Eager Beaver Open Book

[Collin Webster]

Howdy, folks, Collin Webster from Denver/Boulder CO here. Have been listening religiously to the BP podcast the last few months as well as reading extensively on here since I joined. Finally ready to introduce myself and become a part of this thing that has gotten me passionate and addicted to learning about REI. I have a small amount of experience with REI from my past and my goals are, to put it plainly, to grow my portfolio in a stable and secure way, and, of course, to raise the dollar amounts that return to my bank account every month.

Back in 2009 I owned a decently successful produce distribution firm that I used some capital from to buy my first property with the plan of flipping it. I paid cash (a ridiculously small amount, reflecting the market at that time), and put all of the work into it. When I found out how much I could rent it for I decided to hold onto it instead. I did the same with five other properties. I now have seven rentals (five condos, two houses), of which almost all are free and clear. I have an equity-out loan against the property holding both houses (I guess it would be called a multi-family property, although technically it is on one piece of land, including a main house, a carriage house, and a free standing garage), for about 70% of it's value, but otherwise I hold all of the equity in the remaining properties.

I guess right now I am at a turning point in my desire to actively pursue this as a full-time profession. My rental income is enough to support me financially without having to work another job and although I have found a lot of fulfillment in volunteering and doing things that support others in need, I have this growing desire to get back into the thick of things, and the rush of making some dough. I'm in a position where I don't need to make any unsafe moves, and I have enough equity that I should be in a good position to borrow against in order to grow.

My real estate agent buddy and I have recently been looking into some properties in the area in order to do our first fix n flip (I guess technically if we sell it that would be my first experience on the actual flipping side), and are currently building our business plan for investors as well as running properties though our fix n flip formula calculations.

I have SO many questions. i.e.: best way to maintain the properties I already own (trusts, LLC's, together/separate), tax write-offs from the new project influencing my current properties, borrowing vs using my own capital to start the new project, etc., etc. I guess I just wanted to say hello and start interacting with this amazing resource that I would love some day to be able to give back to as well. Look forward to hearing from y'all and starting to network.

Thanks,

Collin