All Forum Posts by: Ryan P. Kotschedoff

@Tyler Erickson

I am only 16 years old and I am actually quite excited that generation Z will most likely rent more often than not. This will open up opportunities for more rental properties as an investor which will lead to an increase in cash flow amongst properties due to a lower demand in purchasing a home and a higher demand in renting. It could lower the home costs as well due to a lower demand in buying. But the impact of this won’t be substantial, but rather a small change in my opinion of course.

@Jennifer McMurray

Quick and easy! Nice.

I think the photos are okay, but I feel like they could be a little bit better. Also you should not have to hire someone to take photos of your home. Either your agent should hire someone or the agent should take the photos themselves. You shouldn't have to go through the work of taking photos because that is part of the job for the agent. Anyways, I think the photos are fine but it wouldn't be a bad idea if your agent hired a professional.

What year was the home built because asbestos is always something to look out for. Also, make sure the foundation is solid if you can (No cracks in the wall, ceiling, flooring etc.) I feel like those two are the bigger things that get people in there first deal. Lastly, I would always plan to go over budget on the rehab because it is very common to underestimate the cost. Can you provide any pictures of the house for us to look at because that could give us an idea on the rehab cost as well? The numbers you provided sound promising just make sure the property is mainly cosmetics that you need to change and not internal issues. Good luck!

Thomas does make a good point because you will need to qualify for some loans so having a job the pays is important in some cases. I think finding a job before you invest is not crucial if you have some money in the bank or have something to fall back to if the investment goes wrong. Also the chances of making good money your first year as an agent is very minimal so that will be tough, but things always get better as an agent the longer you stick to it. Remember, 87% of agents quit there first year because of this reason, so its important to get through the hardest year of being an agent, which is the first one. (If you plan on being an agent anyway)

I think becoming and agent is a fantastic option. There is so much money and experience that comes from working as an agent that will help you invest in real estate. It also is useful to have your real estate license because I find it is easier to invest and the access to the mls is useful. Also, you don't have an agent taking your commission. As for investing, I don't think you need to wait until employment. (Maybe investing will become a full time job at some point). I think one of the best ways to get started is with hard money lending. Hard money lenders allow you to invest with confidence because they look at the deal as well, so you have a second person looking over your deal. They won't give you the money in less they are confident in the deal that you presented them with. Best of luck!

I recommend diversifying the cash a little bit. You could place some money in some index funds (especially right now). Also as you mentioned putting some money in a savings account works just find for building up that cash in a safe and guaranteed manner.

I have found that it is really tough to find another investor who will want to buy a single mobile home. It is possible to maybe sell it off to a new investor who is looking to get started in mobile home investing to set themselves up for buying an entire park late on, but it is still really tough to sell single trailers. Could you maybe provide some numbers on the trailer that we can have a look at?

It sounds like you have some good experience in real estate already which is great. If you want to flip homes I would recommend buying homes in the "wedge". Basically this is when you buy a house at the median cost of a home in your area. For instance, I live in southern California and the median home price that people buy is approximately $600,000 which is a very expensive market for flips. But somewhere like Northern Las Vegas has a median home price of around $300,000. I would buy the homes that cost the median price because that is where you will find the most buyers and the easiest buyers to deal with. The holding cost is more expensive in the wedge then lets say a $80,000 home, but you can get a much bigger return on wedge homes and they sell much quicker. It seems like you have the portfolio to deal with the holding cost as well. Good luck!

It is always good to diversify because you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket. From my personal experience I have found that putting money in 401k's and or other index funds is a great way to save money for future investments in real estate. I would recommend index funds because obviously pulling money out of a 401k early will bring federal income tax so I think index funds is the more promising route until you feel that you have acquired enough cash to put money down on a house or MF. Stocks do not produce as much of a return as real estate does so keep that in mind but real estate is a high risk high reward type situation. Overall I think its good to invest in multiple options for diversification in case something goes wrong, but real estate will and should be the first priority of all the investments especially when starting out.