New Jersey Success Story

[Michael Rubino]

Hi guys,

I just wanted to take some time to tell you my success story. A little more than a year ago, I received a post card to a "house flipping" seminar hosted by Tarek and Christina from HGTV (which a marketing company paid to use their name). My father and I ended up going (but I'd like to be clear that I've learned more from biggerpockets and biggerpockets podcasts than I did paying thousands of dollars that I could've invested). I think it was the catalyst though in getting us to be serious about this since we paid hard earned cash to feel confident enough to make the leap of faith. A little bit of background about me and my family: My father and I are contractors licensed in NJ and NY and that is what currently pays our bills. What we are trying to do (not quite there yet) is to eventually let go of the contracting company and focus full time on real estate investing. In this past year, we have acquired 7 units in various locations in NJ that we have been renovating and renting out. Currently only 1 of the 7 are rented while the other 6 are still being renovated. Each unit is projected to cash flow $800/month. We DO want to flip when the opportunity presents itself (to increase capital) but our main goal right now is to acquire about 50 units that cashflow at least $800/month so that we can maintain our current lifestyles while solely focusing on REI.

Just a year ago I was on the fence if this was even possible and now we have 7 of our goal of 50 units.  I hope this post can inspire some people who are currently on the fence about it, as those posts I have read inspired me.  I'm glad to be apart of this network and plan to be more active to meet people with similar goals and help those who I can.  Cheers