All Forum Posts by: Steve B.

I've been there man! I hate to say it but Than Merrill and everybody else doing this crap loves people with this story. I went to the 3-day thing a couple of months ago, I did not return after the first day. No I did't get e refund, I didn't care. These guys are outstanding storytellers and have some of the best marketing that I have ever seen. To the untrained eye its good knowledge to have but read between the lines on what they are saying and how its presented and the entire seminar is just one big push for their mastery program. Starting at only $35k!! Max out your credit cards and sign up! Ummm no. And of course to succeed you must use their website hosting service, their direct mail service, their private lenders, etc etc. 

You paid the money might as well go get what you can out of it, it will give you at least a general understanding of the world of investing. Don't fill out the card that they will hand out to "interview" you and "hand-pick" you for their coaching program. Take notes, network with other people, read all the horror stories on BP about spending money on their crap systems, and start reading the biggerpockets forums and blogs and listen to every podcast. I've learned more from doing that than I would have ever learned from some guru.

Senior year of college focus on that and graduate so you can get a job and have money again! That degree can never be taken away from you.

@Steven Wiggs

Welcome to Biggerpockets! Congrads on getting stationed in Colorado Springs, I never got that chance when I was in the Army. You are on the right track to buy property and keep it as a rental. Since you have a few months, I would start with finding a competent property manager for when you leave. I know this sounds backwards, but managing a house yourself from thousands of miles away after you move can be a nightmare, so can having a bad property manager that you hastily selected last minute! Search BP, use google, or simply call rental listings on craigslist. Most mom and pop landlords have terrible craigslist ads, the good property managers will have very elaborate and detailed listings with good pictures. Call the base housing office and see who they recommend and who to stay away from. There is lots on info on here on what kind of questions you should ask. Obviously you won't need them for a few years but you want to make sure theres someone there you can count on once you do leave. Most important is they should answer the phone during business hours, or at least call you back promptly! If they don't, your house will sit vacant and things won't get fixed. Ask all of them if they know anybody who is looking to sell their properties. Military towns have lots of out of state owners that might be willing to sell but don't want the hassles of listing with an agent and waiting around for someone to buy. 

As for the mortgage, just go with Navy Federal. They have outstanding customer service and you can sign a lot of the documents digitally online. You will be assigned a loan officer who will work with you the entire time. Zero issues at all. Plus their interest rates beat everyone and don't have any fees. USAA on the other hand is an absolute nightmare. Avoid them like the plague for mortgages, my last closing when I used them was 6 weeks late. Also shop your insurance, I ended up using a small local company that was much cheaper than USAA. Make sure they won't have any problems covering the property as a rental too. I wouldn't worry about trying to find a local loan officer or mortgage broker unless you plan on staying in the area. I tried that route initially but their interest rates were higher and brokers usually charge a fee. I don't know how it works there but in my area most VA loans offered by the small local banks end of being sold to the big banks anyway, like B of A, Wells Fargo, etc. Then you have to call them for your customer service needs, which usually involves talking to 5 different people to get something done and you will wait forever on hold!

@Joshua Warden

Welcome to the site from another Capital District investor! What specifically will you focus on in real estate? Also in regards to forming your LLC in NY, how long did it take and how much did it cost? I'm looking to do this myself soon. Did you you use attorney, legalzoom, DIY, etc.

@Ryan Vienneau Hit the nail on the head! I was tempted myself on a few properties this summer in the city but the lack of liquidity is what ultimately drives me away from purchasing anything within the city limits. Buy and hold should be forever, but life happens and sometimes you need to sell. 

@Tim Griffiths

It's too soon to tell what affect the casino will have, property within the city has remained flat. Personally I don't think much change. Schenectady suffers from a stigma that it will probably never shake. It's widely considered in this area as the worst place to live. Absurdly high taxes and a poorly rated school district means people with the means live in the surrounding towns with lower taxes and some of the best school districts in the state. A casino will not fix that. 

