Hello from the #9 market in the US. Tucson, AZ

[Bao Ma]

Hello everyone!!

I just wanted to introduce myself to the BP community!  My name is Bao Ma.  

I joined BP back in October of 2016 and automatically became a PRO member due to all of the benefits and resources that BP had to offer.  Finding BiggerPockets was the best thing that could happen to me in regards to starting my Real Estate Investment Business.

I come from a background of Convenience Stores and Restaurants.  My family owns and operates Miss Saigon Vietnamese restaurants here in Tucson, AZ.  We have 5 locations, and we also have a Convenience Store, Food Spot Market.  The Convenience store started it all for our family.  My father purchased it back in 1988, and it has given us the capital to open up other businesses.

Anyways, I finally decided to get into Real Estate due to the fact that I wanted Time back in my life.  For those that have owned restaurants or liquor stores,  you know that your time is taken up by the business.  I have 2 beautiful girls, the ages of 3 and 8, that I realized that if i didn't make a change. I would miss the best years of their lives by always working too much and missing out on the small moments that make life memorable.

So i took the plunge on October 11, 2016.  I was able to start off in real estate with a substantial amount of money.  $250k.  Went to the auction steps to purchase some foreclosed properties.  Boy was that an experience!!  All the good deals were being driven up by 3 of the local heavy hitters.  Every property that i had my eye on, went way past my max allowable bid.  I kept to my numbers and simply let them go.

That was until the last house that came up for auction.  It was a property in AJO, AZ.  Bidding started off at $1000.00, so i decided jumped in and bid on it.  Final purchase price= $10,000.00, nobody wanted it, even the other heavy hitter that was bidding against me.  She laughed at me when she finally called it quits. 

I was shocked that i was able to acquire a 2 bed/1 bath, 900 sq ft home for $10,000 in AZ. This property was the best initial investment that I could have gotten. Reason being: 1) cheap price. 2) Small footprint, the rehab wasn't overwhelming. 3) The drive that we had to make each week gave me the opportunity to listen to over 12 hours of BP podcasts! 4) I made 95% ROI on this flip!!

We put in $14k for the entire rehab, which was a complete gut-out.  Did all of the work ourselves.  This was possible because my brothers and I built 4 restaurants and have all tools and knowledge that was required to fix things properly. Total investment = $24,500 we are about to close on the property in a couple of weeks at a sale price of $49,999. Net profit $20,000 (minus closing costs).

I have to say that the best learning tool for any new investor are the BP Podcasts.  They are filled with so much valuable information.  It just blew my mind away and i was able to absorb so much information during the 3 weeks that it took us to REHAB the property.

I've been able to acquire a total of 4 properties in the 4 months that i have been doing REI. Sold 2 properties, 1 rental, and 1 in the process of rehabbing.

Right now I'm focused on Fix and Flip properties.  My brothers and I have a good team going, we know what our roles are and we don't step on each others toes.  I am also fortunate enough to have found someone that has become my mentor and business partner.  He has helped me a lot in the short amount of time that I've been doing this.  Thank you Bob!

I'll be more active on BP from now on as I realize how important it is to network and meet people that are willing to help each here on the BP community.

See you all around!

Bao