Beat my 10 Year goal in 1.5!!! :D

Beat my 10 Year goal in 1.5!!! :D

Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes

So Dec. 2015 I started my real estate adventure. I'm a huge numbers guy so I love my spreadsheets and planning my financial future. Thus based on a 20% down per property mindset, I tried to gauge what I could realistically achieve with a 60k salary. If I lived like a boring robot living on rice and beans, I would be able to buy ONE property a year and reach a 10 property goal by the time I was 35, which I thought would be my freedom number.

Well on May 4th, 2017 I officially closed on my 10th property and more than doubled my fulltime monthly income through just rentals!! Yes I am still at my W2 job and I plan on staying here for a while because I like having multiple streams of income. Plus as my goals get hit, I aim for higher and higher dreams which my job will help me achieve.

 So here's the order of properties I've bought

1. Condo 2. Condo 3. Condo 4. Condo 5. SFH 6. SFH 7. SFH 8. Triplex 9. 4-Plex 10. Duplex

Many ask how I was able to buy that many properties as a noob middle class salaried investor in his first couple years of doing all of this.Well I've probably used every strategy in BP. BRRRR, Cashout refinances, Family/Friends/Investors, Business Loans, HML, etc. etc.

I encourage everyone to seek their own answers and research themselves rather than asking me to hold their hand on each of my deals and try to replicate. I haven't done anything too much more different than thousands of other people have done on here. Really, you just have to learn how to work 12-14 hour days for a months and be OPEN to being said no to and be OPEN to learning.

and no I had no mentors or personal gurus to help. All I had was good old google, youtube, and most importantly. Bigger Pockets  :)

So where am I headed now? If I've learned anything, its that the sky is the limit. Don't compromise and don't sell yourself short, because you CAN do anything as long as you work hard/smart enough. In saying that, I want to hit a passive income of at least $1million/year. Lofty? hell yes, but why not? As my dad has always said to me, aim for the highest achievable goal. Even if you don't get there you will get where you deserve to be and you'll know you tried your hardest.




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Investor · Fort Pierce, FL · Member since 2016 · 47 posts · 16 votes
9y

Time to get @David Zheng on the podcast.

Congrats!

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  • West Islip, NY · Member since 2017 · 5 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    Very inspirational, especially for someone like myself who is in the same shoes you were in. I hope to be doing what you're doing very soon!!

  • Real Estate Consultant · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2016 · 511 posts · 345 votes
    9y


    Originally posted by @TJ P.:
    Originally posted by @Christopher Blanco:

    @David Zheng No worries, I wasn't offended!  I was more responding to the comment below yours. I agree completely, though. I am just saying that if your spouse is supportive and involved you can avoid that slow down a lot. 

     I knew you were responding to me. Not going into detail but familial involvement and "support" is going to be different for everybody. 

    Where you have adult children assisting in your RE ventures, someone like say, myself, has younger children which consume more then they produce. The same can be said for my spouse who may demand more of our earnings to maintain an accustomed lifestyle.

    I make several times what David makes(W2) but with my expenses (family and location) I'm willing to bet he has more disposable $ and thus, more to invest.

    IF it were up to me (and my time machine worked) I would have brought the spousal unit on board years ago and likely postponed the kiddos.

    TJ, I have 6 kids, 18 all the way down 6. I understand what you are saying, and I don't want to hijack David's thread anymore, but having young children is only another of MANY obstacles you need to overcome. It can be done. My point added to yours is having a spouse that is supportive is A MUST not a nice to have to acheive any level of success in this business. Sorry @David Zheng for hijacking your thread. 

  • JD MartinBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
    9y

    The real point is not whether kids or spouses hurt or help (kids cost money, spouses can help cover costs ie economy of scale); the point is this guy does what: lives like a pauper and hustles all the time. @David 

    @David Zheng's story is that if you stay ultra focused on something you will go a long way towards making it happen. He sounds like a young version of me: I own a rental RE business, work a traditional full-time W2, teach adjunct university on the side, do some of the rehab work on my new units myself, and still find slots for family (wife, adult kids, siblings, parents), dog, playing in a professional band, and other stuff. And I'm no superman, I'm soft & flabby around the edges :D . Too much you see people come on here that want to know the "secret", and I'm guessing they probably recoil in horror when they find out the "secret" is a full-time hustle, busting ***, forsaking video games and jet skis, driving dumpy cars and living with dumpster furniture while you plow every last dollar into something that makes more money. 

    There's really no secret: make money, bust ***, live well below your income, plow your extra funds into things that make money. 

    Skyline Properties
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  • Investor · WI OH · Member since 2015 · 113 posts · 36 votes
    9y
    Agree, agree, AGREE
    A
    G
    R
    E
    E

    There's really no secret: make money, bust ***, live well below your income, plow your extra funds into things that make money. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Allentown PA, United States · Member since 2016 · 567 posts · 442 votes
    9y

    @David Zheng congrats on crushing it man! Obviously you had a good amount of savings already, but could you elaborate on the refi process? Such as if you planned or were successful in BRRRRing any of the properties; and if so, did they require a seasoning period of 6 months of rental income or anything? And has the banks told you how many times over they will let you do this?

  • Chandler, AZ · Member since 2017 · 19 posts · 8 votes
    9y

    That is amazing! I have been monitoring my market for a while now and can't find any good SFH deals that makes sense. With your story I'll be looking more into seeing if I can make a condo work. Does HOA give any guarantee what the fees will be or can they jack them up at any time?

