I took a 5 yr hiatus and not sure where to start again

[Azita S.]

I live in Portland OR and since the market has always been hot here, I decided to invest out of state.

I started investing in RE in 2013 and when the market was down I bought 2 SF in Peoria AZ and they are being managed by an amazing PM.  I've have 0 vacancies, no major repairs and they cash flow OK.  I don't remember the last time I talked to the PM. On 5th of each month I receive my direct deposit and the statements are loaded to the owner portal!  So totally hands off. 

Then in 2015 I bought SF home in Milwaukee WI, flipped it (long distance, never met with any contractors) and made $50K.  

Then I purchased 10 rental units in the inner city Milwaukee WI (5 duplexes) which were a huge mistake.  They quickly became money pits, high vacancy rate, lots of evictions, tenants trashed the units each time, dishonest PM's one after another, so the units never cash flowed and I tried for 3 years to unload them, but I was getting offers from local investors for less than what I paid for, not including all the repairs and upgrades.  I was on the phone constantly with PM's, city inspectors, tenants calling me directly, .... just a huge headache.  

Having to deal with these units, I decided to put a break on purchasing more since I felt like a total failure for a while. 

This summer, after working with an agent for 2+ years, I finally sold the Milwaukee units. I took a loss, but also learned invaluable lessons in RE investment. 

I've parked the $$ in a CD and have taken a break.  I own a non-RE business full time, have a young kid and a busy family life, so my next investment needs to be a no headache investment (buy and hold).  I'm self-employed, so my goal is to purchase enough rentals over time to have a nice retirement income. My goal is $150K in cash flow in order to retire. 

I'm back on the Bigger Pockets to start my research into the next chapter in RE investment. I'm interested in learning about possibly purchasing a vacation rental that we'll use ourselves and Airbnb it other times. or maybe couple of SF in AZ to have the same PM manage and be hands off.  

I consider myself a newbie and here to learn from the pros. 

[Marcus Auerbach]

Originally posted by @Steve O.:

@Michael Skoczylas I believe finding the deal is the hardest problem. Past 3 months, I’ve spoken to 10 re agents telling them to find me a deal. Not 1 called me back knowing I can close.

Are you suprised? 

My best deals go to my best clients - because I know they will understand the deal. I have learned that lesson early: most new investors lack the context and experience. They will look at an exceptional deal and ask me if I have something better. Or they can't make up their mind. I invest a lot of time and energy into my investor clients - the goal is to educate them, so they know as much as possible of what I know. 

I am a full time agent, we manage our portfolio in house (with an assistant) and I typically have 1 or 2 construction projects going on at any point of time. Time is my most limited ressource, so I am very careful, who I invest it in. Certainly not in someone who calls ten agents.

The other thing you need to understand is that agents generally don't know the first thing about investing. I mentor young agents and they all want to work with investors, because they don't understand what that means. This industry has a drop out rate of almost 90% in the first year; if an agent has been in the business for more than 3 years he/she is a seasoned veteran. The national average is 7 deals per year. Finding a good agent is not easy, finding one who also happens to understand investing is even harder. I know, because I have worked with probably 20 different agents trying to find someone who knew more than I did. I finally got licensed myself.

Finding a great agent is your #1 mission. And once you have found a good fit, you have to invest time and energy to build a relationship and mutual trust. If you can't trust your agent and your agent does not trust you, you are not going anywhere. 

Hope this makes sense and helps you going forward!