Recap of my first 18 months as an RE Investor in Fresno, CA

[Jason Pritchard]

Hey Everyone,

Back In March of 2015 I made this post on the "New Member" Forum

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/55/topics/179...

I've spent some time looking back on the projects that I've completed over the last year and a half along with prepping for some upcoming properties that I'm getting ready to start and I thought it would be a good idea to recap my experiences in a forum post.  

Before stumbling across BP I knew next to nothing about real estate investing.  Although real estate had always piqued an interest in me work, school, and life always seemed to get in the way of taking any meaningful action.  In January of 2015 I made the decision to start educating myself and began reading the BP forums and listening to podcasts.  At that time I had about $90,000 in an old retirement account from a previous employer which I converted into a Solo 401k with the intent of loaning myself the necessary money to complete my first rehab project.  

After spending a few months unsuccessfully trying to find a suitable property to flip via MLS, FSBO, CL etc. I decided to reach out to my personal network of family/friends, I was fortunate enough to be able to partner with a family member who had a property that had a lot of potential as a flip but didn't have the funds, experience, or drive to complete the project on his own. That project ended up exceeding all of our expectations and is detailed more in this forum post.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/223/topics/20...

Since the start of my first rehab project in March of last year I've purchased, rehabbed, and sold 5 properties (4 SFR's and 1 Condo) that produced a net profit of approximately $146,000. I utilized the BRRRR strategy to purchase a SFR rental property that cashflows about $455/month after PITI. I "house hacked" my primary residence using Airbnb and rented out a private room for about 75 days over the last year which netted me just over $3,800 in 12 months. I'm currently 2 weeks into the largest rehab project I've done so far. I'll be closing escrow and starting rehab on another property next Monday and I just went into escrow on a probate property that I'll be wholesaling to another local investor. I've purchased all of my properties "off market" through a combination of direct mail, bandit signs, driving for dollars, and referrals from my personal/professional network. My REI goals for 2016 are to net $200,000 in profit from rehabs and wholesale deals and purchase another rental property.

I've learned so much over the last 18 months, it's difficult to try and detail everything here in this post.  The most important takeaways would be the following: 

1.  Don't be afraid to take action, reading the forums or listening to the podcasts are not a substitute for real world experience.  

2.  Learn to develop the right mindset and surround yourself with positive people that will support you and your goals.  Make the decision to cut out the people who have a negative influence/distract you from accomplishing your goals.  

3.  Don't underestimate the cost of borrowing money, rehabbing a property, or time involved in selling a property.  

4. Don't overestimate your ARV.

5.  The deal isn't done until escrow is closed and you either have the keys or a check in hand.  

Before writing this I made the commitment to myself to be a more active member of the BP community.  I've gotten so caught up with all the work that I've been doing that I haven't had the time to contribute to the forums.  I hope that any new investors who are just starting out or going through rough times have the chance to read this and find the motivation to keep pursuing their goals.  If anyone has any questions let me know, I'm happy to share any resources or information that has gotten me to this point.