Definitely do not buy property in the city for appreication, in fact plan on keeping that house forever! This summer was very busy around the capital district real estate wise, however I don't know a single person that has successfully sold their house in Schenectady. Some investors do well here by buying cheap and renting to lower income or section 8 but personally I don't want to do that.

@Adam Gelman

Welcome to biggerpockets! That was a great intro, I wish I would have jumped into real Estate like that at 21 but it's never too late. I'm glad someone with your experience is willing to join this community, see you in the forums.

Welcome to biggerpockets! The plant closing in Oswego is a major blow to the entire region. Most of the people that worked there will probably leave the area as similar well paying jobs do not exist in Central NY anymore. For that reason I would not invest in Oswego unless you got a stellar deal on a house or apartment near the college and target the students as a rental. Just make sure that they are not going to build a large scale dorms anytime soon. SUNY seems to want to spend money lately across the state on new residence halls for students, probably so they can collect the room and board. 

@Austin Wark

I've been following this myself over the past year or so. Like you, I was pretty optimistic when the casino was announced and immediately started looking at investment property to purchase in the downtown and the goose hill neighborhoods. I was assuming if these developers are willing to risk millions of dollars on a project then surely it will improve Schenectady and be a huge boost for the city in the way of higher property values and lower taxes. 

I then decided to dig past the surface and see what affects this will really have. I think the Seneca casino in Niagara Falls is a very close comparison, and @Pamela DeLorenzo made some good points. Niagara Falls and Schenectady are very similar cities, that had a robust manufacturing past but today have fallen on hard times and struggle with job loss and a declining population. If you look at the statistics, Niagara Falls has not really got much better. Property values have declined, taxes are even higher than Schenectady, and maybe jobs were created for the casino but most of those are low paying. A lot of the revenue that the city received was squandered by the local politicians and given to their special interests and developer buddies, there are lots of reports about this out there. This is NY, the land of the corrupt politician, the same will happen in Schenectady.

If both casinos were being built today, I would put my money on Niagara Falls reaping the benefits and Schenectady wouldn't even come close to covering the spread. Why? Because the Seneca casino was built as a resort to prevent Americans from crossing the border into Canada to go gamble and the simple fact that Niagara Falls, NY is located near one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. Schenectady doesn't have either, it won't be nearly the size of the Seneca casino and I think the bulk of the customers will come from the local area and won't spend the night. Casinos are everywhere now and NY is way too late to the game in my opinion, revenue is falling everywhere because the market is being over-saturated. Also keep in mind MGM is building one in Springfield, MA.

If you asked the average person outside of New York State where Upstate NY is, the most common answer would be "north of NYC." Of course this could mean north of the Bronx, but in general I feel its some sort of imaginary line drawn through Rockland and Westchester counties, basically where the core suburban areas end. For the purposes of this forum, I feel thats the best defintion. 

Of course its all relative, the person who lives in Poughkeepsie and commutes to NYC everyday on the MetroNorth would probably not say that Putnam and Orange counties are Upstate. 

@Jeremy D.

Welcome to BP! You have come to the right place for your real estate questions. There is lots of debate on here about forming an LLC for your rental properties. I am just starting out myself, and have decided for at least the first few properties I will buy and hold in my name. On the insurance policy for my personal residence, I increased the liability to a million, and may consider an umbrella policy. After maybe 3-4 properties I will form an LLC and transfer the properties into the LLC. One thing I have heard though is to make sure in your initial financing that this is allowed, as some banks will call the note due in full when you do that.

As for spending money on consulting a CPA or attorney I wouldn't. Once the business is larger their fees for advice are invaluable, but just starting out the money can be spent on better things. A lot of your questions on how to structure your business can be answered through BP. I don't know if there is a REIA around your area, but I belong to one where I'm at. We have a very good real estate attorney and a few CPA's as members, so I just ask them questions when I go to the meetings.