Strategies for scaling when you're lacking capital at the moment!

[Patrick Flanagan]

Hey All,

I purchased my first rental property year. It's a SFR in Cleveland that cashflows $250 /month.

While I'm definitely stoked with my first purchase, I feel as if I may have to wait years in order to save up for another property, as I spent a good chunk of my funds for the 20% down.

Just wanted to reach out to the community here and see if anyone ever found themselves in the position during their start, and what sorts of creative strategies you used to eventually scale your portfolio.

Thanks!

[Jonathan R.]

@Patrick Flanagan Get creative. How can I? I found a killer deal once and put it under contract with no money by simply showing my 401k balance to the seller as proof of funds. I knew if I had 30 days I’d figure it out. So, I enrolled back in school toward a second master’s degree in order to take a hardship withdrawal on my 401k since I’d already taken loans out that totalled 50% of what was in there. Some might say this doesn’t qualify as a hardship, I argue if you have a negative net worth it is a hardship. I’ve used a local credit union to do a 10k unsecured loan. Student loans accompanied by tuition reimbursement from my employer. I’ve bought properties with little to no rehab money and worked my butt off and paid for materials and labor as I went. I’ve used partners (like someone else mentioned). It sounds like you’ve already done a successful deal, find a brother, aunt, cousin, father, someone in your network to throw down on #2. 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing. If you let your brain work (how can I?) you’ll get there if you really want to.