I've been heavily into the property investment scene for a while now and my wife and I started a property management company. When I bought my first four-plex, I thought: "Wow this is awesome! I'll just keep doing this and I'll get rich. One cashflow property after another!"
Here's the catch. (And those of you more educated feel free to chime in and correct me) When you start out you are probably using residential loans. ie: 1-4 units. These loans are based purely on YOU and whether the bank feels they can get their money out of YOU if you screw it up. These investments generate a small amount of cashflow and equity building. There are a few main problems with using this as a PRIMARY strategy and I"ve seen this happen over and over again with our clients, as well as personally.
1. After you burn your VA loan (if you're military) or your FHA loan (3.5% down), the banks are going to start wanting 20-25% down. This of course takes time because you are still working a job and not building a business. (Formerly guilty of this myself)
2. Eventually the bank essentially says "Wow dude, you've got a few million in loans and only so much work income to back it up. Yeah, you're cashflowing but we're getting worried about your ability to pay it back if something catastrophic happens." They will then stop lending you money.
3. Finally, (and yes I say this as someone who profits on property management), at a certain point you're trying to all the management yourself. You are probably niaive to the law, and because you don't do this everyday, you just aren't that great at property management. Your vacancies are long and often. Your repairs take forever because you're trying to do it all yourself. Every damn nail must be done by you because you're just so damn good at swinging a hammer and "Hell if I"m gonna pay some contractor to do something I"m perfectly capable of doing myself!" This sucks up your time and you make dumb decisions because you are only experienced at your couple properties. We currently manage 150+ (which is small time stuff) and yet I still have property owners who think they're better at this than me because they've got a whole 3 properties under their belt.
4. You'll want to live in your first property or the loan will require you to. This means that you had to find the best deal IN YOUR TOWN, not the best deals period. Already you've limited the potential unless you just happen to live somewhere that has a stellar climate for what you want to do ie: equity building, cashflow, or both
5. Because you are just starting out with little cash, when you screw something up and you will, it will hurt that much more because you don't have the resources to get recover quickly.
Then you maybe get a little smarter and learn about commercial loans. These loans are generally speaking less about you the borrower and more about the property and it's ability to perform if the bank has to take it from you. They are for properties of 5 units and above. These are generally much better investments but the bank will want to know you've got your feces co-located beforehand. They will most likely want to see management experience on your part as well as want you to hand it to a competent property manager. Here's the catch on these. One, you have to have some experience which takes time. You also need to have some cash, which will also take time because again, you are still working your job and not building a business. David Lindahl is a good resource for learning about getting into large commercial investments with others called "Syndication"
Ok, I'll wrap it the F up already. Here's the bottom line. Property investment is AWESOME and a great way to build equity, build cashflow, leverage other people's money, and have a lot of fun doing it. But, and this is a big BUT..... it takes cash or lots of time. What I have learned through trying it myself is that I need to build a business first to get the cash then use that cash to invest intelligently in real estate to secure and build what I started with my business. Don't be the DIY king. Use real estate agents, property managers, mortgage brokers and other investors to learn and keep yourself out of trouble. Be careful when people start talking about no money down or using credit cards to buy foreclosures. That's masters level stuff and easy to get in trouble.
Me, I'm concentrating on my business which just happens to be in the field of property investment. As I build the business I continue to learn more about how I'm going to use the cashflow once successful. And to prove I'm putting my money where my mouth is, I'm quitting my six figure job and selling my positive cashflow fourplex to use the cash to buy out another company. This is going to catapult me 2 years forward of my normal rate of growth.
Hope that helps and feel free to ask me anything else.
Here's the catch. (And those of you more educated feel free to chime in and correct me) When you start out you are probably using residential loans. ie: 1-4 units. These loans are based purely on YOU and whether the bank feels they can get their money out of YOU if you screw it up. These investments generate a small amount of cashflow and equity building. There are a few main problems with using this as a PRIMARY strategy and I"ve seen this happen over and over again with our clients, as well as personally.
1. After you burn your VA loan (if you're military) or your FHA loan (3.5% down), the banks are going to start wanting 20-25% down. This of course takes time because you are still working a job and not building a business. (Formerly guilty of this myself)
2. Eventually the bank essentially says "Wow dude, you've got a few million in loans and only so much work income to back it up. Yeah, you're cashflowing but we're getting worried about your ability to pay it back if something catastrophic happens." They will then stop lending you money.
3. Finally, (and yes I say this as someone who profits on property management), at a certain point you're trying to all the management yourself. You are probably niaive to the law, and because you don't do this everyday, you just aren't that great at property management. Your vacancies are long and often. Your repairs take forever because you're trying to do it all yourself. Every damn nail must be done by you because you're just so damn good at swinging a hammer and "Hell if I"m gonna pay some contractor to do something I"m perfectly capable of doing myself!" This sucks up your time and you make dumb decisions because you are only experienced at your couple properties. We currently manage 150+ (which is small time stuff) and yet I still have property owners who think they're better at this than me because they've got a whole 3 properties under their belt.
4. You'll want to live in your first property or the loan will require you to. This means that you had to find the best deal IN YOUR TOWN, not the best deals period. Already you've limited the potential unless you just happen to live somewhere that has a stellar climate for what you want to do ie: equity building, cashflow, or both
5. Because you are just starting out with little cash, when you screw something up and you will, it will hurt that much more because you don't have the resources to get recover quickly.
Then you maybe get a little smarter and learn about commercial loans. These loans are generally speaking less about you the borrower and more about the property and it's ability to perform if the bank has to take it from you. They are for properties of 5 units and above. These are generally much better investments but the bank will want to know you've got your feces co-located beforehand. They will most likely want to see management experience on your part as well as want you to hand it to a competent property manager. Here's the catch on these. One, you have to have some experience which takes time. You also need to have some cash, which will also take time because again, you are still working your job and not building a business. David Lindahl is a good resource for learning about getting into large commercial investments with others called "Syndication"
Ok, I'll wrap it the F up already. Here's the bottom line. Property investment is AWESOME and a great way to build equity, build cashflow, leverage other people's money, and have a lot of fun doing it. But, and this is a big BUT..... it takes cash or lots of time. What I have learned through trying it myself is that I need to build a business first to get the cash then use that cash to invest intelligently in real estate to secure and build what I started with my business. Don't be the DIY king. Use real estate agents, property managers, mortgage brokers and other investors to learn and keep yourself out of trouble. Be careful when people start talking about no money down or using credit cards to buy foreclosures. That's masters level stuff and easy to get in trouble.
Me, I'm concentrating on my business which just happens to be in the field of property investment. As I build the business I continue to learn more about how I'm going to use the cashflow once successful. And to prove I'm putting my money where my mouth is, I'm quitting my six figure job and selling my positive cashflow fourplex to use the cash to buy out another company. This is going to catapult me 2 years forward of my normal rate of growth.
Hope that helps and feel free to ask me anything else.
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