Newbie from the suburbs of Buffalo, NY

Newbie from the suburbs of Buffalo, NY

Eden, NY · Member since 2016 · 9 posts · 3 votes

Hello everyone! My name is John Sheffer. I am from Eden NY, a small town about a half an hour south of Buffalo NY. I have no experience in real estate investing but am eager to learn. I have been working in the construction industry as a bricklayer for the past 19 years. My father who, has been in business for 35 years owns the company. It has been a blessing for me in many ways. One of the biggest ways is being able to question other trades on job sites about work I am doing on my own home. I really enjoy the feeling of accomplishment, and pride for the work that I do. With that said, I don’t think that my quality of life will be very good if I continue to abuse my body the way that I do and I want to be able to enjoy my retirement. That is a big part of why for several years now I have been lazily contemplating getting into the business of rental properties. I have noticed how so many of the companies that we do work for have rental properties and have taken note of how their wealth has grown.

So, what has finally kicked me in the butt to no longer “lazily contemplate”?

My wife and I have had our first child (he is two now) and we are outgrowing our house. Although I never aspired to be a rental property owner for SFRs after putting the numbers together I thought that maybe our house could be the starting point for us. That thought made me do what so many others out there do. Go to Google. Google then brought me to Brandon Turners book “ The Book on Rental Property Investing” (listening to it for the third time), which lead to the BP podcast, which lead me to “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” which has fired me up. Right now my thirst for knowledge has not been quenched. I have been downloading books and listening to podcasts like crazy. I hope to gain knowledge and wisdom from all here that are wiling to share and eventually I hope to be one of the many success stories here on BP.

Cheers! John

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Specialist · Rockland, MA · Member since 2010 · 7k+ posts · 2k+ votes
10y

@John W Sheffer Jr

Welcome. My Dad was a Boston jake. Fill in the foundation below.

Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.

Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers who provide deals and rehabbers (cash buyers). Find them through Google and meetup.com

Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses, The Book on Estimating ReHab Costs http://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

Download BP’s newest book here some good due diligence in Chapter 10. Real Estate Rewind Starting over

http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/brandonatbp/file/real-estate-rewind-a-biggerpockets-community-book

Good Luck

Paul 

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  • Specialist · Rockland, MA · Member since 2010 · 7k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    10y

    @John W Sheffer Jr

    Welcome. My Dad was a Boston jake. Fill in the foundation below.

    Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

    Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.

    Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers who provide deals and rehabbers (cash buyers). Find them through Google and meetup.com

    Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses, The Book on Estimating ReHab Costs http://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

    Download BP’s newest book here some good due diligence in Chapter 10. Real Estate Rewind Starting over

    http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/brandonatbp/file/real-estate-rewind-a-biggerpockets-community-book

    Good Luck

    Paul 

  • Realtor · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2016 · 28 posts · 20 votes
    10y
    Hi John; Another Western New Yorker here! Welcome to bigger pockets! Don't forget to use the keywords feature on your account. I find Buffalo and WNY helpful, but you might want to add Eden, masonry, or other keywords topical to you. ~Jerry
  • Engineer · Chicago, IL · Member since 2012 · 183 posts · 22 votes
    10y
    Welcome to BP John W Sheffer Jr .Keywords is a powerful tool on the forums. It allows you to quickly reply and network with local or non local investors. Good luck and happy investing!
  • Mike HurneyPro Member
    Real Estate Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 542 votes
    10y

    @John W Sheffer Jr Welcome.

    Good strategy, sounds familiar...

  • Eden, NY · Member since 2016 · 9 posts · 3 votes
    10y

    @Paul Timmins 

    Thanks for the helpful welcome Paul. I'm not a paid fireman, I do it voluntarily to help out in my community. I'm glad you tipped me off to the BP Ultimate Beginner's Guide. I missed that when I was wandering about the site when I first joined. I have already bought both J. Scott books and they should be here tomorrow. I'm excited to dive into them. 

    @Jerry Ciesielski

    @Jerry Ciesielski

    Hi Jerry, Thank you for the welcome. While looking around the site I found the keyword tool and think it's great! I have several keywords up and running for me. 

    Out of curiosity, what exactly is a "Foreclosure Specialist"? Do you actually handle foreclosing on property or do you purchase foreclosures yourself?

    @Ramon Fyffe

    @Ramon Fyffe

    Thanks Ramon! I have my keywords all set up although, I'm not 100% sure I'm prepared to network with local investors. I am trying to educate myself as best I can so that I don't go out and give people a poor impression of myself with lack of knowledge. 

    @Mike Hurney

    @Mike Hurney

    Thank you Mike! I thought it might be a good strategy although, after running the Cap Ex numbers I'm not so sure. The Cap Ex I came up with is almost 20% and gives me a negative cash flow. I need to reevaluate some of my information and see if I'm missing something.

  • Realtor · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2016 · 28 posts · 20 votes
    10y

    @John W Sheffer Jr

    John; I'm actually a more of an an "Acquisitions Manager" for a small development company, dealing mostly, but not always, with foreclosures, distressed, and fixer-upper properties.

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