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Updated 5 months ago, 07/16/2024
Looking to grow my career/portfolio
Hello BP, I have been in this mental loop and hoping for some advice, I am 19 years young and am currently in a partnership on 2 commercial properties located in Buffalo NY. I want to keep in mind that I do most of the renovation and am not a major financial outlet. I also happen to be employed by my partner, I do lots of work for his property maintenance and renovations.
My major concern is when I have a not so large income how can I grow outside of purchasing a property which is not very feasible at the moment. I know this could mean switch to another job to keep learning my trade or taking courses on project management. However I would love to hear more about how others have improved on themselves professionally when in a similar scenario.
P.S. Thank you for taking the time to read and hopefully sharing you knowledge!!
The good news is that your maintenance/renovation experience is going to help you throughout your career.
The great news is that you're 19. You don't need a ton of income yet, keep learning while you're earning, consider getting your RE license. Work on building credit, increasing your income. If you start doing your own projects in your mid to late 20's you'll be ahead of 90% of the RE investors I know, including myself.
- Real Estate Consultant
- Mendham, NJ
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@Nick C. nailed this. You are doing everything right and you are 19, where do you think this needs to go tomorrow. Don't rush it. Your handiness and experience will get you a long way as it already has, being a partner in 2 deals at this age. You should be going to a lot of real estate investor meetups, there are several in Buffalo, and making connections and just learning from what others did. You can trade your skills for experience and windows into how they are doing it.
- Jonathan Greene
- [email protected]
- Podcast Guest on Show #667
@Carter Trombley welcome to the community. I’m also in Buffalo and would suggest you come check out our monthly meetups, second Wednesday of the month, downtown at Pearl Street Grill. 6pm. There’s usually a post about it on here, so set your alerts to anything “Buffalo”.
I'd be happy to chat with you sometime. This sounds like the kind of thing I enjoy brainstorming over. My first thought is that you are on an awesome path already at only 19 — congrats! There are plenty of opportunities to find mentorship and funding if you know how to leverage your skills. You can get into a Joint Venture (JV) where you bring the deal and sweat equity, and your partner brings the financing. Plenty of people out there have the money for deals, but the lack the time and energy to FIND them. Filling this void has tremendous value. Keep in mind it probably won't be an equal split, because the person with the money is taking most of the risk. So don't expect it to be 50/50. But this is one idea for you. Getting your license, or learning another industry within RE — mortgages, insurance, property management, etc — will help you build a career and connections, as well.
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:
@Nick C. nailed this. You are doing everything right and you are 19, where do you think this needs to go tomorrow. Don't rush it. Your handiness and experience will get you a long way as it already has, being a partner in 2 deals at this age. You should be going to a lot of real estate investor meetups, there are several in Buffalo, and making connections and just learning from what others did. You can trade your skills for experience and windows into how they are doing it.
Thank you for the insight I plan on attending more RE meetups networking events, as well as begin improving my trade!!
Quote from @Carter Trombley:
Hello BP, I have been in this mental loop and hoping for some advice, I am 19 years young and am currently in a partnership on 2 commercial properties located in Buffalo NY. I want to keep in mind that I do most of the renovation and am not a major financial outlet. I also happen to be employed by my partner, I do lots of work for his property maintenance and renovations.
My major concern is when I have a not so large income how can I grow outside of purchasing a property which is not very feasible at the moment. I know this could mean switch to another job to keep learning my trade or taking courses on project management. However I would love to hear more about how others have improved on themselves professionally when in a similar scenario.
P.S. Thank you for taking the time to read and hopefully sharing you knowledge!!
This is a confusing situation. How can you be in partnership and employed by your partner? You own equity in the commercial spaces and get paid to work on them?
You need reliable, on the books W-2 income to invest. Once you have that you can qualify for a low money down loan and buy a double. If the double needs updating and you are handy, you can force appreciate the unit you are living in while paying no or almost no money for the home as your renter covers most of your expenses.
By the time you are done renovating + 3-5 years give or take you have a forced appreciated property. If the market works in your favor you can refinance and buy more investment properties. Now you have started your own little snowball and can keep picking up steam as you add more and more properties.
