interest rate is your bank offering you if you don't have the cash reserves? Also, keep in mind that even if you can get the 20%, there's closing costs (which can be approx. another 1%-2% of the purchase price)  and the bank will typically want to see at least 6 months of cash reserves in your accounts, if the property is being financed as an investment property.  

It really helped me to back into the plan based on my goals. In other words,  start with what you want, which sounds like "7 figures in 7 years".  Is that in cash flow or money in the bank? Then figure out what a reasonable roi is in your target area for properties that are currently in your price range. How many would you have to buy or flip in the next 7 years? How are you going to finance house 1? How are you going to leverage that house to move on to house 2? etc etc. I think you get the point. That's how I started thinking about it and it helps to have a general road map, which I know will change as I learn more and more about this business.

Hope that helps. 

 I have not actually bought my first property, but I spent about a year learning and researching before I started making offers.  I also needed the time to set aside money for the purchase.  

Thanks for all the great advice. So far I've been diligent about sticking to my numbers, but keep getting beat by cash offers. Since I'm investing from out of state, I'd prefer to start with homes that are move-in ready. My strategy has been to look for (1) flips that have been on the market for awhile and (2) otherwise decent homes that have had frequent price reductions. My biggest fear is that I will get swept up in the process and overpay so it's nice to hear that others have overpaid and stayed in the game! 

I finally pulled the trigger and put in my first few offers but haven't had any luck yet. I'm feeling a little discouraged (don't worry, I'm no where near giving up!) and was just wondering 1) how many house did YOU look at before you put in your first offer? 2) how many offers did you put in before you secured your first house?