I'm new, here's the story, here we go!

[Jon Ignatowski]

Before I even begin my introduction, I would just like to express my appreciation for the BiggerPockets community.  I have been a voracious lurker since October, and the enlightenment I have received thus far has been overwhelming. I have reached a point, however, where I need to stop lurking and start acting.

My name is Jon Ignatowski, I grew up in Rochester, NY, and graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2012. Since that time, I've been through a million different jobs, and have learned a million different things in the process.

For one thing, I've become especially skilled at personal finance and frugality. I can fix anything on a car (I have a 95' Subaru with 217k), I hunt for my meat, I've built structures, and I'm very resourceful when it comes to solving a problem. I'm not afraid of living very simply.

The issue is, I have not made much money in the process, nor was I ever really that concerned. I recently picked up Young, Fabulous, and Broke, my first exposure to investing and financial planning. Rich Dad Poor Dad was the next primer, and since then, I have had an insatiable desire to read everything about real estate.

Here's my current situation:

I'm not a city person by any means (I've tried). My goal is to own at least 100 acres of land, preferably in the sticks. I don't have consistent w-2 income for any bank to even think about lending me money, let alone letting me through the door.

My plan:

My target community is Potsdam, NY. This community is seriously removed from civilization, but also the home to four universities / colleges. It's a small but very stable community. I'm mostly interested in buy-and-hold.

I'm looking to settle into a more stable job with regular w-2, but heck, I don't have the patience to wait two years to start investing. I've read a lot about owner financing, and I think that is the only option I have, aside from finding a partner. 

Or marrying rich.

I don't have much capital, which makes things trickier. I couldn't afford a large down payment, and for that matter, a down payment at all.

Thus, it seems like my optimal situation is to find a congenial retired couple who are willing to owner finance with little to no down. The property has to be in decent condition since I don't have rehab capital, but the property also has to be optimal for house-hacking.

The crux: I want to take the leap into RE. I have the confidence to take care of myself in hard times, and I know I have the ambition and skills to create prosperous times. I just need start, and I have to make the right start.Any thoughts or ideas are welcomed!

[David Faulkner]

Originally posted by @Jon Ignatowski:

@David Faulkner

I'm now very curious about your story, specifically, what growth strategies you use to prevent yourself from being rocked by market volatility. Is there a past blog post you can point me to?

I got started house hacking, local, hands on, learn as you go, everything under my immediate control, expanding at a conservative but steady pace as my knowledge, skills, and capital allowed ... learned risk management actually from my career as a spacecraft systems engineer ... basically, you methodically map out all of the risks (ways things can go wrong) then reverse engineer your investment and financial position in that investment to hedge, mitigate, or all together avoid these risks. If you can't make that work, you don't try to force the deal, you walk away and look for another ... you will walk away much much more often than you will buy, and that is ok and as it should be. This means having adequate margin of safety (profit margin), it means having multiple exit strategies (plan A rent it, plan B flip it, etc.), it means maintaining adequate cash reserves (to handle unforseen CapEx, vacancy, etc.). Learn to think in percentages, not absolutes. Run your plan and forecasts for each property from purchase all the way out to the exit (sale or cash out refi all your initial investment) with multiple profitable off ramp opportunities along the way.

One mistake I see repeatedly is this obsession with cash flow to the exclusion of everything else. Yes, cash flow should not be ignored and is an important thing, but it is not the only thing. Day one cash flow is not the same as cash flow 10 years from now ... you need to make sure it is increasing on an inflation adjusted basis and that goes to the quality and long term supply & demand fundamentals of the neighborhood (hint: quality neighborhoods don't cash flow as well day 1, but do better +10 years). Quality of cash flow is as important (I'd argue more important) than the quantity ... a property in the hood may cash flow like crazy on paper, but good luck collecting rent and keeping it occupied with a responsible tenant. Cash flow alone will not save you from a down turn, especially if that cash flow is volatile and low quality. As Jay H. on these boards says, in a downturn, rents don't go down, they stop. The other important factors are equity (from down payment, forced appreciation, and/or market appreciation) and cash reserves ... it is a combination of all of these things, consciously managed in an intelligent and complementary way that will save you. I don't have a blog, but there are over 1,000 posts that you can refer too :)