All Forum Posts by: Ryan Blackstone

Your loan is freaking amazing! Your loan may require you to live in the home for a year so it seems like you have 6 more months. If that is the case, then I would do a heloc if you have a deal on the hook. I wouldn't refinance and then be stuck living there if you want to grow. HELOC and FHA loan on a house-hack duplex will let you scale up fast. The banks hit me with having to bring 15% down on my second deal, because the properties weren't 50 miles away. I would check your lender that they wont ding you for getting another personal loan. However, it seems like you have enough equity to maybe put 20% down on your next deal. No matter how wrong it is, I have been seeing lenders use the zestimate as the value of your house for a HELOC without getting an official appraisal.

@Rachel St. Clair Congrats on jumping in. My advice is network, and find one off-market strategy and stick with it for at least three months. Also, know what you are looking for so that when it does come across your eyes, you can pull the trigger fast.

@Tucker Cummings a side of fries? Man that seems like a great deal!

We are not seeing those deals here in Fayetteville, AR. You would have to take out debt. If you bought something like that, it would have major issues, and be a headache. Honestly, it helped with my wife when I started talking about investing as a "safety net" and not "freedom." That rang more true to her. She also started to see the difference between good debt and bad debt.

@Account Closed I have never gone through the process, but if I had the opportunity, I would think $65 is a cheap amount for the experience. 

As far as content, I follow on youtube: Graham Stephan, Meet Kevin, Ryan Pineda, Matt McKeever, Chandler Smith, Ben Kinney, Investagirlbrit and Gabe DaSilva. I follow Dustin and Henry on instagram. As far as local market education. that would be NWA REI.

@Rod Menocal Dawn M. is correct. Colby Bowers hosts a Zoom meetup with VPIG. It isn't Arkansas specific, but he invests in Arkansas, and there are other investors there. We haven't really had a BP meetup since covid. We typically have around 25-30ppl show up, and we can't meet anywhere with that size of group yet. Hoping that 2021 will be different. 

You are doing all the right steps. You are actually in a good position. Some people have had tenants living in their place for 5 months. The landlord went through the eviction process, and it still took them 5 months to get them out. Most leases, like said before, have an abandonment clause. Follow that, and have it all documented and you will be fine. It is your choice whether you want to take them to small claims court or not. Document and save it all in a file. You could also move the personal items somewhere for 30 days. If they don't pick it up, donate it to good will. However, it is good to move it out of the house so that you can get started in getting it rented again. 

@Jason Cote. If you are analyzing deal by just the rent potential and the mortgage amount, then yes there are deals out there. However, often times when you add in Cap. Ex, maintenance ex, vacancy, and Property Management (assuming you don't want to manage for your whole life), then the numbers start to not make sense. I like the comment about Gold under your feet, and about how hard is it to get it out.... Just like gold there are places to find more gold than others. The factor is are you willing to go get that gold if it costs you "x" amount of time and "x" amount of money. Don't get me wrong. If you are looking to just make 4-5% on your money, then grab one off the shelf. That is what a lot of California investors are doing in NWA. However, most people in BP are looking to grow their wealth more than 4-5%. They also count in expected expenses like mortgage, and unexpected expenses like vacancy. Hope this helps. I am a local investor and agent in NWA. 

I unfortunately have to say that my goal was to purchase 3 duplexes this year. I have made the money to purchase those, but have not executed on a deal. Several offers.... just haven't gotten any accepted.