Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
Last week we hit our investment goal of $35k a month gross rental income. We bought our first investment property in August 2011 and the vast majority of our growth has happened in the past 10 months. We (my husband and I) now own 21 buildings and 59 units in Chicago and Milwaukee.
Life is still crazy, especially since we just got back from Mexico and are leaving for a two week trip to Europe this week… but I foresee a more steady and manageable pace moving forward.
It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. We have had our fair share of problems. Some buildings were an easy takeover where the tenants stayed, paid rent, and didn’t cause problems. Some we had tenants leave in the middle of the night or leave the place trashed. Some properties were profitable from day one and some won’t be profitable for at least a year. The good thing is because we have scale it all balances out and we are not putting our own money into them every month.
BP has been such a huge part of my success. I gained the confidence I needed to go into this full time and have met some amazing friends who have helped me so much along the way.
I am looking forward to this much needed vacation and returning in June fully recharged and ready to go!
@Derek Carroll- About half our portfolio is in Chicago with traditional residential financing. We were able to cash out on some of our appreciation to buy the rest with 80% LTV commercial loans. We borrowed $100k from my brother to push us past the goal line and now we will be pulling more equity out of Chicago to pay him back.
@Steve Perkins- It has been beyond my wildest dreams, I honestly barely recognize myself and didn't know I had it in me to do all this.
I'm sure you are using BP's guidelines about cash flow and you are careful about not pulling too much cash out on your appreciation. As with my business partner ventures, my own rental properties are never leveraged too the max even if the current net rental income can cover the new loan. One never knows what may occur to cause net rental income to suddenly drop for a while. So many "investors" do not consider that scenario as they were pulling cash out of all the built up equity. In almost 30 years of ups and downs of real estate I have not had any forced loss of real estate because all the loans were easily covered by even dropping rental income. Rental income does not always go up each year. Keep you wildest dreams from turning into nightmares.
Real Estate Investor · San Antonio, TX · Member since 2014 · 5 posts · 3 votes
11y
Congratulations! This was just what I needed this morning, a dose of YES YOU CAN! I woke up revisiting my own goals and my chicken out or victim reasons for be unable to reach them. Then getting back to work and on track. I'm glad to witness your success.
Congratulations! Obviously it is time for some new goals! What is your net on that $35K after reserves? Sorry if you have already answered this.
It is still a little early to tell for sure. Our Chicago properties which we have had for awhile run at about 25% expenses but these are newly rehabbed properties in A/B areas. Milwaukee has had a lot of start up costs getting buildings and units up to our standards. I estimate we will be running at 55% expenses but according to the seller's schedule E's that were provided to us when we bought they were running at about 40% expenses. If we use the 55% we should be netting around $10k a month.
The properties we bought last July are already ramped up and operating at about 40% - All but one of the December properties are ramped up and at about 40% and we are still working on getting the ones from March and May up and running.
Last week we hit our investment goal of $35k a month gross rental income. We bought our first investment property in August 2011 and the vast majority of our growth has happened in the past 10 months. We (my husband and I) now own 21 buildings and 59 units in Chicago and Milwaukee.
Life is still crazy, especially since we just got back from Mexico and are leaving for a two week trip to Europe this week… but I foresee a more steady and manageable pace moving forward.
Real Estate Investor · Mahwah, NJ · Member since 2014 · 33 posts · 12 votes
11y
Congrats @Brie Schmidt It's been awesome following your journey from the podcast and to see it actually happen must be the greatest feeling :) Very inspiring. What would you say was the key for you being able to scale your business so well in such a short amount of time?
Wow your story is inspiring! Congratulations! I just got back from Europe myself! Vacations are a must to shock the system, experience new things, and enjoy life! Hope you enjoy your European vacation!
Specialist · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2011 · 698 posts · 629 votes
11y
@Brie Schmidt Congratulations Brie! Always inspiring to her your updates. Glad you and the Mr. are taking some time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Has he joined Team Brie Real Estate full time yet?
@Sonja Pope the big turning point for us was commercial financing. We had a bank that believed in what we were doing and we were able to grow very quickly.
@Brie Schmidt Congratulations Brie! Always inspiring to her your updates. Glad you and the Mr. are taking some time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Has he joined Team Brie Real Estate full time yet?
Investor · Wasilla Alaska · Member since 2014 · 123 posts · 55 votes
11y
Awesome way to GO!! I bet your banker needs a break also, Ha. I just quit my job and sounds like we are in a similar boat. Keep us posted on the path forward. Always plan for the worst. Best of luck!!