best investment property to start with - for a nooob?
 

in the next few months ill be on the market... for some real estate. Im wondering... for those that have investment property, what should i keep my eye out for? I know some of you will ask what my budget is, and right now, i dont really know what it will be. It could be as little as 50k or maybe a few hundred k. Millions? No... not just yet, lol. Im in NY (10 minutes from NYC) ...This is just to start... cuz i wanna start off small, work my way up, learn the ropes, blah blah.

Curious what you guys started with? What have you had good experiences with, and bad experiences with?

What you invest in can depend on what your goals are.....tax benefits, monthly positive cashflow, returns from appreciation, or a combinatio?

Also remember that not everything works for everyone. We've been in real estate for 7 years. If you want cashflow go for units, 6 or more. 4 units are too close to single family's or condos. You'll get the most long term results. Then again buying some SFRs in a hot market is good, but today can be dangerous.

Also half of the people who probably respond will say I'm full of shit and the other half will agree....hit me up if you want ICQ 291436730

bump... interested in insight from other people

The RE market is already crashing.

Buy domains instead.

SKYPE me at my GFY nick if you want to discuss further.

Cashflow +ve.

Cheap, in a nasty part of town, spend nothing on it, rent it as a positive gear.

ONLY way to get started.

2c

the "best" investment from a financial standpoint well be real estate you can live and work in.

tax shelter, some depreciation, appreciation, and a roof over your head.

welcome to gfy???

And of course tax lawas where you come from also have great impact in "best".

:2 cents:

ICQ me, then I will give you my telephone number. I can talk in great detail with you about it. I have been in commercail real estate close to 20 years and own a lot of investment property. I have a BA in Accounting and Eeal Estate and MBA in Finance. In addition, I also own a comercial brokerage real estate firm, some of my clients are Wal-Mart, Eagle Global Logistics, GM, Jeld-Wen, and many REITS (Real Estate Investments Trust) just to name a few.

Why I am in pron too - it is a lot of fun. And I am starting to make a decent buck. There was a bit of a learning curve, but things are on the right track.

My ICQ number is on the left <---

Not true

I should do a siminare on this at a trade show

Bullshit - you can always make money in an up market and/or down market. You just have to know what and were to buy.

You have the most right answer on this thead. At least some of what you say is correct. You cannot measure CF (cash Flow) by the number of units purchased.

Benchmarks to keep in mind:

Cap rate
Return on Investment
Return of Investment
Tax Shelter
Net Present Value of different investments

Each property works different for everryone, depends on holding period, what you plan to shelter, both long and short term goals, and many more thing you need to concider. To buy commercial property or multi family. Dep. for comm is 39.5 years and resi is 27.5 years. There is just too much I need to know to give you an answer on GFY. ICQ me, we can talk.

Another thing you might want to concider, depending how you hold your biz now (LLC, S-corp, C-corp). Is buy a building, hold it in an LLC. Have you corporation pay rent to your LLC that holds the building and overpay market rate. This will lower you Net Income for your corporation because you have higher rent expenses. However, the money you make from your LLC on rent is not subject to FICA tax. This will save you 15% in taxes off the top. Moreover, you can take a paper loss due to depreation. This cannot offset against your personal income (unless you are in the real estate biz - 740 hours per year) - see tax law change of 1988. But you can offset any paper loss against other real estate investments (Income producing that is). You can also carry these losses forward indefently, or back 3 years.

There is all kinds of ways to do this. You just have to know how to play the game. Remember, it is not what you make that is important, it is what you keep that is more important. You work hard to make a buck, keep it. Why give it to the government when keep your money in your pocket. Just learn how.

Good stuff Kevin. But we both know it is easier to make cash in a rising market. More units is more efficient and has cleaner numbers. He was right in that they have higher cash flow 90% of the time.

For your first dip into real estate investing. I would by a fixer up house or duplex. That is how I started and so did everyone I know. Commercial real estate is 1000 times better then residential in terms of time committed but has higher risk. I will never buy more residential real estate. Total hassle.

To keep it simple:

- Get a single family home.
- Look for the best deal - something that is undervalued.
- Don't just get a property for the sake of getting one.
- Smart move is making money when you purchase it
(get one undervalued that may need some clean up and cosmetic repairs).
- Use the bank's money (via a loan).
- Live in the property so it will be "owner occupied", thus getting you a 90% - 100% LTV (loan-to-value) on the property depending on your credit scores and loan programs available.

It does not matter what city you are in, what the market conditions are, etc.

Someone is always looking to sell their "headache" of a property, and there are many deals in any city. You just have to look.

If you buy something for less, and sell it for more, especially by leveraging it using the bank's money, not to mention all the tax benefits, real estate is a beautiful wealth-building tool!