A few years back, Fannie Mae and its brother lender Freddie Mac launched loan programs called HomeReady and Home Possible, respectively. Their purpose? To compete with the 3.5% down FHA loan program and help low- to moderate-income borrowers buy a home without much...
G. Brian Davis
Brian Davis is a real estate investor and personal finance writer with over two decades in the real estate and finance industries. After graduating from University of Delaware in 2003 with two useless B.A. degrees and an even more useless minor in anthropology, he fell headfirst into real estate finance by accident.
Then he promptly went on a property buying spree from 2005-2008. It was what you might call a “learning experience,” all of the lessons expensive.
Eventually, Brian tired of landlording and unloaded his own portfolio of rental properties. But he still loved real estate as an investment, and today he owns fractional shares in over 2,000 units.
The difference? Nowadays he only invests passively in real estate.
Along with his wife and daughter, Brian spends most of the year abroad living by his own rules. He loves hiking, cooking, pairing wine with said cooking, scuba diving, and occasionally surfing (badly). And writing: he writes as a real estate and personal finance expert for Inman, BiggerPockets, R.E.tipster and dozens of other publishers.
Most of all, Brian loves showing others how they too can create their ideal lives through real estate investing and lifestyle design.
Concreit Review 2024: Short-Term Real Estate Fund & Fractional Shares
Ever wish you could invest in real estate without committing money for years at a time? Concreit offers a rare short-term real estate investment. Unlike most real estate crowdfunding platforms, Concreit lets you pull out your money at virtually any time. And no, they...
The Best Short-Term Real Estate Investments & Other Places to Park Money
You don’t always know when a killer real estate deal will come along. Sometimes you wait months or longer for the right deal. Plus, it takes time to save up a down payment. Even if you borrow 80% with an investment property loan, you still need $100,000 for a $500,000...
How to Pay for College with Real Estate Investments
The average cost of tuition for the 2023-2024 school year was $42,162 for private colleges. Ouch. Public tuition in-state universities clocked in at $10,662, and out-of-state at $23,630. Multiply that by four years (or five, if your kid's on the "super senior" track)....
Should You Ever Invest in Properties with Negative Cash Flow?
Conventional wisdom should be questioned. At one time, conventional wisdom held that the sun revolved around the earth. And that the earth was flat, and that smoking was completely safe. Even when conventional wisdom isn't wrong per se, it can be limiting. For...
13 Hidden Benefits of a High Savings Rate & the FIRE Lifestyle
Whenever bad economic news dominates the headlines, pundits love to declare “The FIRE movement is dead, long live the FIRE movement!” They shouted it during the pandemic, during the stock market crash in 2022, during the sustained inflation and cooling real estate...
When Should Landlords Refinance a Rental Property Loan?
Mortgage brokers love to tell you they can lower your mortgage payment by refinancing your rental property. Sometimes they actually can. But is it worth refinancing, even then? Before rushing into a rental property refinance, make sure you understand the true costs....
12 “Cheat Codes” in the Game of Building Wealth & Creating Your Ideal Life
Ever wish you could punch in a cheat code for the game of life? Build wealth and passive income streams faster? Live your ideal lifestyle without putting in decades of hard work first? Personal finance does offer some hacks — if you’re willing to think outside the...
Case Study: A Real Estate Syndication Deal Gone Wrong
We send out a monthly update about all the past deals we’ve invested in through our Co-Investing Club. Most of the real estate syndication projects are doing fine. A few have narrower cash flow than forecast, due to soaring interest rates, and have delayed starting...
Are LLCs for Rental Properties Worth the Hassle? Pros, Cons, and Costs
One of the first questions I hear from new real estate investors is: “Should I create an LLC for rental properties, rather than owning them under my personal name?” It’s a good question, and shows foresight. After all, people love to sue landlords. And love to hate...