All Forum Posts by: Elizabeth S.

That sounds fun! It looks like you already have lots of interest but if you need more input I specialize in buy & hold and have been doing it since 2009. I have great what not to buy stories and who not to rent to! Haha

Welcome to the group! Real estate is an excellent place to start your journey to freedom.

• If you haven't purchased a primary residence you could buy a multifamily home and some loans allow you to only put down 5% or less.
• You could find a personal investor to loan you the 20%-25% down so that you aren't depleting your personal funds.
• You could buy on land contract and negotiate a lower down payment

That's all I can think of. I'm curious what other people suggest!

So in summary, you're saying numbers aren't everything it's your aversion to risk.

A part of becoming a seasoned investor is doing your research, finding a starting basis and then learning from your mistakes. If it helps someone to have a formula and that is what makes them comfortable enough to make that jump into investing than so be it.

Welcome! It's always good to see a fellow Indiana investor. You mention real estate as a job....which you can do by flipping and wholesaling but buy and hold is the most beautiful "passive income" I've seen. Even the government agrees when they tax us at a lesser rate than a "job". It's an exciting day when your rentals make more money than you do at your job :)

I like hardwood because it looks great and it is easy to maintain for a landlord. The sound issue is something you have to take serious though when keeping people happy who share a house. Do the rooms mimic each other upstairs and down? If so, as much as I love hardwood...I would almost do carpet :/ then do whatever you can to make the rest of the unit stand out.

There are a lot of great responses already.

Pitfalls for Investors:

1. Not knowing the market: what your returns will be and the type of person/mentality you will be renting to.

2. Not having a safety net of cash for unexpected repairs, vacancies and so you are desperate and take the first tenant you meet.

3. Not knowing your WHY.

My why is freedom. So I buy now while prices are amazing and then will just pay off so I can enjoy the full effects of the cash flow. I also work full time and every week I remind myself I do it because I don't want to live off of my investment money, I want to be free with that money.

Welcome to the group! There is lots of information to learn here and hopefully you an meet some people close to you.

Originally posted by Andrew Schultz:

I've added a question to my application: "Do you have, or have you ever had, collection accounts with any utility company (gas, electric, water)?" If the applicant answers no, and I find a collection account with a balance, their application fee is now my application fee. Thank you!

That is a great question to ask! I'm adding that to my application.

Originally posted by James Vermillion:

Originally posted by Elizabeth S.:

hmmmm, I spelled "applicants" wrong and can't figure out how to fix it...anyone know?

I fixed the thread title @Elizabeth S.

Thank you!!