New Member Introductions
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback
Updated about 8 years ago, 11/16/2016
A novice in real estate investment from Connecticut
Hi,
This is Edward Yao from Hartford area in Connecticut. I am an actuary currently working in an institutional investment management company. Although I have been working in financial services industry many years, I am a beginner in real estate investment.
I got interested in this business quite a while ago but never really started. Due to a personal situation, I started to think seriously last year. I have accumulated some cash that has been sitting in the bank, so I used it to buy two apartments as rental properties. I have an agent helping me but so far there has not been much progress. That is the immediate problem I want to solve.
A few weeks ago, I got a post card from my mail for a real estate investment seminar. I went to the seminar, which raised my interest tremendously. I am a single dad with three kids. I have always wanted to spend more time with my family. So I have an idea of using real estate investment to retire myself from my current job. I came across BiggerPockets from online research and so here I am.
Certainly I want to network and find good partners, leads to good deals, knowledge and advice for me to avoid mistakes, and so on. Lastly but not least, I would like to get more friends as well who have common interest.
Thanks.
Ed
Welcome to BP @Edward Yao
Always great seeing others from the local area in Connecticut on the forums.
Feel free to reach out anytime if you have any questions about our local market or real estate investing in general.
- Michael Noto
Hi Edward,
There is a Central CT meet up of RE investors that meets monthly. If you make "Connecticut" a key word on BP, you will get notified. I go to the Fairfield County one, which is a great networking event without sales pitches.
let me know if I can help you
Hi Edward. I just joined myself. Perhaps we can meet at the next CT REI meeting.
Hi Edward, we are from the same area. I have a rental in E. Hartford and work in downtown Hartford. What did you mean that you bought two properties but your agent isn't making much progress? Fill us in, perhaps? Or shoot me a message.
Either way, if you are looking for an agent, my advice is to find someone with the heart of a teacher and that has investments of his/her own. They will be a great guiding light. That's exactly what my agent, @Rick Santasiere was to me.
Have a good one, and come on out to a BP meet up in Manchester some time!
Filipe Pereira
Thank you, Filipe. The apartment is in a complex near downtown, across from Mark Twin house. It has furnitures because I used to have a close friend live there. It is in a very nice conditions and all furnitures are new. The rent includes everything include utilities and a parking space. My agent told me he has posted ads and has had some showing but has not found tenants with good credit. He has been working on renting it since September. My agent is experienced and has quite a few rental properties himself. But for some reason, he couldn't make good progress on this one. If you have other good realtors to work with, please introduce for me. Thanks
Donna Genovese
Donna, thanks for offering your help. Like I have posted, I need to find a good tenant first for my apartment.
I also need a good attorney to work with. My last one is not very responsive even though I have given him quite a bit of business. I am also looking for an accountant who is good at working with RE investors.
Welcome in from new haven ct and just joined bp.
@Edward Yao. Feel free to reach out. I I would be more than happy to chat with you.
Hi Edward,
Admire your efforts in managing a FT job, REI interests and being a single dad of 3. Hats off to you right there. As I read folks stories like this, if the ultimate goal is passive income to allow you to live your life, there are alternative ways to get into larger apartments (scale / forced appreciation concepts) that can greatly accelerate your cash flow and wealth goals by partnering w/experts in syndicated deals. If you are accredited you can certainly have your cake and eat it too. Leverage the talent, time and effort of others but achieve your dreams, that is very doable. You can still have some active REI interests on the side, but you don't have to do it all yourself. If searching for deals is starting to be hard to find and you value your time w/your kids, something to consider. There are better markets out there as well.
Ultimately, most REI I talk to despite being interested in learning and owning real estate and wanting to be a more educated investor...over time they want to move to a more passive approach to it. I know in my case after owning a handful of SFRs and doing the property mgt, I learned my life and time was more valuable than searching for more properties, dealing w/banks, managing the paperwork and dealing w/resident issues. I moved into larger apartments as a syndicator where we have professional onsite management and asset management oversight that leaves me a ton of time to pursue things I really enjoy. These folks need investors to help w/these acquisitions and you reap the benefits. You put up funds, get to stay up on the project thru sponsor communications and get a check every quarter w/o any hassles.
Hi, David. Thank you very much for the advice. Passive income is certainly my ultimate goal. I am also all for partnering with experts and participating syndicate deals. But as a novice, I have a lot to learn. I don't know if I am qualified to partner and if any expert can sort of show me the way in. Would you be willing to help me with that? I think I am at the border of being accredited. How do I get validated?
Thanks.
@Filipe Pereira @Rick Santasiere
Thank you Filipe.
Rick, I would like to chat with you certainly. What is the best time to call you? Thanks.
Edward
Hi Edward,
In the United States, to be considered an accredited investor, one must have a net worth of at least one million US dollars, excluding the value of one's primary residence, or have income at least $200,000 each year for the last two years (or $300,000 combined income if married) and have the expectation to make the same amount this year.[9] This is the basic criteria. If you make it, I like to have discussions with folks to determine suitability, review their objectives, share some ideas. I do this over about a 30d period, may even share past deals that I'm involved in for educational purposes. It's important to vet the sponsor looking at things like track record, experiences, types of deals they have done (you want value add), markets (you want top performing markets - job/pop growth), etc. Do they have a website, google their names, check on BP for inputs, local MF meetup groups, etc. I enjoy the education part of this. Point you in some directions to look. Reach out to me if you'd like and we can discuss.