  • Investor · Berkeley, CA · Member since 2016 · 45 posts · 43 votes
    9y

    I'm glad I logged onto BP today, which I rarely do. Although still a rank noob, I am experiencing real estate as someone once described battle: days of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. In my case the boredom part has been on-going for about four months, looking for deals and not finding any. It's great to get me some Vitamin Z. @David Zheng you are my hero.

  • Tempe, AZ · Member since 2017 · 27 posts · 8 votes
    9y
    AMAZING! Love this story. This is getting me super excited for my journey!
  • Residential Real Estate Broker · Denver, CO · Member since 2017 · 47 posts · 12 votes
    9y

    Well done! @David Zheng

  • Rental Property Investor · Irvine, CA · Member since 2017 · 29 posts · 22 votes
    9y

    Very inspiring. I am at zero and want to get to hero! Let the journey begin.

  • Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2016 · 232 posts · 133 votes
    9y

    @David Zheng Great story man! How can I read about your success story? Is there a blog post where you note down your deals and financials?

  • Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Bill Goodland @Mihir Bhimaraju

    I believe you can go through my profile and search through my posts and you might find what you're looking for. Go through the comments to my answers to questions on those posts.

    @Sawyer Burnett

    HOA's won't guarantee the fee will stay the same. Also there are times when they will have a special assessment if there are not enough reserves or something to cover a repair. As scary as that sounds, you can always look at historical records. if you see they have a history of jacking up HOA fees every year or issuing special assessments all the time, you'll know to stay out. Also look for condos who have a long history of owners. not ones that have high turnover. That's also a good indication of a stable and fair HOA.

  • Austin, TX · Member since 2017 · 21 posts · 18 votes
    9y

    Love it!!!  Great attitude and hard work pay off!  Congratulations!  Thanks for the encouragement that you send out to others.

  • Investor · Delray Beach, FL · Member since 2017 · 48 posts · 41 votes
    9y

    Great stuff and congrats!

  • Cranston, RI · Member since 2017 · 64 posts · 22 votes
    9y
    wow what a story keep on going!
  • Real Estate Agent · New London, CT · Member since 2016 · 15 posts · 7 votes
    9y
    Great job!!! I hope to be there soon!! 😁
  • Rental Property Investor · Memphis, TN · Member since 2017 · 27 posts · 11 votes
    9y

    Inspiring story.  Congrats sir.

  • Yonkers, NY · Member since 2017 · 57 posts · 10 votes
    9y

    Congrats bro!!!

  • Investor · New York, NY · Member since 2011 · 36 posts · 25 votes
    9y

    Excellent job, David!  Congrats!

  • Rental Property Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 50 posts · 30 votes
    9y
    Aren't you the guy who told newbies to stop asking you for advice?
  • Rental Property Investor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 7 votes
    9y
    congratulations!! newbie here as well. basically learning everything on my own. I can't wait to reach my goals.
  • Professional · St. John's, Newfoundland · Member since 2017 · 8 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    @David Zheng Dude, great stuff. Incredibly inspirational to see how well you've done. Definitely exciting for someone like myself with similar aspirations. Keep killing it, and keep updating!

  • Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Corey Schaecher

    if you are trolling, LOL nice.

    if you aren't, you can't read

  • Specialist · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @Christopher Blanco:

    Its very important to have the support of your spouse, and having kids is not always bad. I have an 18 year old that already invested in a deal and is earning passive income as a lender. All of our kids do things for the properties and marketing and get paid to do so, in addition its a tax deduction for me. However, without the support of my wife I wouldn't know where to begin. She is an amazing asset to my business and if she wasn't I wouldn't be doing this. 

     You wouldn't know where to begin.. Come on, do you honestly believe this? You're an intelligent person, with aspirations, goals, and drive. You likely would have been successful, probably sooner and to a greater extent had you didn't had those extra time, stress and energy committments.

    Its just rationalization 101 for your decisions. I think people are tired of growth men acting like they would be a disabled monkey with a crayon in his mouth trying to make art without a woman. Don't get me wrong, I definitely want kids someday, but at least be reasonable. You would have been as successful, probably more - give yourself some credit!

  • Specialist · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @Christopher Blanco:


    Originally posted by @TJ P.:
    Originally posted by @Christopher Blanco:

    @David Zheng No worries, I wasn't offended!  I was more responding to the comment below yours. I agree completely, though. I am just saying that if your spouse is supportive and involved you can avoid that slow down a lot. 

     I knew you were responding to me. Not going into detail but familial involvement and "support" is going to be different for everybody. 

    Where you have adult children assisting in your RE ventures, someone like say, myself, has younger children which consume more then they produce. The same can be said for my spouse who may demand more of our earnings to maintain an accustomed lifestyle.

    I make several times what David makes(W2) but with my expenses (family and location) I'm willing to bet he has more disposable $ and thus, more to invest.

    IF it were up to me (and my time machine worked) I would have brought the spousal unit on board years ago and likely postponed the kiddos.

    TJ, I have 6 kids, 18 all the way down 6. I understand what you are saying, and I don't want to hijack David's thread anymore, but having young children is only another of MANY obstacles you need to overcome. It can be done. My point added to yours is having a spouse that is supportive is A MUST not a nice to have to acheive any level of success in this business. Sorry @David Zheng for hijacking your thread. 

     And that is exactly the point. If you have a spouse, you MUST have their support. If not, we'll I guess that's not something that's even an issue :)

    Just remember, women in your generation are waay different than the millenial instagram of today's.

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