All Forum Posts by: Mike Rubin

Specifically, Miami-Dade County in Florida.

Can someone help me out by listing/summarizing all the costs associated to buying a piece of property? This question is more around the legal framework and paperwork needed to acquire a property.

For example, someone who is relocating for work and needs to purchase a SFH or condo, what costs would he incur to acquire a piece of property? How much do agents typically cost? Etc…

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Tim - Cash flow, tax advantages, availability of properties relative to other areas, etc…are all variables that factor into my decision.

Overall, and I know this is a fully-loaded question, but where do you feel larger success can be achieved; CT or FL? I will refrain from including my own opinions so that I get everyone's non-biased opinions of FL vs. CT real estate.

This advice will help me get started researching what I need to do to become successful in that given area.

While I am only in the preliminary stages of my RE Investing career, I want to begin my focus on which market to start heavily researching.

I currently live in Connecticut, but would consider investing in Florida since I am down there so often and love it. There are a lot of tax advantages to investing in Florida, but I would like to hear from first-hand investors who have dabbled in both states.

What are your opinions and/or advice?

Thanks!

Michael B. - Terrific response! That is exactly what I was looking for. My hunch was to rid myself of all debt first and you reassured my gut instinct. The part that convinced me the most was the fact that student loans are not forgiveable so if things go sour with my RE investing, and I have to declare bankruptcy, then I'll be left with nothing but student loan debt. Thank you very much for the informative response. You gave me everything I was looking for and more. I think I will continue with that route and continue to learn more about RE until I'm debt free.

Prashant P. - If I made extra payments it would take me roughly 2 more years before I paid them off. That is a lot of time to sit back and not get started. I'm not getting any younger...

Raymond B. - Ideally, I would want a multi-family so that I could live rent free and continue to pay off my student loans. But am I not opposed to SFH's either. I moved back home with my parents, which helps me save a lot of money, and I would not mind sacrificing my freedom for the near future in order to save up more money.

I have a variety of loans, but the weighted average interest rate is 5.7%. I figure if I continue to pay the minimums, it makes financial sense to get involved in RE investing if I could get a loan and leverage myself.

An all-cash offer will be pretty tough with 15-20k, in Connecticut at least.

Hello All,

I'm looking to jump in and get my feet wet. The only caveat is that I still have student loans…

I currently work in Hartford, CT making a slightly above-average salary for someone two years out of college. I am able to make my student loan payments no problem and have been putting in extra on top of the minimum amounts. Even while making excess payments on student loans, I have been able to wrack up 15-20k on the side as a cushion for worst-case scenario in life.

Now I am at a crossroads, do I want to dump most of that cushion into my student loans or should I invest in RE? And if I choose to invest in RE, would lenders even consider me since I have pre-existing debt from student loans over my head and most people fear the term "student loans"? It already has a negative connotation with it so I fear lenders would look right passed me.

I am really anxious to get in the game and I feel I have done sufficient enough research and work to prep myself for my first property. That is why I have come to you guys, the experts, because you are far more experienced in this arena than I am.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks!

Mike

I had no idea mobile homes could be that cheap. That sounds like an interesting idea.

Does anyone else here have experience with mobile home investing?