All Forum Posts by: Adrien Veres

Do you guys know where i should aim to get the maximum profit ( after expenses & credit) ?!

And what type of investment ?!

Hi, i'd like to present myself, my name is Adrien, i have dual citizenship ( French & American).

I've lived in France almost my entire life and settled to the US a bit more than two years ago to see how life goes here. I made a bad decision by working for a family member and earn 14$ per hour right now. But i'm very good at saving money, i actually save between 50 to 60% of my income each months by choosing to live in my dads house ( i pay him a little, and share the food i buy sometimes). Instead of paying a rent, i invest in a Roth ira to maximise contribution each year (5500$).

I live in california, 30 mins away from Los Angeles and rents and housing prices are too expensive, and out of reach. My monthly income is 2000$ but rent around is easily 1600$ per month ( if its a good deal).

Few months ago i've written a post on bigger Pockets but i had some changes in my life, my grandpa had cancer and i've stopped focusing on investing for quite a whiles. I was looking at every possible way to cure / treat cancer with natural stuff like alkaline food, black seeds, moringa leaves powder, baking soda & lemon, vitamin C doses...  He had a little surgery, and received a lot of homeopathic treatments, he is now cancer free. Now that he beat the beast and that he is back in shape, i started to dreaming about financial freedom  again.

I had inherited from 20 000$a décennie ago from a close friend of the family who didn't had any children, and loved my dad and i like his own son and grandson. I've never touched that money and let it at the bank. I've played in the stock market with my earnings and save the maximum of the income i could these last 2 years in a half, my grandpa also borrowed me 30 000$ to help me out build capital ( that i would pay back to him).

I now have a capital of about 87K. And my monthly income from my paycheck is 2000$ for 45 hours of work, ( i actually do extra hours that i exchange in vacation time to travel overseas or at national parks).

Here is my problem, i want to be financially free as fast as possible. I really miss my friends and family back in France, and i'd like to travel around europe. My goal is to earn 3500$ in net income per month and go back to the south of France, in Marseille. Where i can live quite well with only 1200$ per month, so with 3 times the minimum salary i can live a very well and travel every 3 months.

As California prices are too expensive, i wanted to invest out of state, like nevada, arizona, texas, florida ect,

What path will you recommend me to chose ?

I really don't like living in the US at all, the cost of life in california is way too expensive. Personally i think that California is over rated. There is so many countries that has a similar weather for expenses that are much lower. Travelling in the US is nice, but living ( in california at least) is really not my thing. If i were earning 5000$ per month passively then yes it would be nice, but for now it sucks. As im free only in the week ends, and california's traffic ( circulation) is the worst i've ever seen haha

Also the life doesn't correspond to my mentality.  

I know the easiest way to start is to buy one single family house by signe family house. But it takes quite a while to build some income. And i really want to move from here as quick as possible...

I would like to buy one or two appartements with several units, so i just need one or two property manager instead of having some spread up all around the US every time i found a good deal.

Do you know how and where i should focus my efforts ?, If i should invest all my capital in one big appartement complex or several multi units , and where should i look for biggest returns ?

My main goal is to earn 3500$ per month after all expenses, in 5 years maximum...

Another thing, is i'm afraid to invest, do you know how i can get that fear of failing out of my head haha ?

One last thing, i've seen several articles saying that the next crash could be soon. Should i wait for the market to crash before investing ? Or should i go on if i find good deals ?

I'm sorry i'm asking so many questions, and that i'm asking for a lot in a limited time, but that's my goal, i really want to achieve it !

Thank you in advance :)

Hi @Yaniv I'm exactly in the same situation, i live in Whittier ( Near Los Angeles) and only have 30K, ( I have a way to borrow another 30K from my grandpas retirement if i really need it. He is willing to help me out as long as i pay him back, he's really nice !).

I'm looking to either invest in other states where cap rate and price is better / more affordable, or somewhere in CA in a two hours drive range that have a nice appreciation and cash flow.

