27 Units at 27 Years Old

[Spencer Liddic]

I’ve been reading the BP blogs and books, and listening to all the podcasts over the past few years but have rarely posted. I wanted to finally share my real story and get more involved here on BP …. sorry it’s a bit long!

My real estate career started long before I had any aspirations to become a real estate investor. When I was 12 years old, I started a lawn care business in my neighborhood that I ended up keeping until I was out of college with a “real” full time job. Without going into details on the lawn care business, I was able to save enough money to buy my first car when I turned 16 (a brand new car!). Although most everyone here (including my now 27 year old self) may say this was a dumb purchase, I was 16 years old and I didn’t consider the long term effects this would have on my personal financial position (nor did I care at that point in my life). Fast forward a few years and I’m finishing up my junior year of college; I was an entrepreneurship and finance major and beginning to get serious of where I wanted to take my life.

Most of my peers were taking jobs where they would be expected to work long hours in exchange for a decent first year salary (money vs time). So what did I do? I took a job where I would be expected to work long hours in exchange for a decent first year salary. I did as others did. But I also had a desire to do more, I wanted something of my own, similar to my lawn care business. My father had a few rental properties and had a "system" already in place. This was in 2011 and there was an abundance of properties where the numbers worked well. I didn't know much, this was BBP (before biggerpockets) or at least before I knew of it, but I dove in head first with the simple math that rents>expenses. I paid $95,000 for the duplex, put about $10,000 into it and rented each side for $800. I took out a 15 year mortgage, taxes and insurance were low, and I ended up clearing about $700 a month before CapEx/repairs. My down payment money came from my lawn care business and internships I had each summer; it was senior year Fall semester. I got the real estate bug, I wanted more.

I started my first job outside of Philadelphia after I graduated the following May. After having success in my first deal, I was interested in buying a permanent residence but renting out the remainder of the bedrooms to friends to cover the mortgage. Today we call that a House Hack (remember this is 2012, BBP) .. coined by @Brandon Turner. I ended up finding a house in an upcoming neighborhood but it was out of my price range. I brought in my college roommate to do a 50/50 partnership on the house. We bought the 4 bedroom house for $280k with bank financing. We took out a 30 year mortgage, taxes were extremely low (the house was new construction with a 10 year tax abatement) and ended up with expenses at $1,100 per month. We rented the other two bedrooms out for $650 each so we actually had a small cash flow per month WHILE living there. House Hack complete.

The next few years (2012-2016) I didn’t really have any concrete plans but I was looking to buy one new duplex per year while working a full time job (50 hours/week). At the end of 2016, I was continuing on my path with a total of 14 doors- 7 duplexes. Within that time frame I ended up pursing a new job opportunity in New York City where to this day I rent an apartment. I rented out my bedroom in Philly and captured an additional $700 per month in cash flow there. But it was strange renting an apartment from another landlord while I had 8 houses of my own; but to me, the numbers didn’t work to justify a purchase in the NYC metro, it was more beneficial to find a “cheap” apartment and rent.

In 2017, I decided to turn up the pace a bit and I purchased a value add 6 unit apartment and a turnkey 4 unit apartment. Both new to me, each with their own challenges. This pushed my total doors to 27. All of my properties were 20% down, bank financing and funded by the cash flow from the previous properties and my salary as a full time employee. The bank lends to me because I’m employed full time and I don’t rely on my rental income. It’s been a grind… but totally worth it! I look at the bigger picture of the equity and cash flow I am building. I could have probably scaled much faster with creative financing (I read about it all the time) and making the leap to real estate full time sooner, but that wasn’t the path I wanted. I have done it slow and methodical with calculated risks. Although some day I would like to make the switch to full time investor, I am content on continuing to build my RE business organically as long as possible.

Oh, and in regards to my car that was a bad investment back in 2006, I still drive it today. My 27 year old self thinks a bit differently about “bad” debt. I will probably still be driving it in another 11 years :)