All Forum Posts by: Rob L.

Epic list, thanks! 

I think Troy has a great point here Francis. You should figure out the next step you need to do in order to flip a property and the office stuff will come in due time. 

But, to answer your question I think your better off using google voice and getting a free number from them. No need to tack on unneeded monthly expenses. 

I would skip the office too, I have a work at home setup that works great. We do property management without an office....it saves us overhead and allows us to transfer the savings to our clients. If we ever need to meet with the client we either meet at a coffee joint or we go to their house/office etc. 

Hey @Account Closed , we use grasshopper for our business line but you can also get free numbers from google as well. It really depends on the type of business your starting. If your just wholesaling and sending mailers then a free google voice number may be best option but if you want something more professional then grasshopper or another service may be best. 

As far as a fax number goes, that's a dying service but if you want one most phone services have fax options as well. I know ours comes with the monthly fee, someone can fax something to our 888 #. 

@Brandon Schlichter I had to double check your purchase prices on your two deals, 20k, and 15.5k....you couldn't buy a burnt down shed for that amount out my way. I know your putting in more money after the fact for rehab but its still crazy to see the price differences. 

Either way it was a great read, good luck in 2015. 

@David Cohen that's a great question. I have wondered about that a lot recently as well. I was thinking about the current market and how lucky we are to have 100% occupancy in all of our properties. The crazy thing is its been like that for a couple years straight. In a perfect world it would be like that forever, but we all know when it rains it pours...so you need to be ready for those potential storms. 

I've heard people say you should have between 3-6 months in reserves for rainy days. So if you have 10 properties you need enough to cover the mortgage, insurance, taxes etc for everything for 3-6 months. That's a lot of dough...

I think if any investor has that amount of money in liquid assets then they are properly leveraged. In the end its probably whatever you need so you can sleep good at night. 

Good read @Account Closed , thanks for the link. I noticed the state I live in, Massachusetts was red on the map. I believe it because of the higher cost of living and taxes. 

Hi @Stephanie Birkhimer , welcome to the site. Like Brett mentioned this site is the best resource you can find on real estate...and its all free. 

House hacking is the way to get started so your spot on about buying a multi and renting out the other units. I wish I started out that way....my first investment was a condo and although I have it rented now its by far our worst performing property. I try not to think about the deal I could of got if I bought a 3-4 unit place first. But, you live and learn. 

I invest in Haverhill/Lawrence and I'm pretty familiar with Wilmington so let me know if you have questions. You may have trouble getting a multi their now as inventory is tight and it may be difficult to find a place where the numbers make sense but its not impossible. 

Welcome to the site! 

@Nicole Brush Welcome to BP, great to see another local investor on here, I'm also out of Haverhill. I think @Raj Gandhi & @John B. said it best. Since you can qualify as a first time home buyer you can get into a property for 3.5% to 5% down depending on the type of mortgage you go with. You could buy up to a 4 plex and rent out the other units essentially living for free. Its a sacrifice moving from a single family home to living in a 3 or 4 unit property so that's something you should consider. 

Were actually looking to do the same thing right now. We have other rentals but were looking for a 2 family in Bradford that we can live in and rent out the other unit. 

I think your first step should be to determine if you want to buy a place and owner occupy or if you want to buy something and rent out all the units. This decision will effect the amount you need to put down, the ROI, and location. Once you make that decision then you can start working on your investment criteria.

Good Luck! 

I read online that its only for single family homes as well. Before you could go up to 4 units if it was owner occupied so that takes out anyone trying to house hack. 

Hey @Anna Lacy  , I used Listsource for a mailing I did and I would use them again. Not sure which of the two is the most cost effective but I learned of listsource from other people on BP and It was pretty easy to use and wasn't that costly.