- Matthew Irish-Jones
Quote from @Nick C.:
The good news is that your maintenance/renovation experience is going to help you throughout your career.
The great news is that you're 19. You don't need a ton of income yet, keep learning while you're earning, consider getting your RE license. Work on building credit, increasing your income. If you start doing your own projects in your mid to late 20's you'll be ahead of 90% of the RE investors I know, including myself.
Agreed, this is good advice!
Quote from @Matthew Irish-Jones:
Quote from @Carter Trombley:
Hello BP, I have been in this mental loop and hoping for some advice, I am 19 years young and am currently in a partnership on 2 commercial properties located in Buffalo NY. I want to keep in mind that I do most of the renovation and am not a major financial outlet. I also happen to be employed by my partner, I do lots of work for his property maintenance and renovations.
My major concern is when I have a not so large income how can I grow outside of purchasing a property which is not very feasible at the moment. I know this could mean switch to another job to keep learning my trade or taking courses on project management. However I would love to hear more about how others have improved on themselves professionally when in a similar scenario.
P.S. Thank you for taking the time to read and hopefully sharing you knowledge!!
This is a confusing situation. How can you be in partnership and employed by your partner? You own equity in the commercial spaces and get paid to work on them?
You need reliable, on the books W-2 income to invest. Once you have that you can qualify for a low money down loan and buy a double. If the double needs updating and you are handy, you can force appreciate the unit you are living in while paying no or almost no money for the home as your renter covers most of your expenses.
By the time you are done renovating + 3-5 years give or take you have a forced appreciated property. If the market works in your favor you can refinance and buy more investment properties. Now you have started your own little snowball and can keep picking up steam as you add more and more properties.
Let me clarify, yes I am in a partnership with my boss but no I am not paid to work on said properties inanely work for his other properties and on the side we own this real estate venture. Also if I studied right you'd call that method the BRRR correct?
Quote from @Carter Trombley:
Quote from @Matthew Irish-Jones:
Quote from @Carter Trombley:
Hello BP, I have been in this mental loop and hoping for some advice, I am 19 years young and am currently in a partnership on 2 commercial properties located in Buffalo NY. I want to keep in mind that I do most of the renovation and am not a major financial outlet. I also happen to be employed by my partner, I do lots of work for his property maintenance and renovations.
My major concern is when I have a not so large income how can I grow outside of purchasing a property which is not very feasible at the moment. I know this could mean switch to another job to keep learning my trade or taking courses on project management. However I would love to hear more about how others have improved on themselves professionally when in a similar scenario.
P.S. Thank you for taking the time to read and hopefully sharing you knowledge!!
This is a confusing situation. How can you be in partnership and employed by your partner? You own equity in the commercial spaces and get paid to work on them?
You need reliable, on the books W-2 income to invest. Once you have that you can qualify for a low money down loan and buy a double. If the double needs updating and you are handy, you can force appreciate the unit you are living in while paying no or almost no money for the home as your renter covers most of your expenses.
By the time you are done renovating + 3-5 years give or take you have a forced appreciated property. If the market works in your favor you can refinance and buy more investment properties. Now you have started your own little snowball and can keep picking up steam as you add more and more properties.
Let me clarify, yes I am in a partnership with my boss but no I am not paid to work on said properties inanely work for his other properties and on the side we own this real estate venture. Also if I studied right you'd call that method the BRRR correct?
Thanks for clarifying, sounds like you are trading labor for equity. I have been there and done that.
What I am suggesting is more along the lines of house hacking than the BRRR method. The BRRR method takes a lot of Capital. If you are short on Capital, but heavy on sweat equity you want to play to your strengths, so using the banks Capital while you force appreciate a property you live in is a good way to build equity. When you refinance you can use the funds to buy more properties... it has some BRRR concepts, but not a true BRRR.
- Matthew Irish-Jones
Quote from @Matthew Irish-Jones:
Quote from @Carter Trombley:
Quote from @Matthew Irish-Jones:
Quote from @Carter Trombley:
Hello BP, I have been in this mental loop and hoping for some advice, I am 19 years young and am currently in a partnership on 2 commercial properties located in Buffalo NY. I want to keep in mind that I do most of the renovation and am not a major financial outlet. I also happen to be employed by my partner, I do lots of work for his property maintenance and renovations.
