Wow! I'm in Forbes

[Cory Binsfield]

Need some inspiration? Maybe this will help.  

He Went From Earning $50K To Pulling In $1 Million in Revenue by Investing in Local Real Estate - Forbes

Thanks BP for keeping me inspired as a I continue to grow my portfolio. 

[Steve Vaughan]

Love it @Cory Binsfield!  Congrats on your success and the recognition from such a known publisher.  The secret is out on you!

Great aha moment you had stuck in traffic on the bay bridge.  The way you recognized the underlying theme of what was working for whom in your clients is classic opportunity identifying.  Well done! Way to make it happen!

[Steve Kordish]

@Cory Binsfield I read the Forbes article and all I can say is what an inspiration you are! I just started my REI career about 10 months ago and have a goal of ramping things up as you did. We're close in age and left financial planning January '15 (self employed), so I can relate very well.

I wish you much more success and congratulations!

[Chris K.]

Nice! Congrats definitely inspiring

[James Wise]

Congratulations @Cory Binsfield

[Andy Webb]

Awesome! Very motivational for us small fry!

Andy

[Juan Vargas]

Congratulations @Cory Binsfield! You know you're doing good when you get the attention of Forbes. Wish you even more success.    

[Matthew Murphy]

Congrats. Very cool!

[Joe Moore]

Congrats! Wishing you much more success.

[Account Closed]

Cory,

Looks like that was the right move 17 years ago. It's a must read article IMO. There are a couple of takeaway key points. Start small. Focus on an area and become the master of it.

Well done. Congrats on your success. 

[Warren Bright]

Loved the article!

[Jon Klaus]

Congrats on your success and recognition, Cory!

[Brian Holt]

Congrats! Incredible accomplishment.

[Brie Schmidt]

Congrats!  Great article!

[Nick Versetto]

congrats. That's an awesome achievement. 

[Nnabuenyi Anigbogu]

Congratulations on your success. Definitely an inspiration.

[Bryan Hancock]

Congratulations on your success Cory.  Hopefully this is aspirational for those on the forums.  

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Cory Binsfield  congrats I think Deluth is pretty cool place really.   well cool as in neat.

bought an airplane there and spent a week in transition training.. I rather liked it.

I think these are the sleeper type cities folks can really do well in. without the intense competition other place have... good job...

[Eric Jackson]

@Cory Binsfield Thank you for posting this article and congratulations on your success!

Have you considered writing a blog specific on your build-up story?  I'd love to hear more about how you processed through the various stages of your strategy, how you selected your team, how you found the 97+ deals that you eventually acquired for rentals, your financing strategy, etc.  Although you probably executed many great, established principles, I find people's story's and what worked specifically for them extremely powerful.

Continued success for you!

[Doug N.]

Such a great inspiration - and in classic BP style. I am now inspired to paste the good parts of the article below.

Congratulations, Cory! May we all shamelessly copy your moves!

“I had it mapped out: Buy 10 duplexes—10 two-families and I could easily be a millionaire,” he says. “I hit that target within eight or nine years. After that, I was like, `Now what?’ I said, `This is kind of fun. I’ll keep doing it.’” He’d achieved $1 million in net worth by 2004.

He also stuck with investing in areas he knew. He kept all of his investments in what he calls his “strike zone.”

“What I discovered was if you picked an area in town that was desirable and was within transportation and biking distance to work—with a lot of activity in terms of ethnic restaurants and shopping areas—you start attracting a lot more millennials and college kids,” he says. “I pretty much focused on areas near the campus and not far away but that weren’t too high priced.”

Staying local helped him manage his real estate while running his other business. He could easily run out at lunchtime and do a showing. “All of my buildings were about a mile and a half between work and my house,” he says. All told, he found it took him about an hour a month to manage 10 units.

“I thought I if I can manage 10 units in an hour a month, let’s bring that up to 100 units,” he says.

Another smart move was outsourcing the property management. Binsfield handled light repairs himself for a while before but says he isn’t mechanically inclined. He soon found a reliable contractor to tackle the work. Investing in property management software made it easier to field requests from tenants and send them off to the contractor. “I’m like the conductor to the orchestra,” he says.

What advice does Binsfield have for others who want to generate an income like his from real estate? Start small.

“Anyone can buy one property,” he says. “Once you buy that first one, two or three years later you buy the second.” You may not end up owning 97 units, like he does, but if you buy in the right market, you should be ahead of the game.

[Cory Binsfield]

Thanks for all the kudos fellow REIT investors!

I wish I could say I was an overnight success, but that was far from the case. It was simply sticking with a plan of buying one property at a time and making course corrections whenever the market/life threw me some major obstacles. 

I'm still buying and have learned a lot over the years. For those of you interested in the journey, see podcast number 86. 

Anyone can do this If they are willing to put in thoughtful effort. The first five properties are the most difficult. After that, you discover ways to speed up the process while building out your team. 

If all goes well, I may have a 8 unit under contract soon. So far the terms and property are perfect. A true "win-win" for all. I will post in success story once it closes along with how I found it and why it's a great deal. 

[Brian Ragsdale]

Loved the article too.  I liked the idea of using the cloud as well.  One question I wondered is if you have back up contractors/handy people, or do you regularly use the same contractors?  Best, Brian

[Mel Jeffrey]

Awesome article congratulations.

[Karyn T.]

Great job and congrats!!!  Always love reading Success stories!

[Polar Prutaseranee]

That's awesome. Congrats!

[Cory Binsfield]

Originally posted by @Brian Ragsdale:

Loved the article too.  I liked the idea of using the cloud as well.  One question I wondered is if you have back up contractors/handy people, or do you regularly use the same contractors?  Best, Brian