All Forum Posts by: Taylor Nunn

@Steve Vaughan

I can relate to that.  I'm also on my hill, with 2 fingers in the air.  I'm not coming down either. After reading your post for the second time it got me thinking how many times agents had nothing more than their own best intrest in mind.  Hopefully I don't regret pulling up at content/more than I need.  

I really don't regret or want a do over on anything. (except foolish purchases). I made almost every mistake and learned from that. If you compare the money I lost in bad decisions to the cost of a 4 year degree. I'm probably ahead.  More is lost in indecision than wrong decision...

This an informative forum thread.  Thank you to everyone who contributed.  @Taylor Nunn thanks for getting the conversation started. 

 Yep a good chunk of what agents make is split with the broker and other misc fees etc. It all depends on the contract the broker has, some are better than others. I'm  mostly talking about off-market deals found through direct mail, cold calling, door knocking, marketing, etc. If you find a seller willing to sell and you can buy, then you would not need to pay an agent as no agent would be involved. However you may want an agent to help you through all the paperwork if you are unfamiliar with the process.

Just start. Pick a place, a category, and one or two buying strategies max. On the finance side, start saving and get that credit score up as high as possible. Don't get stuck in education land. Pull the trigger.

 My experience speaking with flippers is that they make a lot of money in the short term and live a comfortable life but when it comes to retirement they sold all their properties so have no passive income. The vibe I get is that they typically wish they had kept a few along the way for the purposes of an income.

If i were to give myself advise from 3 years ago:

1) Don't wasted your first home purchased of 5% down on a Condo

2) Jump right into Multifamily, 3 flats and bigger

3) Using FHA loans ASAP vs 20% down conventional all the time

4) Don't be afraid to use others money

5) Go to more meet ups and build your contacts with like minded investors. 

6) Push to start a PM company (another revenue stream) 

7) Don't talk about investing to your corporate co-works! (it affected my increase and bonus)

8) Set goals and  establish a timeline

9) Separate you personal and Investment income! Its a business and you will over spend. 

10) Be overly aggressive and buy as much as you can. (2013-14 could have gotten 2 three flats for the price of 1 today.....)  

Just my 2 cents!

Phillip 

If I was young again and started over I would invest in real estate to build cash flow first instead on the fix and flip rat race. I would focus more on acquiring more income properties like apartments and self storage maybe AirBnB properties as well. 

@Dan Wickland, why forget the Australian market?

I would of bought as much as I could sooner in Australia before the banks would not touch me. Australian market has great appreciation., thats retirement savings 

If I was to start again I would have started sooner and I would have got an FHA and house hacked. Me and my wife found out "forever home" before I really got into the idea of REI. So because we had our primary residence we can no longer get an FHA which made starting out a whole lot tougher. A nice quadplex on an FHA would have been a perfect start.

Taylor, great post and great topic. I’m just starting out as well, this is extremely valuable. I’m a huge fan of the suggestion to figure out a way to increase net income by $100 per month. So obtainable when it’s broken down that much.

Also, LTV is loan to value :) If a bank says 80% loan to value, on a 100k property, they will only loan 80k.

Thanks again!