My major concern is when I have a not so large income how can I grow outside of purchasing a property which is not very feasible at the moment. I know this could mean switch to another job to keep learning my trade or taking courses on project management. However I would love to hear more about how others have improved on themselves professionally when in a similar scenario.
P.S. Thank you for taking the time to read and hopefully sharing you knowledge!!
This is a confusing situation. How can you be in partnership and employed by your partner? You own equity in the commercial spaces and get paid to work on them?
You need reliable, on the books W-2 income to invest. Once you have that you can qualify for a low money down loan and buy a double. If the double needs updating and you are handy, you can force appreciate the unit you are living in while paying no or almost no money for the home as your renter covers most of your expenses.
By the time you are done renovating + 3-5 years give or take you have a forced appreciated property. If the market works in your favor you can refinance and buy more investment properties. Now you have started your own little snowball and can keep picking up steam as you add more and more properties.
Let me clarify, yes I am in a partnership with my boss but no I am not paid to work on said properties inanely work for his other properties and on the side we own this real estate venture. Also if I studied right you'd call that method the BRRR correct?
Thanks for clarifying, sounds like you are trading labor for equity. I have been there and done that.
What I am suggesting is more along the lines of house hacking than the BRRR method. The BRRR method takes a lot of Capital. If you are short on Capital, but heavy on sweat equity you want to play to your strengths, so using the banks Capital while you force appreciate a property you live in is a good way to build equity. When you refinance you can use the funds to buy more properties... it has some BRRR concepts, but not a true BRRR.
I understand, this will work well long term if or when I begin investing in residential properties. Currently I am invested in commercial but using sweat equity to force appreciate can still apply!
Quote from @Timothy Smith:
@Carter Trombley welcome to the community. I’m also in Buffalo and would suggest you come check out our monthly meetups, second Wednesday of the month, downtown at Pearl Street Grill. 6pm. There’s usually a post about it on here, so set your alerts to anything “Buffalo”.
I'd be happy to chat with you sometime. This sounds like the kind of thing I enjoy brainstorming over. My first thought is that you are on an awesome path already at only 19 — congrats! There are plenty of opportunities to find mentorship and funding if you know how to leverage your skills. You can get into a Joint Venture (JV) where you bring the deal and sweat equity, and your partner brings the financing. Plenty of people out there have the money for deals, but the lack the time and energy to FIND them. Filling this void has tremendous value. Keep in mind it probably won't be an equal split, because the person with the money is taking most of the risk. So don't expect it to be 50/50. But this is one idea for you. Getting your license, or learning another industry within RE — mortgages, insurance, property management, etc — will help you build a career and connections, as well.
Building a local network is key. I'm just getting started in the area and @Timothy Smith has been a major game changer.
Quote from @Stephanie Bell:
Quote from @Timothy Smith:
@Carter Trombley welcome to the community. I’m also in Buffalo and would suggest you come check out our monthly meetups, second Wednesday of the month, downtown at Pearl Street Grill. 6pm. There’s usually a post about it on here, so set your alerts to anything “Buffalo”.
I'd be happy to chat with you sometime. This sounds like the kind of thing I enjoy brainstorming over. My first thought is that you are on an awesome path already at only 19 — congrats! There are plenty of opportunities to find mentorship and funding if you know how to leverage your skills. You can get into a Joint Venture (JV) where you bring the deal and sweat equity, and your partner brings the financing. Plenty of people out there have the money for deals, but the lack the time and energy to FIND them. Filling this void has tremendous value. Keep in mind it probably won't be an equal split, because the person with the money is taking most of the risk. So don't expect it to be 50/50. But this is one idea for you. Getting your license, or learning another industry within RE — mortgages, insurance, property management, etc — will help you build a career and connections, as well.
Building a local network is key. I'm just getting started in the area and @Timothy Smith has been a major game changer.
Absolutely agree I spoke with him at the last meetup and got some tips on how to improve and keep some momentum!