The night I became a real estate investor

[Kris Kaufman]

It was 9pm on a Friday night. I had just received the 3rd phone call from a very pregnant wife pleading with me, “babe, when you coming home? It’s late and I’m looking forward to some us time”. Now, most men would spring to their feet, leap for their car and set a land speed record on the way home, knowing full-well that “us time” is about to be non-existent in a week or two once the bun is out of the oven. My response to my wife came down to seven words, which later on would make me rethink my priorities. I kindly responded, “I have to get this done babe”. What was so important that had to be done? What could possibly be making me take precious time away from my family?

It pretty much boils down to a bunch of $hi+. I was elbow deep in human feces, digging it out of the main sewage line of the first rental property I’d ever purchased. The prior owner had a “little” deferred maintenance that needed addressed. And believe me, I was addressing it while dry heaving, gagging and trying to pretend it was rotten chocolate.

Keep this in mind, this wasn’t an occupied property, there wasn’t an eager tenant waiting to use the pooper. It was just me in a lonely house and covered in crap, thinking this had to be done NOW. I sat there shouting expletives and asking God, “Why is having a rental property so difficult? Peers would always tell me “Nothing compares to the consistent returns of real estate”. In my current circumstance, I literally thought this was a pile of $hi+.

Baking in the aroma of another’s excrement, I heard a small voice inside me say, “You should choose your priorities and not do this alone”. Now this is a miracle in itself. I’d been using every foul word possible to describe my situation to God. Don’t hate me for it; I was trying to be as real as possible! Despite, the clear objection to my speech, God provided me with words that would change my real estate career forever, “Choose my priorities and don’t do this alone”.

I was an independent rental property owner up until that point. A lone survivor if you will, barely hanging on to my single rental property while trying to balance my home life. I had to be in control and in charge of every aspect of the deal (acquisition, rehab, and property management). It was backfiring tremendously.

“Choose your priorities and don’t do this alone”, I kept saying to myself in between gag refluxes. It was at that moment I decided enough was enough. I dropped the crap, jumped in the car and went home to be with my pregnant wife. Did we have “us time”? ...No, we did not. As a matter of fact, we wouldn’t have “us time” for weeks. Nothing kills the mood like the smell of poo. Despite the lack of intimacy that night, I was still present and that made all the difference. My priority was my family, first and foremost.

The second part of the equation was slightly more difficult to implement. I’m stubborn, self-centered, an eternal pessimist and I despise relinquishing control. Who wants to partner with that? Well, it just so happens there was someone and he was the exact opposite of me. He was a childhood friend who had a few rental properties under his belt and was looking to expand. We balanced each other out and rarely disagreed on major issues. We decided to give it a trial run towards the end of 2014, buying our first flip. Figuring, if we make money and don’t kill each other during the rehab process, we would form a partnership.

Form a partnership we did, catapulting us from lone survivors to full blown real estate investors! Since the beginning of 2015, my business partner and I have flipped 8 properties and acquired approximately 60 units. Never underestimate the power of a strong partnership and the confidence it brings.

If I can give some advice, always remember why you do this, whatever that reason may be and don’t be a lone survivor. This business isn’t built by the independent, it’s ruled by the unified.

Thank you BiggerPockets for the knowledge you bring to the table, it’s been worth every penny.

-Kris Kaufman

Firm Foundations, LLC