What did you do after buying your first property?

Question

Hi everyone!

I bought my first rental property last year got it renovated and rented out. I’m excited about the journey and what is coming up next. It has been a while since I’ve gone to meetups and discussed a lot about real estate. I was looking for insight and just curious how everyone is doing in their journey especially during the pandemic. My questions are:

What did you do after buying your first property? What were some issues you had along the way and how did you resolve it?

How long did it take you to buy your next property? What are you doing now in real estate?

What are some of the goals that you want to reach by the end of this year or next year?

I appreciate everyone’s responses and looking forward to talking to one another.

Isaac Pepper · Answer

@Dylan Huynh

After the first one was purchased and rented I went a year to feel out LTR in buy and hold real estate. It confirmed it was the route for me. I had issues with a clay tile sewer line that had severe root infiltration. I ended up replacing it, and wish I had done it sooner. I also placed poor tenants due to inadequate screening and a urge to fill the vacancy fast. I ended up evicting and replacing the ruined carpet with floating floor. Now the rent is 15% higher with the new tenant.

I purchased the next property a year after the first, once I knew I wanted to continue in real estate. I am continuing to purchase cash flowing value add properties for LTR buy and hold.

My current goals are to close on another property that will cashflow no less than $200 per door per month. Also I need to obtain another loan so I can quit my job. My recognizable income after I quit will not qualify me for regular loans.

Steven Foster Wilson · Answer

I spent the next year learning from YouTube how to renovate. Spent 80 hour weeks working my ass off. Then I refinanced and got nearly $100k back, just enough to pay off $50k of credit card debt and buy my next property!

Brenden Mitchum · Answer

@Dylan Huynh

Those are fantastic goals. Make sure you write them out and set smaller goals that lead up to them. Sometimes it can be hard to digest and take real action on huge goals. Breaking them down into quarterly, monthly & even weekly goals can help with that a lot. Since you're not entirely sure of what direction you want to go and you're not heavily capitalized, networking and education should be the focus. Also, work on different mindset activities. Just reading Rich Dad is not enough. Reading other mindset books will help too but also read business books to get yourself in that business mindset when it comes to RE. Like I said before, just surround yourself with real estate and opportunities will come.

Let me know if you have any questions along the way or just want to chat RE!

Zambricki Li · Answer

Depends on your current situation. If you have another career going as well, adjust as needed.  I'm a "dollars over doors" investor. Racking up properties to me only makes sense in a down market, or potentially in an "alternative" space like mobile, storage, or larger deals.  I did 1 multi a year for almost a decade(while having a main career) and am now ramping up to bigger stuff, developing land, and working full time as an agent. If I could go back in time I would have brrr's galore though I wasn't hip to BP until this year. I was a lone wolf. Hunting deals on Christmas Eve while the rest of the world was drunk on wine. I still would not buy a house that needed a reno to make $1-200 a month.  It's quality of deal more than # of deals, in my investment strategy.

If it's not a hell yes, it's a no.

Dylan Huynh · Answer

Hey @Brenden Mitchum!

That is an amazing achievement and congratulation to your success.

Currently, the goals I have is to network more because after purchasing my first property, I was feeling a little overwhelmed trying to do everything myself and not asking for help. I believed this has slowed me down because I didn't have much influence or insight on a lot of thing, when many of the problems I have had have been dealt with so many times.

My other goal buy my next property or help a relative of my find a BRRRR or flip depending on the property. This will help me gain experience and gives me an idea what exact direction I want to go in with also no money down. So I am in the process of looking for foreclosures and driving for dollar to find something.

Brenden Mitchum · Answer

Hey @Dylan Huynh!

This is a fantastic topic! Not enough people talk about that second or third property, especially in the BP community. I feel like there is such a hyper-focus on that FIRST property; like once you get that first, the rest just start falling into place. I agree to some extend that getting the first is usually the hardest just in terms of time spent since the learning curve is huge starting out in real estate. But we're also living in a time that is much different than 10 years ago (or even 2 years ago). It can be even harder to line up that second property right now if you did your first pre-COVID, especially if you're in a hot major metro.

I, too, purchased my first property last year. Technically, it was during COVD, not pre-COVID. This was a house hack and our plan is to purchase 1/year here in Atlanta. As we get towards the 1-year mark, sticking to this plan is less and less of a priority. Since the first, I have gone full-time as a REALTOR® and am focusing most of my time on helping clients achieve their investing dreams here.

I have also joined a group that invests in mobile home communities and we're soon closing on our 3rd property together. While my piece of the pie is very very small, this is an opportunity to get a foot in the door in the space and also learn a ton. So, I suppose it took me about 10 months to get into my second property and this really just came from networking and being present within the community. Like you, I have not attended an in-person event since COVID. However, there are so many fantastic online communities that have exploded during this time. Turns out, it's even easier to network now than it was before. You can find groups on FB that are targeted for your area and even investment niche. You can find folks on here talking about exactly the kind of topics you're interested in. So, don't let COVID stop you from networking even better than you did before.

My #1 goal at the start of this year was to buy a mobile home community. Oddly enough, I decided early on that this goal would take a backseat as I focus on building my real estate sales business. I'd also set a goal to close 21 transactions in 2021 and was at a grand total of 0 sales at the end of March. I didn't actually close my first sale of the year until the very end of May, months after I decided to focus all my energy on this real estate goal. As we near the end of Q3, I'm confident I will exceed this goal.

I haven't been in the game long but am quickly finding out how important flexibility and networking is. However, the importance of those two pales in comparison to the importance of persistence. Surround yourself with the people and the business as much as possible, keep learning and success will follow.

Congrats on your success in 2020, Dylan, but as we get close to the end of 2021, what do you want to accomplish this year? What are your goals and next steps to reach those goals?

Dylan Huynh · Answer

Hi @Isaac Pepper

If you don't mind me asking, what do you use to screen your tenants now?

That's also what I look for in properties is the cashflow. It is very important so that I can replace my income and keep doing what I am doing. I want to achieve that financial freedom and not worry about being in an office.

Good luck on your endeavors Isaac

What did you do after buying your first property?

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