My Inaugural BiggerPockets 2015 Year!

[Rollan Dizon]

Happy New Year BiggerPockets community. It's been a while since I posted, which doesn't  mean I have "fizzled" or fell flat in my quest for real estate riches and financial freedom :) 

Quite the contrary, this community continue to give me inspiration and motivation to continue with real estate investing; and more importantly, allow me to connect with like minded individuals. I would like to think that I have not only built strong members in my real estate investing team, but became friends as well. I owe all of this to the community here.

I would like to highlight my year in hopes that I look back from the future, and allow me to see my humble beginnings.

My first deal, I posted in the forums was my Birmingham Colonial, which remain one of my favorite properties.

I started my real estate investing career with Cash Flow Savvy, a turnkey provider in Southern California. In working with Cash Flow Savvy, I was hoping to connect with key team members, and this proved true. I acquired this property through their partnership with Alliance Wealth Builders. It is located in a premium Birmingham neighborhood, a big property (5/2/2 Finished basement) so I did sacrifice cap rate at 7.25%, with CoC of 10%. Fortunately, we bought this property with an equity capture of 12% (from appraised value), providing 57% return from my initial cash outlay in the form of equity on top of cash flow. The property has been performing very well, Alliance's property management arm, REI, has been absolutely excellent in communication and management of this property.

I felt very good with this acquisition that I made another purchase through Cash Flow Savvy, that introduced and connect me to @Steve Lawson. I purchased this Indianapolis property unleveraged, and Steve's team has been my property manager since day 1. I have to say that Steve's team has been absolutely excellent. Everything has been extremely smooth since the property was turned over to me in August. I love the property management programs that @Steve Lawson have put in place that include quarterly visits to the property with a handyman to take care of any maintenance issues for our resident. The number on this property are the following, 8% Cap rate and CoC (unleveraged), equity capture of 12% (based on recent sales in the neighborhood), which is another 13% return on my cash in the form of equity. Here is my property in Indianapolis:

Without skipping a beat, I went with another cash purchase through Cash Flow Savvy in Birmingham that connected me with @Jarrod Cook with Decas. This is my first experience with taking in a Section 8 tenant; I do trust that @Jarrod Cook and the team in Decas screened their tenants well. Although it has been challenging going through Section 8 inspections, I appreciated Jarrod and his team staying on top of it, and very happy that Cash Flow Savvy stood by their repairs and warranty and absorbed the bulk of the costs to make the property ready for Section 8 tenants. My returns for this property is 8% cap rate unleveraged, with 25% equity capture, adding a return of 36% on my cash in the form of equity capture.  Here is property in Birmingham:

After 3 properties, I thought my appetite for real estate would be satisfied...until you realize you have the "bug".  As I continue to read forum posts, blogs in BiggerPockets, I found myself drawn to the Marketplace. Through this Marketplace, I was able to connect with @James Wise whom I recognized as someone with a lot of credibility and very active in the community. Without hesitation, I reached out to him and his team member, Jason Horton, and they opened my eyes to the opportunity in Cleveland (the Golden State Warriors is still the best team in the planet) and its surrounding suburbs. I contracted on a duplex from James' personal portfolio, and was thrilled with the numbers. This property has 11% Cap rate, 22% CoC, and added another 35% return from my cash in the form of equity. This property is fully occupied, and I look forward to worry free management through Holton Wise Property Group.

Eyes wide open, I worked closely with Jason Horton at Holton Wise. He sent out an email blast of offerings, one of which captured my attention. With this duplex property in Garfield Heights, we should (closed on 12/24, undergoing light reno) be able to achieve 13% Cap rate, 22% CoC, another 51% return on my cash in the form of equity. This happens to be my wife's favorite property so far (glad that she is coming on board!!!)

The deals don't stop there. I fell in love with the numbers and neighborhood in Parma, Ohio. I needed to get a signature property. I worked again closely with Jason Horton, and we were able to find this property (I noticed it in a BiggerPocket listing from Holton Wise), and quickly got this in contract. With Jason's skilled negotiation skills, we were able to get this duplex in Parma that should yield 11% Cap, 17% CoC (after cost of renovations), and an additional equity return on my cash of 42%. This is one of my favorites.

What an inaugural year! With quality professionals I have connected with here in BiggerPockets, the richness of Podcast and Blog content...I spent a whopping $0 on real estate guru seminars...instead using my funds directly for investment. I am not naive enough to think that everything will go ever so smoothly, but I feel good about the team I have, the diversification of properties in my portfolio, that I look forward to seeing what challenges are ahead.

Thank you BiggerPockets!!!