All Forum Posts by: Adam Cole

I love this advice. I think that has been one of my big hurdles as well. Especially if I am debating on getting involved in an area that I'm not 100% familiar with. But researching comparable homes in the area, the speed at which homes sell in that area, and the overall condition of the area helps me to get more comfortable. 

I know this isn't possible for all investors, but even just driving by the home has helped me to get past looking pictures on a screen and over analyzing them. I've listened to a bunch of BP podcasts and i think the best, and scariest, advice for newbies is to just jump in. Find a deal, analyze it, and, if it looks good, go for it. If it turns out to be trash, you will have at least learned something. And better yet, you'll have gotten your feet wet and the nerves may subside a bit.

Mechanical engineer working at one of the big 3 in transmission development! 

One of my largest motivators for getting into real estate is the potential for freedom. During school, I was taught everything and anything analytically related. Loved working in labs and loved to get my hands dirty. But, working in a large corporation has made me realize that in order to gain any sense of financial freedom, you have to give up an ever-increasing percentage of your time. The catch is that there is minimal correlation between time invested and money earned. Time invested can go to the moon....yet you continue to earn the same salary (unless you get a promotion, then that income ceiling bumps a bit). 

I always found that to be a very hard pill to swallow. For my analytically driven mind.... I wanted to get the biggest ROI for my time invested. May that be a monetary ROI or a happiness ROI. I didn't see this happening in a corporate environment. This realization ultimately led to my interest in real estate. The opportunity to gain freedom and live a life that most of the herd think is impossible.

What a horrible horrible person.... I'm glad you're being optimistic and viewing this as an opportunity. It is quite sad that this has become the You vs. Me culture. Especially when someone is working to better themselves and obtain freedom, you are immediately faced with opposition that wants to anything they can to prevent your success. Their view of "well if you succeed, then that means that I can't succeed" is toxic. Shame on your former employer for not encouraging you to achieve your dreams in your off-time, especially if it didn't impact his bottom line. 

Keep Grinding.

@Katalina Mendoza I knew that the prices out there are just bananas so it's super tough to get going. I know how frustrating that feels and almost you can feel somewhat "stuck." 

But! There are ways to get into it. I dont know if you've attended any of the webcasts by @Brandon Turner but they are absolutely awesome. Incredible insight and it will help you learn even more. Cash may be a problem for you right now, but for some people it's not the issue. The issue for them is time.

So partnering on deals is a great way to overcome the minimal capital investment. If you're willing to invest your time to make the deal work, someone out there in the Bigger Pockets universe will have a check waiting for you

I am 27 years old...about to be 28 (pray for me while I go get my subscription to AARP)

Currently have 4 rentals and just purchased my first personal house that I'll be renting rooms out in an attempt to live rent/mortgage free

All of my rentals are in Flint, MI and are mainly geared towards student housing. Rental price is per bedroom, so we have been able to generate about $2000 per month on a $60k home. Students have a much lower standard of living which makes the upkeep of the house much more reasonable. But they do have a higher rate of wear and tear.

My goal for this year is to get a 5th house in the Flint area (near Kettering University) and then a 2nd house in the Auburn Hills area in order to rent to the interns/co-op students. 

Hi @Katalina Mendoza !!

Thank you for the good wishes on this venture! So to give a bit of a backstory.. I currently rent a room out of a house in Rochester Hills with a few other guys (one of them owns the home). I have been here for about 2 years and have been renting for all of my adult life (27 years old now).

I have been searching for a home that fits two criterion: 1) Something that is affordable and that I could turn into a cash flowing asset after I move out 2) A place that I would enjoy living in.

I had plenty of other opportunities for homes in the Rochester area, but good Lord some of the houses out here are expensive for just garbage. So I found this home on Zillow and worked with my realtor on getting in there asap.

The 2nd day this house was on the market....it had 12 offers. 9 of which were over asking. So I felt comfortable paying a little bit more because I know confirmed my worst case scenario exit strategy of having to resell the house....i.e. 12 offers in 2 days means that selling the house was going to be cake.

I feel like if you want to have your first experience with renting to a person, and you also would like to try to live close, if not entirely, rent free. Then house hacking is the way to go.

When I convert this home into a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom and rent out all the rooms. It should rent for 1800-2100 per month, which would result in almost 1k of cash-flow.

I am excited about it and can't wait to get in there.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment.

Purchase price: $211,000
Cash invested: $10,450

Purchased my first house for me! I plan to rent out 1 or 2 rooms in order to live rent free!

Purchased the house for $211k and the appraisal came back at $219k. All 17 windows needed to be replaced/repaired since the seal was broken in all of them. Come to find out that all of them have a lifetime warranty and will be replaced for free once I take possession of the house.

Talk about building equity with little to no effort!!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment.

Purchase price: $211,000
Cash invested: $10,450

Purchased my first house for me! I plan to rent out 1 or 2 rooms in order to live rent free!

Purchased the house for $211k and the appraisal came back at $219k. All 17 windows needed to be replaced/repaired since the seal was broken in all of them. Come to find out that all of them have a lifetime warranty and will be replaced for free once I take possession of the house.

Talk about building equity with little to no effort!!

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I wanted to start building equity in a house with other people's money. This deal came up and seemed like an incredible opportunity!

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Found on Zillow and negotiated with my realtor. Knowing the estimated repair cost of things, and being somewhat handy, has become invaluable in being comfortable with light renovations.

How did you finance this deal?

Through an FHA loan at 2.8% interest and 5% down.

PMI is $40 a month but I'll let my roommates pay that :P

How did you add value to the deal?

Found that all the windows can be replaced for free and that the property value was almost $10k over what I purchased it for

What was the outcome?

The deal is going through and I should be in there within a month!

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Mathew Abro from Silverstone Reality Group is dynamite for the metro-Detroit area!

I am 27 currently and have acquired 4 rental homes so far with 21 tenants. My goal is to get one more home by the end of the year. I had always wanted to get started and after attending Kettering University for Mechanical Engineering, I realized that I didn't want to be an engineer. At least not the kind that I interact with on a daily basis. So while my friends are out buying $50k cars and homes that cost an arm and a leg, I made a decision to forego those niceties for the time being and accrue passive income.

A huge problem with my generation is that we have become addicted to the "now" factor. I want it now...I'll buy it now..I want it today. But people forget that along the way and end up being stuck for their entire lives paying off the debt that they recklessly accrued. G

Thank you Logan! Being new to this site, it is such a breath of fresh air to meet people with the same goal as myself.

Adam