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Confessions of an Entrepreneur MrRua Take Charge Tuesdays

What do you need to have in place to purchase a home to rent?

Well lets be serious – the world today, especially NOW, since the ridiculous collapse of our bubble economy built on debt, you need MONEY. Haha, who would have thought – right? Money is the key to all things evil, and thus maybe owning a house is too, but nonetheless that is the way it is. You have to have some sort of deposit to put down on the house and display that you’re serious about its pursuit, and then also to use it as your down-payment. I would find out what the minimum is for the mortgage you end up applying for and getting, but I always told myself to aim in the 10-20% range – the higher the better, of course.
So other than money, another thing you need is a mortgage, unless you have enough money to pay the whole house, in which case you’re done and you can skip this blog post all together. Do a ridiculous amount of research until you find the mortgage company you think is right for you and apply – I recommend being confident in this process and to remember that buying a home IS NOT for everyone. It takes a lot to manage the responsibility of owning a home and if you haven’t managed your credit well, then you can either be denied for a mortgage, or receive a horrid rate (kind of like the sub-prime mortgages handed out not too long ago – remember). After you get the mortgage you know where you should target your home’s price!
Last – I would say you need patience, and probably more of this then the previous two combined. I for instance went after a home that NEEDED to be repaired and touched up because in the end, it costs less to do all that then to buy it already done – BUT at the same time you are sacrificing time after the purchase so you have to ensure that, in this case, you have A. the money to fix up the home after buying it, and B. the money to support the home purchase during the time you repair it (in my case – about 4 months (yes, I know LONG)). Also, remember that looking, selecting, and bidding on homes is a very stressful, and time consuming process – AND – VERY REPETITIVE. I must have looked at 10 homes, put bids in 3 times, and had to re-bid to compete once which ended up being my winning bid, and I was told that was a lucky and decently short process, but that alone still took me about 3 months of dedicated want, and searching. Its tough, trust me, but just stick with it and you will find the right one.
Those are my big 3: Money, Mortgage, and Patience. Trust me, dedicate yourself to finding a home and it will be yours, but don’t get caught up in the process of finding it – although its tough, the journey is half the inspiring part in the end – the other half? Owning your first home.
Thanks again – and remember – feel free to check out my blog as well @ http://mrrua.com
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Confessions of an Entrepreneur MrRua Stay Tuned Take Charge Tuesdays

Stay Tuned

Stay tuned to hear the next blog post from Mr. Rua in the series Confessions of an Entreprenuer as he tells us what you need to have in place to purchase a home to rent.

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Confessions of an Entrepreneur investments MrRua opportunity risk savings Take Charge Tuesdays

Why become a landlord?

Well I would base that on 3 things – past decisions, opportunities, and risk. Let me explain.
Past Decisions:
I like to describe myself as a 20-something year old “kid”. But the fact of the matter is I like to know that I have a good head on my shoulders. I’ve been working since I was 16 and at one point held 3 jobs at once. Also, while some people may have blown the weekly paycheck on new Jordans, or a night at a cool club, I would always put some of my money away. I’m not a penny-pincher – I just am a firm believer in making money work for me – can’t really do that without putting some money away.
This past decision of saving really put me in a place where I had funds available to be able to make a larger purchase. And just to clarify, this doesn’t only mean the house, but it encompasses all things. If I really want a camera per se I know I can go to the store and buy one, and I think that is a comfort we all need in life. We need to know that if we REALLY want something we SHOULD be able to buy it. (Also, don’t try and link that to “I really want a Lamborghini” – it doesn’t work that way). At the same time though, we have to evaluate those decisions. Really wanting doesn’t always mean you need to go buy it – I usually let the idea brew for a while before finally pulling the trigger or leaving it alone.
Opportunities:
Well here I am – mrRua – a 20-something year old “kid” living during the biggest financial crash in decades… obviously the biggest one during my lifetime. Some – actually many – would say this is horrible and one of the worst things that could happen – but I think, that perspective changes depending on what side of the fence you are on.
Like I mentioned above, I save money – I also make it work for me. You might ask – what does that mean? Well, here is an example. When everyone was scared about the economy dropping and pulled their money out – it make the stock market essentially semi-crash – prices on stocks were SO low. As most sold – I bought… see the opportunity? And now here we are in 2010, and the stock market is recovering and due to stock decisions I have made, I close to doubled my input and at the same time the real-estate market is still down… once again see the opportunity?
In life – there are instances where you do just have to do it. When is the next time the stock market will drop in the manner that it did this time? I don’t know, and if we look at history it won’t be for a quite a bit (knock on wood), so acting was critical. But at the same time, just because you didn’t act on this particular opportunity doesn’t mean there wont be another. Keep your eyes open.
Risk:
Of course risk had to play a part in this all. I saved via past decisions, things happened via opportunity, but I just signed a loan with 6 figures on it – that is called taking a risk. I bought a home, and now I have to essentially “manage” it. The risks are abundant from additional costs of fixing it up, to getting tenants who pay their rent and it is definitely a scary journey, but one I feel that I made the right decision on.
Nonetheless only time will tell, but until next time – thanks for reading and feel free to check out my own blog @ http://mrrua.com – thanks again to djRelAt7 for letting me talk my words.