Growing When the Money is Tight

[Joshua Christensen]

I really feel as though my entire investment life (since 2008) has been going from deal to deal broke and growing when the money is tight.  I was a mortgage loan officer when I started investing and the market turned when I did my first deal.  We ended up moving into our first 'rental' house in 2008 while our nice family home was foreclosed on.  Ouch.  That was miserable timing.  

Over the years, I attended classes, seminars, read books, networked and couldn't seem to get any traction until 2012 when my friend asked me to "find us some houses".  He had cash and I had knowledge.  Within 6 months we flipped 4 houses and it seemed like we were off to the races until we hit some bumps and our friendship abruptly came to an end.  

All I had was a real estate license at that point so I started to sell houses.  It took a couple of years and then my next partner came along and wanted in the 'game'.  He had some cash and I had knowledge & experience.  It's important to note that we are still friends today.  We have 1 long term hold property Note together.  

In my third round in 2019, I had just come off a job loss that had me on unemployment in late 2018.  Another friend came along and we formed an llc together.  He funded it and I've been putting deals together for the last 2 years.  During that time, I also started managing other properties which created some interesting dynamics.  Today, we're doing better than we ever have and it seems like the last decade has been 'tight' with no money.  

I guess my question revolves around the number of new investors who see REI as a place for fast money and that it is big and sexy. I guess that comes from the guys who write books or teach classes with large portfolios who have "arrived" if you will. Honestly, REI is not always sexy and is disguised as Hard Work at times. Unless you're independently wealthy or have a natural way of getting your hands on some cash to invest, I've found this is a team sport and takes a great deal of patience, perseverance, and persistence.

What are some of the best ways you've found to grow your portfolio when the money was tight or you didn't have any cash to start with?  

Thanks for indulging me.