If you ever find anything interesting,( a city name where it is cheap,not so much risks and good return) please share it with me :)

I will like to thank you all for welcoming me in this community & giving me hope due to my situation !

@Robert Syfert , There is a good chance that i will invest in Detroit due to the amount i have in the bank, Detroit could be a good choice. I will probably contact you via private message during the week for more information about the city, and neighborhood to chose, aswell as property management.

@Johnathan Alesso Thank you for this huge answer ! I do agree with you 100%. I do not want to work at 65+, which is exactly why i've chosen to stay in america and try to save as much as possible to start in real estate. Concerning the cost of living, i think it depends the cities, i leave in whittier, close to los angeles and prices are extrendamous, way more than in the south of France, or Italy. The US tho is by far, a way better place for investments, especially real estate, the law is good for investors, and the return is much higher than most countries , if not the best country for real estate. I actually heard about mr money mustache, he is the reason why i desire to retire in my 30's, my goal is actually 35 ( so i have 12 years to accomplish that goal haha).

I also started to invest in dividends paying stocks with some apps. I'm still learning but i try to diversify stocks income even tho i don't have much to invest, the return is still better than the money sleeping at the bank haha

I will discuss with you in more details by private message :)

@Brent Maxwell Thank you, i hope to find good people that i can trust via bigger pocket to help me find a good team in the case i invest over there.

@Chinmay J. I totally understand your point of view on this. As i said, the vacation time difference is a statement, and the culture is different. I guess in France, people in general prefer to earn less but to get more personal time ( shorter weeks, vacation spend with children, more time for the wife ect). French don't really try to work for themselves, because it has a costs, and people prefer to work for someone else, so they don't have to take any risks. Myself i'm a risk taker, it's why i'm here. I don't judge people who like to be safe, because i totally understand. I do not think tho that the vacation time has something to do with the bad economy. I think the bad economy is due to the euro, that makes french products more expensive and more difficult to trade. Plus, the country doesn't really help investors and entrepreneurs that are by definition the ones innovating and creating the economy. Taxes are high when you employ people, plus it is really difficult to lay off workers, so some companies are afraid to employ, so the production is much slower, the unemployment rate higher, and power of consumption lower. Wells thats my point of view, im not an expert, so i won't debate on this. 

I Don't think i sound like a " pitiful depressed housewife " , i just introduced myself to the community and tried to explain to you my background,what i want for the future and why i want to invest here to go back and live over there in the future...

I do know that with a better paying job i will be able to save more, it is logical, exept i didn't find any long term job that were that better. As i said i live in my dads house, so i had to find a job around, i could find other jobs further but i will have to rent, income - rent = same or worse, i already calculate that, it's the only reason why i keep the 14$ per hour job haha Plus my job is only 10 to 15 mins from my dads house depending on the traffic.

Don't worry i eat to the restaurant some time to time, but not too often. I actually think that my life is in order, and pretty stable... but thank you, i will get a look to #200 josh and brandon did 20 steps for real estate investors" it sounds interesting !

@Russell Brazil I'm happy to see someone who understands my difficulties haha 

At first it was hard, then it got easy to save up some money , i just cut all the expenses that were not necessary. For exemple i see that nice jacket, some part of me wants it, the other part says that even if a buy it i will wear it one time, and then put it on the side. Same for little gadgets on ebay, unnecessary food like cakes, 7-11 Vanilla french coffee ect. I still buy some time to time, but drastically cut off. Instead i invest it in the stock market, investing / real estate books, workout equipment, camping gears ( i just love camping and hiking). I still have aguilty pleasure tho, red wine from traders joes haha

@Lee Ripma Thank you for your advice ! I agree, it's better to be Rich in america than in europe !! Also i'm looking to invest outside of california for several reasons. The first reason is the price, the second is the cap rate that is much higher in other states than around L.A...

Will i need to do studies in relation with Real Estate to do this kind of job ? If you have any company in mind, feel free to tell me in private message so i can get a look.

