All Forum Posts by: Alex C.

The website privatelenderfrank.com is very new (created on 2018/08/06; exactly three months ago).

Portfolio Lender Frank has a Twitter account at "POTfoliolending": https://twitter.com/potfoliolending

Portfolio Lender Frank also has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/privatelenderfrank/pos...

On Twitter he has a phone number with a 661 area code (Los Angeles County).
On FB he has a phone number with a 669 area code (San Jose).

A Google reverse image search of the image of "Frank Portillo" from those profiles and from the "terms" page of privatelenderfrank.com shows that the same image is used on the following online profiles (which appear to belong to a real person involved in higher education in Canada):

https://twitter.com/alnwickkeith

https://gi.linkedin.com/in/alnwickconsulting

I would avoid doing business with Private Lender Frank.

Interestingly, I found three BiggerPockets users named Frank Portillo, two from northern California and one from Arizona.  It's likely that they have nothing to do with the person behind portfoliolenderfrank.com.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/ReallyFrank

https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/frankp27

https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/Frank2182

@Kyle Howell

You might want to get in touch with Sean Cole (https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/sean_cole).   He's a local wholesaler whose business area includes Warren County.

Hi Nicholas,

Congratulations on jumping in and getting started; it sounds like you have solid goals and a good plan.  House hacking seems like a really smart move, especially in the early stages of your life (before kids, etc.).

It also sounds like we have several things in common. I'm an electrical engineer and my undergrad was in Physics, I play the guitar/bass/drums, and I enjoy trail running and hiking and am getting into paddleboarding.

I've lived in and around Lebanon for about 20 years now, so let me know if you have any questions about the area. I'm in the process of partnering on my first fix-and-flip, so I'm not a seasoned investor, but I've been reading REI books for a year and half, have listened to all of the BP podcasts, and have been focusing on learning the local market from an investing perspective.

Anyway, welcome, and congratulations on jumping in on your first deal (and your engagement)!

-Alex

Great post, thanks for sharing the numbers and the details on finding financing.

Hi @Michelle B., 

Thanks for the reply.  (I'm in Lebanon too, by the way.)

I appreciate hearing your perspective.  I recognize that mistakes are inevitable and risk is inherent in any investment, so as a beginner I'm trying to be extra cautious and take steps to minimize the impact of potential problems (while making sure to avoid "analysis paralysis").

The other factor that I didn't mention is that my wife and I just had our first child in December, so we're still adjusting to everything that comes with along with having a new baby in our life, especially the impacts on sleep and free time.  My thinking was that a partnership would let me stop postponing my entry into real estate investing and jump in now without having to do some of the more time-consuming management and organization, while also gaining some valuable firsthand education so I would be better prepared for a subsequent deal on my own.

On the other hand, our son is sleeping a little longer each week, and my wife and I have learned to be more efficient and strategically productive around the house to get a little free time here and there.   We might be nearing a point where I could start getting a team in place in order to pursue a deal on my own in the next few months.  I will definitely give this some thought.

Thanks,

Alex

Hi Rob, thanks for the reply; that's the type of insight I'm looking for. I would expect that a split ratio would heavily favor the partner to reflect the fact that I would just be providing cash.  I'm not looking for serious returns on this first deal; I just know that it's important for me to take action and actually get involved, and I hope to get some firsthand education at the same time.

I'm thinking that my value to a potential partner would be providing access to interest-free, point-free funds that could cover a significant portion of the deal (down payment and a chunk of the rehab costs, for example).  I would only expect a relatively small percentage of the final returns, and to be kept appraised of the main details throughout the process (contractor/agent selection, materials, budget, schedule, etc.).  

I would appreciate any additional thoughts.

Thanks,

Alex

Hello,

I've been reading the forums/lots of REI books and listening to hundreds of BP podcasts over the last year, and I'm ready to jump in and start on my first deal. My long-term goal is buy and hold, likely with BRRRR-style rehab and refinancing where possible to steadily build a portfolio. Throughout my education I've heard from investors of all levels of experience that pretty much everyone makes their biggest mistakes on their first flip, and that it can be considered a success to just break even on the first one. Many times an experienced podcast guest will respond to the question "what would you differently if you could do it all over again?" by saying that they would definitely partner with someone who knows what they're doing for their first deal or two. Learn from someone else's mistakes, don't reinvent the wheel, etc.

My goal for my first deal is to financially partner on a flip with someone who has some successful rehabs under their belt so I can be involved in a deal, see firsthand all of the stages of the process, and learn the basics from someone with some proven experience. I have $25,000 to put towards this, and I'm in southwest Ohio where distressed 3/2s are often well under 100k. I know the details will depend on the specifics of the deal, but I could use some advice on some options for how a deal like this might be structured. My guess is that there would be an x/y split of whatever profit is realized at the end of the deal (rather than interest or points being involved), but I would welcome any thoughts or suggestions on this.

Thanks,

Alex

Hello,

I've been reading the forums/lots of REI books and listening to hundreds of BP podcasts over the last year, and I'm ready to jump in and start on my first deal. My long-term goal is buy and hold, likely with BRRRR-style rehab and refinancing where possible to steadily build a portfolio. Throughout my education I've heard from investors of all levels of experience that pretty much everyone makes their biggest mistakes on their first flip, and that it can be considered a success to just break even on the first one. Many times an experienced podcast guest will respond to the question "what would you differently if you could do it all over again?" by saying that they would definitely partner with someone who knows what they're doing for their first deal or two. Learn from someone else's mistakes, don't reinvent the wheel, etc.

My goal for my first deal is to financially partner on a flip with someone who has some successful rehabs under their belt so I can be involved in a deal, see firsthand all of the stages of the process, and learn the basics from someone with some proven experience.  I have $25,000 to put towards this, and I'm in southwest Ohio where distressed 3/2s are often well under 100k.  I know the details will depend on the specifics of the deal, but I could use some advice on some options for how a deal like this might be structured.  My guess is that there would be an x/y split of whatever profit is realized at the end of the deal (rather than interest or points being involved), but I would welcome any thoughts or suggestions on this.

Thanks,

Alex

To take what @Karl B. mentioned a step further, if you enter "site:biggerpockets.com" along with your search terms on Google it will only search that domain, so every result that it returns will be from biggerpockets.com.

Hi @Patrick Malinowski , and welcome to BP.  I'm fairly new to the forums myself, but I've been listening to the podcast (which you should probably check out if you haven't already) and reading articles on the site for over a year now and I'm getting ready to jump in and start on my first deal as well.  It's amazing how much information is available here and how helpful people are with networking and sharing advice and general wisdom.

-Alex

https://www.biggerpockets.com/podcast   (You can quickly get to each show by going to biggerpockets.com/show### , where ### is the number of the podcast episode in question.)