Ben from Ohio

[Ben Franta]

Hey all!  

I am 29 years old and currently live in NE Ohio.  I do not have much to offer you guys for I am just a rookie investor right now. I have 2 college degrees which I am proud of but they really did not teach me anything about creating wealth - which I am now finding is pretty important in the real world! 

My super short investing history:  My wife and I went from paying rent in an apartment to an Owner Occupied duplex (which we lived in for 14 months) to currently a traditional single family home.  Our plans were to keep our duplex and then move into a single family home until I discovered lenders would need us to have 6 months of mortgage payments in reserve in our bank account for our duplex AND the single family home.  The rent from our tenants in our duplex only offset the mortgage payment by a little more than half (totaling about the same as we were paying in the apartment) so we really didn't have the opportunity to set aside money for the future (oops!).  If I could go back in time, I would have been searching for a better deal or a 3-4 unit property to help cover the mortgage payments and help us better manage the property while being able to save some money as well.  

Current situation:  So we are now in a single family home, nothing fancy but the mortgage is even more than our apt and duplex (great spot to be in, right!? HA).  We just added a new member to our family (baby boy) and we are trying to see if my wife can stay at home to watch our newborn.  Childcare would completely consume her current job income so it would not make sense for her to go back to her job.  In the meantime, I am working full-time while figuring out options to dig ourselves out of a few not so great financial decision holes!

Goal:  Move into a multifamily property that would at least cover the entire mortgage payment.  Eliminate outstanding debts/save money and keep working out the flabby financial muscle part of my brain!

What would you do? 

Glad I found this place!

Ben      

[Melissa N.]

Congrats on the baby boy and making the decision to change your path today! First, I'd say focus on the positive. You've learned some important lessons - don't forget them and use them as your 'why' when the temptation to stop comes. 

First, educate yourself on how to evaluate a deal. There is a ton of great resources. If you are looking to buy multi-family deals here is how I educated myself:

1. BP Podcast (and the BP calculators are a MUST. Analyze a ton of deals using the calcs and you'll learn what is good and what is bad pretty quickly)

2. JakeandGino.com (create a credibility book - you've done a deal and learned - more than most!)

3. Themichaelblank.com (10-minute offer is great and he has a letter of intent you can use when making offers)

4. Morrisinvest.com podcast for motivation (they do turn keys but I love his freedom number info).

Ohio has some great cash flowing areas so you are in a position for success. Education plus action and you will do well. Good luck!