All Forum Posts by: Stuart Grazier

@Austen Carroll love the motivation and thanks for serving. I'm currently at 17 years in the Navy and am definitely looking forward to that pension after 20; that's called passive income! Haha. I'd love to help in any way I can. As you start to network more, you'll find that there are quite a few folks in the military that also invest in real estate; many quite successful. Cheers! 

@Matt Rodgers Go Navy! I'm currently in Aurora as well and would love to help in any way I can. I own property in Alabama as well. We have a meetup once a month, normally at Dry Dock Brewery and I will post the next one for June on the Events page. Our meetup in May is in Colorado Springs and is also on the Events page. Hope to see you at one in the future! 

@Ryan Grigsby I can introduce you to a lot of military people that are doing LOTS of real estate investing - both officer and enlisted. There's more than you think. Just gotta do a little networking. Let me know if I can help in any way. 

@David Pere Thanks for the mention! Yep, we are having a meetup on May 11th in Colorado Springs and it is posted on the Events page if anyone else is interested.

@Morgan McConnell Get your personal finances in order before you try to jump into flipping houses. If you haven't read @Scott Trench's book Set For Life, I highly recommend it! It will set you on the right path. Live below your means, save as much as humanly possible, get out of bad debt, then start investing in rental properties. Oh, and thanks for your service! 

@Larry Smith Getting a loan from your TSP is a great way to go. You are basically lending yourself your own money and paying yourself back with interest. If you can use it to buy a cash flowing asset, that is a fantastic use of arbitrage! Go get it!!

@Lawrence Gillett I always lean towards keeping properties once I PCS if the numbers make sense, as holding real estate for long term will drastically increase your wealth over time. Here's how I run my numbers and feel it's very conservative. Let's just say you can get middle of the road rents at $1400 per month. 

$1400 (rent) 

- $950 (mortgage)

- $140 (property management at 10%)

- $98 (7% vacancy rate)

- $70 (5% maintenance)

- $70 (5% capex savings)

= $72 a month of positive income

My goal is at least $100 a month of positive income per door. You are close to this, and if you can save on any of these expenses (or increase the rent), you'll be there. The fact that you put zero money into it by using your VA loan is also a plus. The return on investment is infinite since you used zero of your own capital. My vote is to keep it and build your assets. Then go do it again at your next duty station. But this time, crunch the numbers like this before you buy so you can already make the decision ahead of time.

Hope that helps. Good luck!  

@Rory Samuels You can only use the VA loan for a property you intend to live in for a minimum of 1 year. You won't be able to use the VA loan for short-term flipping houses. If you don't have any money for flips, the only suggestion would be to use private money from friends and family - ask them to use their capital to fund the deal and then you do the work and you either split the profits or offer them a set return on their money in the form of a mortgage/promissory note.

@Adam Wigdorski First off, thanks for your service. One suggestion would be to try and look at a different market where your money can go further. There are tons of markets in the Midwest and Southeast that can probably get you 2-3 properties for the same price that you'd get for 1 in New York. It also may help diversify your portfolio a little bit: don't put all your eggs in one basket (or one market). Good luck! 

@Taylor Clark Buying rental property while living overseas is definitely doable. We were buying property when we lived in Italy and it wasn't too terrible. Technology and either building your own team, or using a team that has already been established by someone you can trust is key to a successful investment. Just gotta take action! Let me know if I can help in any way.