Orlando/Disney area...back in the game...

[Michael Hassell]

Hello Bigger Pockets!

Folks, I found my way to BP's through another money blog...so glad to be here. I've been looking for a forum to nurture my investing side and a place to share my limited knowledge...I really hope (think) I have found it.

I will share a cliff notes version of my short real-estate resume. I'm happy to report a few successes, and I will share a couple of my hopes and road blocks.

I have made money on every house I've ever bought, and helped family to make some real money when buying/selling. At heart, I'm happiest when working through house problems like rebuilding a kitchen, fixing a bad layout, or sprucing up a property. I like clutching a hammer and building something.

1. My very first real-estate deal was as an owner occupant of a HUD home back in the mid 90's. The house was boarded up and actually had grow lights in two bedrooms (I'm sure that was for the production of ficus tree's...couldn't have been anything illegal :) ). The whole first year was spent waiting for "customers" to arrive...thankfully none ever did. We purchased this property below market at around $41K, borrowed $9K to fix it up, rented it out for a bit when we moved out and sold about two years later at $69K. I remember the deal fondly and think of the house as a home because we brought our first child there when she was born and it is the place we sort of founded our family...warm memories. The kitchen and bath were redone, windows and AC replaced, and paint and carpet were added to this property. I did every bit of the work and loved every minute of it.

2. A few years later I lucked into a lease option home just on the outskirts of what would prove to be an up and coming neighborhood. I think I got in for first and last months rent plus a security deposit and I negotiated a purchase option that was extendable for a year (2 years total). This $64k fixer upper required windows all around (it would become a theme for me), new roof, new AC, and refinished hardwood floors. This was right around 2000 and I rode the wave of increasing values I would later, maybe 24 months, self list this house at $109K and sell for $105K....the proceeds would help finish house number 4 below...

3. House number three was a true fix and flip. This home had been subdivided into an illegal commercial establishment as it was the last house in a neighborhood but fronted a busy through street. This ugly little house required new windows all around, laminate floors, new kitchen cabinets, and a roof over. I would also repaint the whole thing and even installed a gravel driveway. The best part of this deal was the lease option I used to secure the property. It was another first and last months rent with an executable purchase option that spelled out my intent to re-hab and sell the property ASAP. I managed to complete the work, market myself, and sell the house in 90 days. Best part was when this realtor showed up with a buyer and he tried to explain to me that it was "illegal for me to try and sell a house I didn't own". I asked him how many of the houses he had sold that he didn't own then I inquired how he was still loose on the streets! :) In fairness, the deal was unique enough that I had to spend a few dollars on a dirt lawyer explaining the finer points to the title company, but when the dust settled the realtor got his 3%, the new owner got a rehabbed house, and I walked away with just over $30K which I plowed into my next property...an actual build.

4. From a very young age I have heard stories of how both my grandfathers actually built their own houses. I think there has always been an element of both nature and nurture in my longing to be competent enough to accomplish that for myself. With some of the cash from #3, I found a cheap property through the local RIA. The lot was in a little Central Florida town I had never even heard of, but the price was right and the impact fee structure was super attractive. This was right around 2003-04. I bought a simple cottage style plan online, got a local architect to slightly alter the foundation and seal the plan, and set to work with a shovel digging the foundation. With he money from #2 and #3 above, plus the occasional small loan or gift from my parents I built this 1500 square foot home essentially by myself. Before the home was finished (total cost right at $65K) I was offered $160K for it. I probably should have let the potential buyer select their colors and tossed them the keys, but I really wanted the satisfaction of living there for a time so I turned them down. This was mid 2007 when everything was selling at a frantic pace and listed homes in my area routinely sold for thousands more than the asking price and bid wars were common...a real sellers market if ever there was one.

5. At the height of the frenzy, my parents inherited a home and requested i help them with a relatively light rehab and sell it. This home was just south of downtown Orlando, a pretty hot area. My Aunt who was in the real-estate business locally for over 30 years, was convinced that anything over $130K for this home was impossible. Following my rehab and guidance we sold the home for $220K. I hated seeing the family homestead go, but I was really proud of the accomplishment in helping my family obtain top dollar for the asset. The windows I installed in this house were actually some as new windows I salvaged from a cross town teardown. The market was such that people were completing refurbish on older 1950's homes only to see them torn down in favor of two story mini-mansions. As I recall I bout something like 15 brand new windows for $100 plus the time to remove them...these windows were used to rehab house #5 and helped to secure the high selling price.

6. Home number six was actually the first home my parents bought when they were married (late 1960's), it had been a rental for them for some time and required a full rehab. Only one new window in this one, but I learned anew the joys of electrical work, painting, and floor refinishing.

7. House number 7 is my most recent acquisition. #6 above was too heavily leveraged when the downturn of 2008 hit. Mom and Dad would walk away from a short sale essentially without a place to live (lots of other personal factors that aren't really relevant to a real estate discussion played a hand). But that doesn't take away from the remodel experience and the satisfaction felt at refurbishing the home I grew up in. Since they needed a place to stay I decided to add a mother in law suite to my residence (house #4 above). After starting it in 2009 the market had completely soured. A cute home only a few blocks from me came up, a real diamond in the rough, I managed to negotiate an incredible deal on this house with a low payment on a 4 year note owner financed. I bought it and moved Mom and Dad in for the cost of the monthly mortgage. Once paid they will live in it rent free until they no longer choose to, covering the taxes. The home will eventually be mine to do with as I please. Sort of an inheritance I helped create. Work continues on this home....and you guessed it, all new windows were involved! Currently I'm finishing the bathroom and we are looking at a mother in law suite on this home that can be rented out or used by other family...it's really proving to be among my very best investments.

So that, in a nutshell, is my real estate resume. I wish to take what I've learned and really leverage it, but I have made some missteps. In 2007 I decided to go back to school and became a Paramedic, I loved the job but found I couldn't balance OK pay with acceptable work conditions. With an older child about to enter College, I found EMS simply un-lucrative and I switched gears. I finished my Bachelors degree, found a low level management job, and recently even completed my MBA (while foolishly going into debt to do it...I know, I know, at least it isn't a huge crushing amount of debt). Despite my self improvement I'm still not where I need to be financially, that's what I hope to change.

I need to find some deals like the above to fix my current situation. I then need to leverage that into some buy and hold rentals so I can secure a bright future for myself and my family. I know others who have done this, I know I have the basic skills to achieve it, but I just haven't been able to put the pieces completely together. My local RIA seems to pitch guru help for thousands of dollars and is full of folks wholesaling properties, but I lack cash. I feel like they all want to sell me something, but have limited interest in my personal success...that may not be fully fair, but it's my current view.

So that's my story....it's the chain of events that's brought me here. I'm open to constructive criticism, networking opportunities, creative ideas, partnerships....anything that might prove to move me forward. I will openly share any knowledge and ideas I have to help build up other members. Really happy to be in the company of like minded people.

Best,

Mike