In my Experience.

[Phillip Hunt]

Hi everyone, my name is Phillip Hunt.   I joined bigger pockets about a year ago.  I decided I wanted to invest in real estate about twenty years ago and, about four years ago I finally was in position to do so.  I decided to invest by buying and holding.  After the market crash, started in 2008 I waited till 2010 to be sure the market had really bottomed out. 

      I purchased my first property a 2 and 2 condo 1030 sq ft. for 75k and invested 15k into the rehab.  After all costs it produces close to 300.00 a month positive cash flow.

     I purchased an identical second condo in the same complex for 65k and invested 20k for the rehab.  This property produces just over 300.00 a month positive cash flow. 

In May of this year I purchased a SFH for 120k and will have about 35k in rehab. After the rehab is finished I expect it to bring in 550.00 a month in positive cash flow.

     I curtailed the cost of holding the property till the rehabs have been completed by having my daughter rent the places for herself for whatever the amount of my cost was.  When I put away enough money to buy another property my daughter moved out of the first one and into the second freeing up the previous property to be rehabbed and then rented on the retail market.  It has been a great arrangement,

I put 20% down when buying these three properties and after rehab have fifty or more percent equity in each of them. 

     I used all of my own money and, being a contractor of sorts, did the majority of all the work.  My properties are gorgeous, thanks to my wife's designs, and I have long term tenants who are proud of where they live. 

     Everyone tells me managing your own properties is such a headache.  I find this to be untrue.  If you buy a place in a nice area, renovate that place to be nice and screen your applicants carefully you should have an easy time of it as I have since my first place four years ago.  I actually enjoy managing my own places.    

In the past year I have joined bigger pockets, gone to REIA meetings, and came very close to joining Fortune Builders, which I am very happy I did not. I have of course watched all the shows on television.

The problems I have encountered are: 

Flipping.  Good luck, I am in Tucson AZ. and the market is flooded with flippers and the inventory is now all but exhausted.  Of course few people seem to be buying and holding and the inventory for that is abundant. 

 Private money lenders, No Thanks.  They are hard to find and if you find one I feel like an idiot salesperson trying to convince them to invest.  I will not use them. 

I do not understand how the people on television get their materials and work done so cheaply.  I buy materials on the best deals I can find and do the work myself and it seems like I still spend considerably more money than the people on television do.

The majority of the people at REIA meetings are all people salivating to become millionairs and I wouldn't trust any of them. I quit going to the meetings.

Bigger Pockets member Brandon Turner had a great blog on buying and holding, however he used a perfect model to explain his point and the world is not perfect.  I challenge anyone to buy a duplex or fourplex property put 1000.00 into the property and have a great tenant experience and with the positive cash flow that was suggested. 

     Doing all of this on my own is slower perhaps and can get boring at times as between purchases I have nothing to do but save for the next property.  Like so many, all I need is more money to keep going, but for what I have experienced, doing this on my own is much less of a pain and in turn, much more enjoyable.  

Thanks for listening.  

[Hattie Dizmond]

@Phillip Hunt 

The perfect storm scenario Brandon painted isn't the norm, and I'm sure he knows that and was just illustrating a point.  However, your market determines what kind of deals you can find and how close to that hypothetical perfection you can get.  (This reminds me of a lecture I gave recently on the over-use of Six Sigma theory.  Oy vey!!!)  Anyway, you have a model that works for you, and that's awesome.  A couple of thoughts about how to expedite your process...

1...Instead of Hard Money lenders, have you considered talking with some small, local, portfolio lenders?  You now have a track record with rentals, so the conversation should be much easier.  The terms would also be much better than with a Hard Money source.

2...You indicated you have about 50% equity in each of the properties you own. Have you considered HELOC's on those properties to fund the next deal or using them to help collateralize a commercial LOC. Having that kind of flexibility would allow you to move quickly on deals that might not be in a "mortgagable" state, prior to rehab. Once the rehab is done, you could get a traditional mortgage and refinance out of the HELOC or Com'l LOC, which could then be paid down.

Also, you didn't indicate what kind of a mortgage you have on the properties you hold...conventional vs. FHA/VA insured. If you're doing an insured mortgage, you're likely going to get capped at 4. Conventional mortgages through the larger institutions will generally cap you at 10. A portfolio lender will give you the flexibility to continue growing your portfolio of properties. Something to consider there.

Finally, you have a track record. You know your numbers and what deals work for you. You could consider syndication and looking for private investors. You might have to pledge a larger portion of the profits on the first deal or 2 than you probably want, but I suspect it would be worth it in the long term, as it would give you access to capital that would allow you to grow your holdings. I love the idea of private investors (NOT private money lenders!), because it allows me to spread the returns available through REI to folks who don't necessarily want to be involved in the business of REI. You have the opportunity to provide people a way to have the money outperform ANY IRA and most mutual funds, while having it secured by real estate.

Just some food for thought.

Hattie