Newbie from Columbus, Ohio

[Tevin Jones]

My names is Tevin Jones. Im 21 years of age. I was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio and moved to Columbus, Ohio two years ago. Im working toward getting my Bachelor's degree in Economics with a minor in Finance.

Im a few years from getting my degree so in the meantime i'm just trying to learn as much about real estate as i can. Specifically multi-family buy and hold investments. I'm also trying to build my network.

I joined BiggerPockets recently but I've known about the site for about 5 years dating back to when I was 16. When I was 16 a guy named Floyd McCarver hired me to work for his company Manumit Enterprises. At the time the company was doing foreclosure cleanouts and Floyd took me under his wing and taught me alot about foreclosures (securing properties, doing repairs to HUD specs, meeting deadlines, etc.), dealing with banks, different general tips and tricks to working with real estate, etc.

Ever since i was in elementary I would watch all the house flipping shows and house renovation show.  I would frequently watch the DIY Network and HGTV too. My neighbor growing up Rick, owned a construction company and would let me go to the jobsites with his crew and work/teach me things like putting vinyl side on a house, roofing, pouring a concrete foundation for a driveway or garage. I also helped my dad with different projects that he had around the house.

Fast forward to today, I have been working at Enterprise Rent-A-Car for about two years as a Vehicle Service Agent. I'm in school full time. I just started my first real estate company, Invicta Realty LLC, back in May. My plan for that company right now is to buy rental properties in the Under 30k range using cash if the price is low enough or using seller financing. I'm looking at properties from craigslist, the Columbus landbank, and properties which I would have to contact the owner directly and make a deal happen (like properties that are not for sale but boarded up, abandoned, or just vacant). Then i'll use business credit in the name of my company (which i'm building as we speak) to buy the materials that will be needed to renovate the properties and i'll plan on doing most of the work myself. After that i'll rent the property out and pass the management portion to a property management company so that I could rinse and repeat the process of aquiring the properties and fixing them up so I can grow the rental portfolio. Eventually the plan is to switch from duplexs to 50+ unit apartment complexes.

[Jerry Xiong]

Hi Tevin!

I'm Jerry, and I am a recent graduate from OSU with a degree in Finance. I too have aspirations of owning a portfolio of rental properties. I bought a HUD home when I was still in school and have recently acquired a property near the university. If you've worked at Enterprise for over 2 years you should be able to qualify for a mortgage provided you have been building your credit. I was able to secure a mortgage immediately after college using the income at my job, even though I did not have 2 years history with the company.

You seem to be very ambitious, and I think it would really help you if you decided to get your real estate license. There's a 6 week program at Hondros College that gives you the credits needed to take the real estate exam, but if you're in school you can check with your advising office to see if a real estate course that you took can count towards the education requirement (I know real estate principles at Ohio State counts). 

Good luck and welcome to BP! I am sure that we will cross paths here in Columbus one day. 

Jerry