All Forum Posts by: Zach Lemaster

@Julia Thompson Congrats on the first investment property!  We certainly appreciate the kind and candid feedback.  We look forward to helping you with the next investment to scale your portfolio!

 I appreciate the kind and candid feedback!  We are so happy to hear you are finding value in our podcast as we put in a lot of time & energy to bring value to our audience.  Reach out anytime with any questions.  We are here to serve!

@Marcos De la Cruz thank you for the interest in Rent To Retirement.  I am the founder & CEO, and can speak directly to our track record, inventory and investor experience.  I'm most certainly happy to answer any questions you have.  RTR has been around BP for more than a decade now and we have thousands of forum posts from investors if you search Rent To Retirement in the forums.  I've posted many links to some of those forums below for you to review to hopefully assist in answering your question.  We also have >275 five star reviews on BP (more than any other company on this website).

We work across the nation to identify the markets that offer both attractive cash flow and appreciation.  That also means we have insight into many different markets throughout the US vs just being focused on one or two markets.  There definitely are markets that do cash flow well currently putting down the normal 20% to 25% down, even with interest rates still relatively high.  It's all about finding the right location.  You can pretty much make any market today cash flow if you put enough money down, but it depends on what your goals are.

One unique option we make available to our investors is to buy the interest rate down significantly on loans where you can get rates into the mid to low 4s on a 30yr fixed loan.  RTR pays for the rate reduction, not you. That certainly helps to increase cash flow in multiple locations.

We have a strong focus on A class, new construction properties in growth markets.  We have partnerships with the nation's largest builders (DR Horton, Lennar, Century, Toll Brother, LGI, etc.) where we work with their wholesale division to offer steeply discounted prices on new construction properties in some of the best locations in the US.  Those wholesale discounts are passed on to you as the investor & are significant.  The average discount is between $20K to $30K where you can use that however you want.  You can take it as a price reduction on a home to have a new construction property acquired below market value (with immediate equity), you can take it as cash back to cover part or all of your down payment, or a combination of options like buying the rate down, cash back & price reduction.  The choice is 100% yours!  This is a unique way we are able to help our community be strategic investors to acquire assets at discounted prices they would not be able to on their own along with ensuring properties cash flow well in multiple markets.  We also have all the teams in place you need to handle property management, insurance, lending, etc.  This is a full service investing option where we guide you through the process to assist you in developing and investing strategy/plan and help you manage everything with the property long term.  Our business model is very unique and you won't find these investing options anywhere else, largely in part because of our strategic relationships with national builders due to the volume we do annually.

I hope this helps to add clarity on exactly what we do at RTR and how we help investors get started & scale over time. Please feel free to reach out with any questions you have about anything investing (RTR related or otherwise). I've pretty much done it all in my time investing including wholesaling, flipping, house hacking, BRRR, turnkey, SFR/MR/Commercial/STR/MTR, notes, REITs, syndications, fractional ownership, building, mngt, raising capital, coaching/mentorship, etc. If we don't offer an option that is right for you, I can point you in the right direction. There are pros/cons to every strategy. It's important to find a strategy that best suites your goals/time/experience/capital/risk tolerance, etc.

Hope this helps!  

Zach

Here are some links to forum posts about RTR that will help you answer your initial questions:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/business/page/3497

https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/ZacharyCole/references

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/765347-rent-to-retirement-review

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/1116050-a-huge-win-with-cori-from-rent-to-retirement

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/850/topics/895660-my-first-investment-property-an-out-of-state-deal

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/88/topics/1047543-big-profits-from-new-construction-sfr-build-in-cape-coral-fl

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/92/topics/983659-first-investment-property-with-rent-to-retirement?

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/1122318-quality-turnkey-companies?highlight_post=6413855&page=1

@Brian Garcia thanks for the interest in RTR! We are certainly happy to help however we can. It's great that you have been able to raise $20K that quickly. Please just make sure you have a clear understanding of the cash flow and reserves you need to keep when buying an investment property, especially considering you have outside investors, which our team can help you evaluate. My brother-in-law has purchased about a dozen homes with us where he finds partners that bring in 100% of the downpayment and they are also on the loan. They spilt cash flow and equity 50/50. He's a Canadian investor that helps other Canadians buy REI in the US as his value add. Point being that partnerships can be creatively structured in many different ways depending on what makes sense for everyone involved. We look forward to helping you get into your first deal regardless if it's with us or on your own!

@Zachary Wallis there is no perfect way to start Zach.  The most important thing you can do IS start!  Definitely investing out of state is likely a must for you.  House hacking could be a way to invest with $25K down locally (that is how I started).  The midwest has some price points that may also work if you are interested out of state.  I like TN, OH, MO & IN.  Make sure to stay in better locations if possible.  Having a quality team/mentor/community to help you avoid the most common mistakes for newbie investors would be very valuable in my opinion.  Just make sure you always have good reserves!  Keep us updated on your progress Zach! 

@Chris Seveney thank you for the mention!

@Tibor T. Flipping homes (locally or remotely) can be a good way to build additional capital to buy rentals, if that is what your ultimate goal is.  That is exactly how I started when I ran out of down payments to use to finance rental properties.  However, as many others have mentioned, flipping homes requires an entire team that can take time to develop.  Flipping homes most certainly is more of an active way to invest (as you acknowledged), but there is also a fair amount of risk associated with that strategy, and it also requires capital to get started.  You can use lenders (hard money or banks) to help finance the flip, but those loans usually come with additional costs, higher rates, and shorter terms.  You can get yourself in a bind that could set you back years if the flip doesn't go as planned, takes longe than expected or you have contractors that don't manage the project appropriately.  That is the biggest risk I see with starting a new venture into flipping homes.

If you're ultimate goal is to own rentals, I would recommend trying to find ways to start with that strategy to better understand the market you are considering investing in along with building a foundation of rentals that doesn't solely rely on your flipping endeavors to fund the rentals.  There are also ways to buy new construction at steep discounts allowing for immediate equity that help kickstart your portfolio.  That is what we focus on at RTR.

Anything can be done with the right team in the right market.  My biggest advice is to really spend some time to have complete clarity on exactly what you are trying to accomplish and map out a plan that includes all the pros/cons and risks of each strategy.

For truly passive income, investing in diversified, secured notes is a great way to enter into the REI space with lower capital amounts as well. @Chris Seveney is the best in the business when it comes to this strategy and has the proven track record to stand behind.  We have many investors that own rentals and also invest in notes that are more passive.

Hope this helps!

-To your success!

Zach

@James Wise

Great topic for tax day!!

@James Wise great post!!

@Chris Clothier wins every time!  Experience beats youth!

@Steven Weadon Congrats on closing the first of 3 properties!  Thank you for sharing your feedback and the positive comments!  We certainly appreciate knowing all our dedication to our investors is noticed.  We are excited to continue the journey with you as you close the next 2 along with helping you to scale your portfolio to reach your goals!

-To your success!