The Journey so far - From Canada into the US - It is possible!

[Andrés Uribe]

Hello BP Forums!

It has been a while since I was last around. And I thought I'd make a post about my journey so far, because I am proud of the progress that has been done (in real estate leaning and mindset), thanks to the BP RE podcast, performance coaching and many people who have helped me (in these forums, a Slack channel and so many others). I also want to be more active here, to find help and give help, so if anyone has questions to break down any info below please reach out (not a pro by all means, but happy to share what I've learned :) ).

So! I have been actively pursuing Real Estate since Sept 2020, and by actively I mean making my first phone call to ask "What does ARV mean?" Ha!
I first wanted to start in Winnipeg-Canada where I live, until I talked to a friend of mine who buys long distance. He recommended the book "Long Distance RE Investing" by Mr. David Greene, read half of it (eesh) and jumped into the US market, in Pittsburgh. It just made sense for grow faster, and I knew trustworthy people who invest there.

An international cellphone plan, many many phone calls, BP forum posts asking for insight and a lot of research over 6 months, and I had a team set up, THIS. WAS. KEY! Realtors, Property Manager, a few Contractors with 1-go-to, CPA in Canada and US, Attorney to set up my entity structure, etc. it was go time! It took so long since I still have a day time job selling building materials, so most phone calls were done at lunch, the studying and practicing were done in the evenings after my two minions were in bed.

I was analyzing and having realtors send me video tours in the meantime to practice, but it was go time to place offers after about 7-8 months since September. And as of December 3rd, 2021 I have closed on two deals, own a lot to develop and have raised $100,000 of investor money, and feel very happy and confident on the path I am going.

My first deal was two houses undergoing rehab right now, bought as a package deal for $285K, and $260K rehab on a hard money loan, both will be flips, and the ARV is at around $800,000 (+/- $20,000). The golden nugget is a lot in the middle of the two houses, where I will build something new. It will be a $300,000 construction loan on hard money and an approximate sell value of $600,000, it might work with no money down since I already own the lot! Both homes are right next to a brand new development of 4 large townhomes which motivated me to dabble into new construction.

Looking into building new has been a good journey, I finally found a lender willing to work with me, as long as I bring in my contractor as a partner since I have no experience. Thankfully, my contractor agreed and we are working on subdividing the lot right now. So much more to learn, so any info or advise here is appreciated!

My second deal is a 6 unit multifamily deal I found on the MLS. A duplex and a quad on the same parcel, with rents almost 50% under market value!! I bought it for $330K and will put $90K worth or rehab on hard money as well ($95K now since a furnace needs to be replaced... Eesh). My plan will be to flip this one as well as a commercial deal, once new tenants are in at market rents, estimated valuation is around $620,000 on a worst case scenario, with pro forma rents being lowest for that area. This has been a great preview on the basics of how the multifamily space works, I've learned a lot about underwriting multifamily deals, and working on building relationships with brokers and commercial lenders.

The reason why I am focused on flipping right now is to build capital to go bigger. I am hoping to bring value to a broker in the area by having them sell the 6-unit property with me. Then when the development and two flips also sell and I'm ready to go bigger, they feel comfortable bringing me larger multifamily deals to put offers on.

At first I was terrified of doing this long distance, now I can't wait to go into uncharted territory like new construction and flipping a small multifamily... from Canada into Pittsburgh... how did I get here?! whichever way, I am very happy I am where I am, thanks to so many! 

So in 2022 and a 1.5 year span, I would have sold 3 properties, and 9 units... over $2M in RE transactions... crazy! Just never would have thought I'd do that... It will be crazier when I'm selling hundreds of units and multimillion dollar deals like the pro's here :).

So the reason for this post is to offer a hand out; to help, and a hand out to be helped as I know I have so many more things to learn as I grow. Also as some sort of full circle, since I when started posting here I was trying to figure out how to get started, now I have started and am in it, so BP forums needed to know ha!

Cheers everyone!

Andres