@David D Painter Your story is really interesting, it is exactly what i want to do !!! Buy a house, keep the income from it in an account, re invest it in another house, and repeat till i'm doing great. Well even if i "retire" i would still be able to continue as a hobby haha

I just hope to have a very good deal as first investment, to help me support the rest, i can not count on my salary income, but buy cutting expenses, i think i will be able to do something. I would like to buy as young as possible, so i will be able to pay the mortgage as soon as possible ( hopefully).

To finish i will like to thank everyone of you, who took the time to encourage & motivate me. I know that i want to do this more than ever ! After some hard work, i would love to be able to say one day that i've succeeded and that i will be able to build a family that won't need to worry about not eating well , having a place to sleep or to afford any hospitalisation / medicine in case of a problem.

If you have any site or youtube videos to show me that can help on my project, i would love you to send me links by email. I love learning new things. After all, the best investment is in knowledge :)

First of all, i will like to introduce myself. My name is Adrien, i'm a french / american, i have dual citizenship.  I was born in the US, but lived in France my entire life. 

I left everything to try out America, but the life in california is so expensive... I'm currently having a very low income, 14$ per hour. But i managed to save drastically. I eat very cheap food ( Canned food & frozen vegetables), i live in my dads house so i don't have to pay rent, i just help with water, electricity bills, buy my own food, help doing tasks in the house.

In two years i managed to save 30 000K.

The most important part ( you will understand later), is that i miss Europe freedom, since i moved to the US, i feel like there is less freedom here, less rights citizens & worker rights, less protection in jobs, extremely expensive medicine, extremely expensive insurance ect. 

Huge difference on vacation time aswell, in the US 2 weeks paid vacation, in France 5 weeks, 12 days of RTT, plus 16 banks holidays ( if you had everything up its a total of 2 months in a half vacation per year. ) Plus if you are sick you still get paid while your home , if you a prescription from the doctor...

I also miss the lifestyle, bringing beers to the beach with my friends, bars that dont ask your ID, activities, Europe is so small that you can go to one country to another so easily and travel cheap ( Bus to go to Spain, Train to go to italy ect ).

There is also some magnificent places in the US, i'm in love with San Francisco, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Mont Whitney, San Clemente , San Diego ect But we have such a low numbers of days for vacation here, that i can't do much.

I was going to go back to France, but the economy is so bad right now, that i won't find a better job anyway.

My ultimate goal, is to be financially free. After searching all the ways to obtain freedom, i realize that the best way was real estate. You can do so much, i started reading about it, and just fell in love with this theory, that buying several houses that produce cash flow, gives you a semi-passive income. That's just perfect ! I could be living anywhere in the world, have a good property manager in every states i'll invest and don't have to worry too much, right ? So here i am, i subscribed in BP moving further in the process.

I planned to travel a bit everywhere, in the US, in europe, in asia , australia ect, i wanted to find a job and work locally to get extra money, added to a passive income from real estate to help me out.

My plan is to obtain from 3000$ to 5000$ in net semi-passive income in . So i can work in any job in the world while traveling, even if it is a low paying job, i will still have 3000$ Coming each months .

I'm going to need some help from experienced people, as i explained, i have a low income, and a small capital to invest. Is there any places you will recommend me to invest ? ( 30 000 $ in bank, i can borrow another 30 k from my grandpas retirement but will have to pay him back, and earn 24 000$ a year). I have an excellent credit score, 730. I have absolutely no experience at all in real estate, but i'm very interested and motivated.

I'm looking to either put everything in one multifamily house in a appreciation area, or get two cheap houses in cheap areas like Memphis, Detroit ( i know its risky, but its the best cap rate i've found), somewhere in Florida ?...

Does someone have any idea of how i can start investing ? & Where ?

I was thinking to not use the cash flow, and keep it in the bank, so i can reinvest the cash flow in another property. I give myself 2 years for 3000 $ or 5 years to get 5 000 $ Net income.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate. I'll be glad to answer them.

In hope that someone will help me realize my dream.

Best Regards,

Adrien