All Forum Posts by: Trevor Ewen

The keyword exposure is the main thing. The SEO potential is very nice.

Actually, here is a post about this: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/25/topics/136187-podcasts-transcripts

@Joshua Dorkin

This seems like there has to be a catch, but may be worth a shot.

FanScribed also seems interesting, although very early stage. I think you could convince many guests to transcribe their own podcasts via a regulated system, given the keyword exposure it could give them and their business.

Just was answering another question about this, so I know there is interest.

@Fred Sams

Yours is a classic question that plagues the web audio and video community. To my knowledge, your best route is podcast transcription. These services are usually undertook by the makes themselves. A quick Google search on these services will show you that they vary in cost and quality.

Fanscribed has huge potential, but it looks to still be early stage. I think your best bet is to talk to the admins about the possibility of a larger transcription infrastructure. Primarily what you want is smart and keyed searches. You can find one offs, like this: http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/biggerpo/f...

So they may be thinking about that feature, already. 

It's a tremendous way to get started. In order to qualify for the FHA, you will have to live-in a unit. Some lenders will not do an FHA loan for more than a 2-family, and many up the percentage down payment depending on the number of units (more units >> higher down payment).

Brandon Turner often talks about House Hacking on the podcast. The linked article may also be of some help. Just make sure you run all your numbers factoring the increases cost of FHA loan payments. The regulatory burden is not as bad, but it will be a bit more money out of pocket each month.

@David Krulac

Especially if you're focused on cash flow... you need to put yourself in the shoes of the tenant. How much more are you willing to pay in rent for these things? As a tenant I've always targeted location and price... condition is less of an issue as long as everything works as expected.

@Gregory A Merrill

Welcome. As a veteran, you have access to an amazing renter network. Elizabeth Colegrove is definitely someone you should talk to, I also recommend listening to her podcast.

If I was in the military or lived near a base, there is no question I would be in for the strategy of renting class A-B single family homes to officers. It's a notoriously steady tenant base that chooses renting for the sake of flexibility on their orders. There is no other place where you can find such a tenant, to my knowledge.

@Markes Rembert

Welcome. Always happy to see fellow Queen's residents on the forums.

New York is a really tough town for cash flow. All my investments are out-of-state, and I naturally assume it will continue that way for the foreseeable future. Jamaica is an area of interest to me, because I think there may still be some hidden gems. The train access is nice with many lines and the LIRR, but that is the extent of my Jamaica knowledge.

I would be interested in checking out the area and getting your perspective. If you feel like doing a walk/drive through, shoot me a message.

@Jesse Conners

From my perspective, yes. Although you will eventually have a chance to use other people's money, as an investor I don't trust anyone with my money unless they have put their own skin in the game. 

In my experience, real estate investing, and investing in general is really part of a larger exercise in personal finance. It's living within your means, it's paying yourself first (meaning your investments), it's learning how to walk against the 'spend to your limit' culture prevalent in the post World War(s) United States. 

If you're looking for some inspiration and education in that area, there are tons of great blogs and podcasts specifically target at personal finance, money management, and saving for investments, travel, or whatever you value. 

I am a big fan of the The Simple Dollar & Get Rich Slowly. I do not personally know the writers or have any stake in these blogs, for the sake of full disclosure. I just think they have excellent material.

@Joshua Dorkin & @Brie Schmidt

Thanks for re-tagging me. Here is my update for the end of Q1 2015.

- Q1 focus was on closely monitoring and managing our spending. We managed to reach a household budget number that is very manageable, but also challenges us. We are finding months with travel appear tighter, but we are now accountable for our per month spending. The overage? About 40% of our income (which is what is left over after) cost is going straight to investments. As I have mentioned before on the forums, we do a mix of stock and physical real estate investments.
- As of the end of last year, our real estate investments outnumbered our stock portfolio. This is primarily because we sold off gains to purchase real estate in 2014. We are now back at parity, and are moving on for our next single family deal.
- Looking forward, I would like to close on 3 single family homes this year, or (preferably) one single and a multi. Also taking some time to get re-aquatinted with the market I grew up in (north side of Chicago). Though I no longer live there, I am interested in a couple specific neighborhoods (Roger's Park, specifically).

As a side note, we just finished our taxes and we owe a lot of money. Fortunately our real estate is providing some deductions, but it is demoralizing to see how much we are penalized for having a productive year in 2014. I am sure there are others who share this frustration in April or March for business taxes.