All Forum Posts by: G. Brian Davis

Hi Jennifer, 

One thing you might consider if it's a long-term investment is how heavily the local town relies on the base for its economy.  It's not uncommon for military bases to downsize personnel or even shut down entirely, so you ideally want an investment property that won't lose much value if the base closes.

Just a thought!

Brian

SparkRental.com

Welcome to BP Eric!  It's a great community.  What kind of deals are you interested in doing?

Brian

SparkRental.com

Welcome @Jenny Yean! 

I would highly recommend you find a mentor/senior partner for your first few deals. There's no faster (or safer) way to learn than by partnering with experience. 

You can network on BP, or you might also try attending a few in-person real estate investing clubs locally.  

Better yet, do both!

Best of luck,

Brian

Spark Rental

Hi @Julie Zaytsev, and welcome to BP!

I rented for many years while building a portfolio of rental properties, and eventually bought a primary residence.  Ultimately whether you buy a home or a rental investment comes down to the fundamentals of renting vs. buying in your personal life.  Renting is great for flexibility - you have the ability to move to a new home or new city at your convenience. 

There's an adage in real estate that you should only buy a house if you plan on keeping it for at least 7 years (the real number depends on your individual market, but you get the idea).  Buying real estate incurs a lot of up-front costs, that it takes a long time to recover in monthly savings and appreciation.  If you're interested in buying a home to live in, be prepared to either live there for a long time or keep it as a rental after you move out.  And if the latter, make sure the rents in your area are MUCH higher than the mortgage payment would be. 

Last piece of advice - there are a lot of hidden costs in owning rental properties, so make sure there's a huge difference between your mortgage payment and your projected rent.  Better yet, partner with an experienced investor for your first few deals to learn the ropes in a safer way. 

Best of luck!

Brian

Spark Rental

If you know anyone in that area, especially real estate investors but homeowners too, ask for recommendations and look for really enthusiastic ones (not "they were pretty good").  My experience with realtors is that most are not very professional; people who thought it would be great to work from home and set their own hours, and not particularly committed to the hard work of it.  But there are good, professional realtors out there, you just need to ask around until you get a positively glowing referral. 

Best of luck,

Brian

Spark Rental

Good morning,

My name is Brian Davis, I'm an investor with 15 rental properties and a range of other renovation and flip deals under my belt.  I was in the lending industry before I was an investor.  I managed an online landlord software company for many years, and will be launching a new blog soon.  

Excited to contribute, network and hear about what kinds of challenges fellow real estate investors are facing.

Cheers,

Brian