Immigrant with Nothing to my Name to Being a Real Estate Investor

[Ernest Mallonga]

Hello BP!

I just wanted to share my story. But first, to give you guys a better perspective of my success story, I would like to let you know a little bit about myself.

I am a Filipino Immigrant. I have a B.S. in Industrial Engineering that I acquired when I was still in the Philippines, but I had no cash or assets to my name. I am literally starting from zero. I immigrated into Hawaii in April of 2014. Unfortunately, I could not land a job that is in line with my degree so I decided to apply for other jobs. I worked as a cook, a housekeeper, and in retail, all at the same time. I figured I needed to find a way to get myself back on track with the career field that I intended. And so less than a year of moving to Hawaii, I enlisted as a member of the US Air Force as an Engineer Technician in May 2015. I got stationed in Dover AFB, DE and thanks to the military, I was able to get my US citizenship right away. I also decided to further my education by pursuing a Masters Degree in GIS from Johns Hopkins University using my Post 911 GI Bill.

Around November of 2017 was when I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. And like most people here on BP who has read it, it changed my life. I wanted to get every bit of information I can get my hands on. I read real estate books, BP forums and listened to countless podcasts whenever I drive, eat, or workout. I started to save every penny I could to fund my newly-found passion. I wanted to be ready whenever the time came that I can finally start. I was hooked. I could not wait to get started.

Fast forward to a year later, November 11, 2018. I got contact with a real estate broker and decided that I am finally going to jump in. At the time, I am months away from separating from the military. Remember my previous goal of getting myself back on track in Industrial Engineering? I was fortunate enough to accept an offer from an engineering company as an Industrial Engineer where I will be making more in income which I of course intend to use for my investing. The catch is, the job is located in Saint Louis, MO. I am still in Dover, Delaware and if I intend to invest where I will be moving, that means I have to know how to start investing out of state. However, thanks to David Greene's Long Distance Real Estate Investing Book, and all the other resources I had absorbed, I wasn't scared. I was mentally, emotionally and financially ready. So I decided that I would house-hack my very first rental property. Again, thanks to being in the military, I was able to take advantage of the VA Loan.

I studied the Saint Louis Market and built a spreadsheet that will let me analyze the numbers very quickly. The first day I started analyzing, I think I analyzed close to 100 properties. I proved that what they were saying on the podcasts are right. By analyzing a bunch of properties, I figured what type of properties will only make sense as a house hack. According to my math, 4-unit apartment buildings are the best way to go with what I am trying to do. Some 4-families don’t even make sense as a house hack. However, thanks to my awesome real estate agent, we found an off-market deal which perfectly fit my criteria. The numbers worked, it’s in a good neighborhood, and within a reasonable driving distance to my future job. And so we decided to put in an offer. I could not describe how nervous and excited I was that I was finally doing this.

Thanks to the VA Loan, I only needed to pay for earnest money, appraisal, and inspection costs out of pocket. Fast forward to 60 days later of me contacting the real estate broker, and I closed on my very first investment property. I had bought the property sight unseen, but with the help of my real estate agent, I was able to get a tour of the property through a video call. I didn't care to visually inspect the house in person. I had the inspector and real estate agent do that for me. Yes, it's going to be my home for the next few years, but more importantly, it's my very first investment property. Finally, I can call myself a real estate investor. By no means do I consider myself an expert. I constantly do my research on every decision I make. But again, I have finally achieved my goal to be a real estate investor.

I wanted to give you guys my backstory to give you a perspective of how far I’ve come. This is not to brag. Yes, I am very proud of all the things I have done so far. But I wanted to illustrate how I started from nothing as an immigrant with nothing to my name less than 5 years ago to finally being an investor. And this is all thanks to everyone who has helped me and supported me along the way in my life. I could never forget what Grant Cardone said. He said he didn’t have any personal mentor that taught him what he knows now, his mentors are all the books he read and podcasts he listened to. And of course, I am no Grant Cardone. But I would like to think that the entire Biggerpockets community, the authors of the books and blogs I read, the hosts, co-hosts, and guests of the podcasts as my mentors. I learned, got inspired and stayed motivated because of the podcasts and testimonies from the guests. Words are not enough to describe how grateful I am that I found Biggerpockets. I would not have done my first deal if not for the community. As all of you may have noticed, I can’t stay still. This is only the start. And I look forward to doing more and bigger deals with the members of the BP community!

Best of luck to everyone in your investing!

P.S. One of the ways I can pay back my awesome real estate agent and wonderful lender is by referring somebody to them. I would also like to give back into the community. So if you’re looking to invest in Saint Louis, MO, leave a comment or send me a message and I’ll help you out with what I can. Also, the spreadsheet that I created to analyze a househack looks at 2 scenarios, when I live there and when I move out. If you want a copy of that, let me know and I can send you one.