Grab The Bull By Its Horns

Introduction! I'm Esther, I'm in my late 20s, and I currently work with children with autism. I love my work, being with these interesting people, and helping them along with their challenges in life. However, it simply is not affording me the lifestyle I want, and who am I kidding, I want financial freedom. It's in my destiny to work for it. 

I've looked a bit into other forms of investment, but real estate really makes the most sense for me - especially after finding the Bigger Pockets community! The podcasts, especially, have been incredibly motivating. It's been great listening to all the different paths that people have taken to reach financial freedom through real estate - trials, tribulations, and of course, the first deal that started it all. 

My ADD brain needs a place to organize all the new information that I'm learning here on BP. Typing things out help me to retain information, and I figure that a public blog will keep me accountable to make goals and accomplish them every day - building towards a real estate investing business.

Today, after getting some long overdue alone time, I decided to take concrete steps NOW that bring me closer to my first deal. I joined 2 new Meetup Groups and have RSPV'd to 2 new events, in addition to one I had already. It starts tomorrow! I'll have to reschedule with a client in order to make this happen, but the event is once a month, and I can't wait that long. I cannot end this year without at least 1 deal. That is my resolution for this year.

I also searched BP for jobs. Nothing for me. 

Then, I checked out the blogs here. The first one I clicked was from a shy female, like me! Her blog is Tracey Geary's Real Estate Journey. I love how personal her blog is, going through her internal evaluations and thought processes. I suppose that I also was just comfortable reading a woman's journey. 

Podcast of the day: 

BiggerPockets Podcast 237: Partnerships & BRRRR Investing While Working Full-Time With Ian Reeves

- The whole is greater than the parts. (Yes! Someone please partner with me, I want this.
- Tell everyone about what you're doing. (Hm, so far this hasn't worked well for me. Most people don't seem to be interested in hearing about real estate because their lives are busy enough and they have other goals.)
- Message someone on BP/meet to become an apprentice to. Learn how to order supplies on rehab. Anything. 
- BRRR! Buy Rehab Rent Refinance Repeat. "Does wonders for your net worth.", "$20-30K equity for each deal you do." (What I want to do now for my first deal. Cash Flow + Equity)
- FIRST DEAL: 29k in Kentucky. 12k in rehab. Appraised for under 70K. Refinanced into a long-term commercial mortgage. 80/20. Paid off the short term 70K loan. So, zero dollars went into this deal. Monthly payment on 80% $70k loan? $400/mo. Bringing in $975. 

- Initial Loan to buy the property (short term): Local rea groups. Based out o denver. Fix and flip lender. Require 10% down. Rate is 10%. Had 1 year to pay it back. You have to get in and out pretty quickly. Need to wait a while before you can refinance. Only 10 loans. 
- Commercial lender to refinance is faster. Usually the term is longer. Advertised to be over 10-30 years, but needs to be paid back over 7 years. Shop around for a commercial lender. Ian got a 25 year commercial loan. (good!) 

- Found the deal through a whole-saler. "You absolutely have to network." 70% of his deals are comming from whole-salers. Did direct mail for a while, but whole-saling is the bulk.
- Small local portfolio lender. (bank) May need to "transfer all your banking" etc. Bring pictures, data, dress up, create a personal relationship, pick someone you like. Having a checking account with them goes a long way. 

- "If more information was the answer, we would all be billionaire rock stars with 6-packs" (YES! This quote spurred me into action. I have so much information, but I need to actually implement.)
- Miracle morning: Wake up, write down goals, look at them, meditate, get out of rut. "The mindset is critically important for being successful." It's not what you want, but what you DO that matters. 
- Morning routine: meditation, having silence first thing in the morning, forget about other things going on, cleaning the mind, going over goals every single day, do affirmations. Conscious stream of motivation and information. Listen to books constantly. It keeps you motivated. 
- "The Law of Diminishing Intent" - the longer the time between motivation and action, the less motivation you will have. Small steps every day. ("A-Rea" meeting? What is this they speak of.)

- "rolled my 401 into a self-controlled check... " (what does this mean?)
- buying house with my 401K when I met my partner - "if you ever find a deal that you can't take down on your own, let me know" (ohhh)
- Partner lacked organization, and Ian had a lot of organization. Strengths and weaknesses balanced out. 
- "People saw what I was doing, getting really interested. Boss interested in turn-key. Boss saw the potential. Started going after bigger stuff - because he saw the potential. 
- "One deal you gotta brag about": partner interested in commercial space. CPA, small stores, etc. This guy was making 5 offers a day, made a super low-ball offer, and surprisingly it got accepted. 4 unit. 2 and 2. Not sure if whether to be excited or worried. Met a big guy who was a developer in the town, he passed away, passed all this property to his kids, kids didn't want the property. Total 17units commercial space. 1.26M offer. Appraised for 2.4M. Made $1.2M on this one deal.
- Bad deal was just one problem after another. The ARV (after repair value) was overestimated. 
- Old school methods: driving/walking for dollars, letters are very competitive. 
- Walking for dollars! Super targeted. Did they just buy the house? 

- Conventional vs Commercial loans. 6% interest rate vs 4%. More expensive asset means you want lower interest rate. "Seasoning" (what is seasoning)

- Partnerships: Tread lightly, make agreements ahead of time. Excel matrix. Rules, responsibilities. If the person doesn't do their share, what are the consequences? Need to agree to them. Get an operating agreement written out in writing, formal, get a lawyer. It's a business transaction. NOW is the time to get it in writing. 

- Networking for advice for a student: Facebook, BP, introduce yourself, put yourself out there, don't just listen. If you're brand new, read a book first. Brandon Turners book on Real Estate investing. Have some level of background knowledge so that people will take you seriously. Understand the terms and strategies. Have a direction. 
- Fav Real Estate Books: 1) Gary Keller - The moonlight real estate investor 2) Brandon - How to Invest (whaat... Brandon talked over Ian too much so I don't know what his book is called)
- Fav Biz Book Non-Real Estate related: Rich Dad Poor Dad, 4 Hour Work Week, Mastery (Robert Greene) To understand what makes high-performing people tick. 

- What sets successful people? 1. Persistence 
- "If you're persistent, you'll get it. If you're consistent, you'll keep it."

- Take the 5 key points from every book, and every few months, make sure you're still taking action on those points. You can even write them on the inside on the cover. 

- Has a youtube channel. kcriinvester

Comments on Ian: I think Ian is a really wholesome person. He sounds really down-to-earth, level-headed, and .. probably an INTJ. Engineer. Probably enneagram 5 or 9. Hehe!