New Investor in Oklahoma City

[Charles Ray]

Good evening everyone.

While technically I have been a member of BiggerPockets since December of last year, I never really provided a proper introduction. So here it goes.

First some thanks are in order. @Joshua Dorkin Thank you so much for putting together BP. There have already been a ton of examples of people who can attribute a significant amount of their success to BP; hopefully I become another one of those success stories. @Brandon Turner (I now realize it looks like you have to be colleagues for the @ link to work) thank you so much for your original blog Real Estate in Your Twenties. It was through your blog that I found BP. @Sam Craven Your podcast interview really lit a fire under me and encouraged me to start down the path I always knew made sense; making a business plan before you plunge in head first. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." @Michael LaCava @J Scott thanks to both of you for your insistence on doing your leg work up front and taking action. To quote @Michael LaCava "You need to create a plan, you need to write it down, you need to start taking action.”

Now that we've cleared that up, my name is Chase and I am an engineer in the oil & gas industry living and working in Oklahoma City, OK. I originally became interested in real estate by listening to a retired Air Force pilot tell me of his simple investment strategy:

1. Move to a new military base
2. Buy a home
3. Get relocated to a new military base
4. Rent and repeat

Fast forward 10 years and I found myself drawn back to real estate after my wife and I went through the process of buying a vacant lot on which to build our home. Shortly thereafter I began researching buy-and-hold real estate by talking with RE investors I know. I never pulled the trigger on a buy-and-hold because I got hung up on my inability to estimate repair costs and never took the logical next step of figuring out how to do that. Then I got side-tracked by a career change that involved significant travel for about 4-1/2 months, at the end of which my wife and I welcomed our first and second children into the world (ask me sometime about getting "the call" while out in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania).

Perhaps it was the podcasts, perhaps it is the new work environment, perhaps it was the realization that in 18 years I'm going to be paying $$$$$ for two college tuitions simultaneously, but I have shifted my focus away from strictly buy-and-hold to a phased approach. As I see it, to be a successful buy-and-hold investor you must be able to:

1. Acquire properties below market value.
2. Accurately estimate and execute rehabs and repairs.
3. Successfully market your properties for rent.
4. Efficiently manage your properties and tenants.

When I first started investigating REI, I had it in my mind that I would do all of those things right out of the gate. I'm sure their are those that would argue in favor of this approach; after all, Aristotle did say, "What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing." But for me, I think it makes more sense to develop a plan for how I will execute one phase, get good at that phase, and then move on to the next phase.

So that is where I am. I am currently working on a business plan for a real estate investment company that seeks to phase in the various forms of REI; wholesaling, rehabbing, renting, and property management. The successful completion of each phase serves as a proof of concept and establishes a deal flow for executing the next phase.

I am trying to go about this the "right way" by doing my due diligence ahead of time so that I reduce the number of times I say, "Well I've accomplished x, now what do I do?" As the saying goes, "The will to win is worthless without the will to prepare."

All thoughts, encouragements, and criticisms are welcomed. Or just a plain "hello" will do :)

-Chase