All Forum Posts by: Phillip Dwyer

@Kieran Dowling. Here's a list of metrics to use as a gauge:

1.  Days on market trends. Is it taking longer to rent out houses now than previously?

2.  Absorbtion rates.  How many active listings versus how many rented last month.  This will tell you how many months of supply there is in the market currently.

3.  Prices.  Are they going up or down?

Some markets have seasonality to factor into the indicators above.  

Some of this will depend upon what your state licensing board requires.  Other parts will depend on the business model of the brokerage and how the owner or owner/broker decides to assign responsibilities.  

400-500 credit score is horrible.  Run away.

You can get a mortgage loan as a business owner.  They underwrite things a little differently, but it's doable.  So figure out ways that you can level out the seasonality some.  You're probably a couple years out from being able to qualify, but it will probably take that long to build up cash anyway.  When you're about half way towards saving enough for a down payment, reach out to a lender to have them assist you with getting your ducks in a row.  Keep in mind that they will be looking at your tax returns.  Often business owners make the mistake of writing off too many expenses to save on taxes, but then they don't show enough income to qualify for a loan.  It's worth chatting with a lender and your accountant early, so that you don't make the same mistakes.

@Aj Fortson It sounds like you may have already come up with your income generation plan:  taking over your dad's lawn business.  Maybe focus on building that business up first, which will help scratch the entrepreneurial itch you have.  If you scale that business, you'll likely be able to spin off cash that you can use to start investing.  Since some of your clients could potentially be investors, you could start developing some relationships there to assist you down the line.  Maybe there's also a way for you to add services to the business, so that you can generate money all year (think snow removal, ect).  

@Jessica Carcamo welcome to the community!  Pick a topic, dive into the posts, and ask questions.  Most people on the site are happy to offer insight.  Not all opinions have experience behind them, so do take that into consideration when reading.  Good luck!

@Xavier A. Malave Each state is different.  In Nevada for instance, the state requires a real estate license and a property management permit in order to manage property for others.  Check with your state real estate governing body to find out what they require.  If you have not managed property before, I recommend working for a property management firm first to gain some experience.  Also check out your local chapter of NARPM if you plan to manage houses.  

@Stuart Bartle welcome to the RE investing game.  I still have clients buying in Vegas, but it's not as common due to cashflows being hard to come by with the traditional 25% down financing.  

@Paul Welden brings up an important issue.  What is the highest and best use of the property?  It might not be residential.  Also as others have suggested, you need to find out what the current zoning will allow you to do.  

One other point to bring up is that even if FHA will lend on the mixed use as others have said, you still will need to occupy one of the units as your primary residence. Make sure you factor that into the plan.

@Deepu. Pillai I couldn't say.  That will be driven by local market factors.  An appraiser would try to find both sale and rent comps that have similar obsolesce to extract the data.  You can do the same thing depending upon what data is publicly available in your market.