All Forum Posts by: Jake Van Havenaar

@Jake Van Havenaar you can do 3.5% down with an FHA loan, but that will require more that 10k. Condos in Fairlington start around 300k for a one bedroom. If your goal is cashflow there are apartment passive investments you can do that will get you cashflow and tax benefits. Goodegg investments has a fund that takes 10k minimums. Otherwise I would keep putting money aside to do an FHA loan.

@Jake Van Havenaar Yhere are one bedroom condos in Fairlington Villages that I would recommend as a great start point.  It’s a great community with lots of amenities. Multifamily are few and far between in Arlington. You will find some quads in DC proper, but they are in short supply as well. Typically pricing is 1 million plus. DC is very tenant friendly so you would need to be very vigilant about screening your tenants. Most duplexes are sold off as individual townhomes in Arlington starting at around 600k plus. 

Hi Jake,

I live in Arlington and we have had great equity growth. Cash flow has been a little tougher to come by. Arlington is a highly desirable area due to great schools, employment and proximity to Washington, DC. We started with condos and then eventually purchased a fixer townhouse. I would try to get on some wholesaler lists because buying houses on market unless you are doing a live in flip/hold is tough. House hacking is another great option. Try going to some REIA groups in the area as well. Traction REIA is a good one.

@Jake Van Havenaar - There are successful investors and strategies in every market. It all depends on what you are looking for. A cash flow play, a equity play, some balance in between. Short term rentals, long term rentals, you're buy box will play into this question.

If you're purely looking for statistical indicators if a place is a good market to invest in in the long run, you definitely want to look at population growth. You want to ensure the place is growing since everything relies on supply and demand and the more people coming in, the more demand for assets hence increasing prices. Additionally, household income (the higher the better), quality of schools, amount of quality and diverse employers (you don't want one type of employer like in Detriot that can ruin the market). These are some of the common approaches.

My last recommendation for determining if a market has a long term growth time horizon would be to look out for certain retail companies expanding there. For instance, Starbucks or Chic-fila which have really good market research teams. If they invest in a market, they want it to have a future hence they spend millions in market research. If you're buying near a new construction starbucks or Chic-fila, there is a good chance the indicators show this is a growth market. 

1st question to ask, is it landlord friendly?   Any thoughts on rent control there?  How long does it take to evict for non-payment of rent?  Are JP/Judges landlord or tenant friendly?

How do rents compare to sales prices?  How much leverage can you use to make them cash flow?

How do average rents compare to average earnings?   You want to buy where the meat of the market can afford to pay rent in my opinion.  Sure other models work, but it is tougher in most areas.

I don't know the answers to any of these questions, but they would be on my list to ask.

@Jake Van Havenaar

Regarding your connections, most people your age don’t have a contact list of their PEERS that are high rollers. You’re just about to step out of school into the real world. In time, that will change and people you met in school will start climbing the professional ranks.

Beyond that, think about your parents’ and friends’ parents connections as a starting point. It’s easy to overlook how many people are 2nd and 3rd degree connections. Meet a few influential people and meet who they know. With intentionality, you can build a network long-term.

Short-term, use your age to your advantage. Trust that successful people will recognize and appreciate your drive at this age and may want to help you succeed. In the immediate, don’t wait to organically meet all the right people. Do some research and make a list of influential people and figure out how to get in front of them. You don’t have to know them or their friends to have a right to ask to meet them. Be prepared for a challenge and people telling you “no”, but remember, we are all just people, even the wealthiest on earth. Just be humble and don’t make it about getting their money.

Build relationship and trust while constantly making life choices every day that align you with your business goals and being a solid, high-quality human being worth knowing and the money will come.

What do you mean? What about the option to purchase a home? If money is your only obstacle i will find you someone with money to close on your deals. 

 Which fields are accessible to you? For me I was not willing to go into law because that would have taken a number of years in school. Becoming an entrepreneur is hard and you have to fail a lot before you succeed. And how do you get in front of investors?

I choose two places to get in front of wealthy people. 1) I became an investor centered agent and so I work with them all day. There it is easy to get in front of them. 2) Being an agent also helps me get in front of people who are wealthy enough to afford a home. With my smaller deals I am raising capital for I can turn to these people because they have less capital but also no opportunity to invest the products like I am doing so they typically love the opportunity.