All Forum Posts by: Andrew Cornstubble

@John Underwood this os a really good idea.  I'll ask my attorney if it is legal here.  Had i known this a few years ago I'd be about $600 richer today.

@Nathan G.  And all the owner had to do was take your advice.  I can only hope to be so lucky when I hire a pm.

 This is so true.  A local multimillionaire flips a lot of vehicles and equipment.  People always say "everything he touches turns to gold." What they don't see is him going bankrupt right out of high school trying to start the exact business that he and his partners have now built.  

One of my best friends is a state champion kickboxer.  People always talk about how tough he was back in highbschool.  And he's lucky he can take a hit.  What they don't see is him dropping almost 200 pounds and spending YEARS getting beat on by a world champion kickboxer while working 40 hours a week packing and shiping big heavy parts.

The best thing i ever did was just give up on advice from my fellow working class citizens.  Almost everyone i know is telling me "real estate is a terrible idea."  Yet they get up the next morning, put their work boots on, and make an average wage working for someone else.  Untill a room full of independently wealthy people tell me what a bad idea real estate is I'm not taking any other bluecollar's opinions.

I sort of had an epiphany the other day when my little 1br/1ba nightmare that I was ready to just give away finally became my first true asset.  I hired handyman.  After 5 years I finally conceded.  I am a sub-par handyman at best.  So, rather than working 11 hours at my day job and then repairing water damage for another 6 hours a day for 3 days or so I called in someone that not only knows what they are doing.  But can do the repairs during daytime hours while both of my tenants are working.  Now I'm not worried and they aren't inconvenienced at all.  I guess I'm pretty thick headed.  But looking back on all of the time I have spent inside and under that house cursing I can't stop laughing.  Rolling around in 6 inches of water in a freezing rain storm, the only way I got through it without renting a bulldozer was to tell myself that all of the work would be worth it one day.  All I had to do was call a handyman.  

I won't even get into the mistakes I have made with tenants.  But, lessons learned I guess.

If you haven't done any deals yet jump in.  It's worth it.  If a two time community college dropout like me can have 3 houses while shopping for a 4th anyone can do this.  Don't doubt yourself.  Don't take a bigger risk than you can afford.  And just go for it.

So, what's the story of your first deal?

 LOL!  That's hilarious.  I'm an hour and a half from the nearest Walmart.  That is true though.  Self driving cars are already on the road.  It's just a matter of time now.  I've been into hotrodding since I was born.  I actually tag and insure so many vehicles I've started some of the paperwork to get a dealer's liscense just so i can trade more than 5 times a year.  

It's just a hobby.  I try and make it pay for itself and never get ahead because about once a year i find a car and keep it now.

 Wow.  I've never thought about that.  Freedom is what excites me about all of this.  

I know a guy who is part owner of an oil company.  They sold out for over 40mill and built it right back up even more.  He said when he hits 1,000 barrels a day he's going to retire.  He's been hauling rock in a dumptruck fixing lease roads lately.  No air conditioning.  It's mind boggling that he's still working.  But i guess all of that work is about to pay off.  Oil around here is pretty low at $40 a barrel.  I'm sure expenses are high but there's likely some wriggle room in $40,000 a day.  

I just dont get it i guess.  I never want to work again.  Publicly anyway.  Good advice.  I thank you.

@Brian Van Pelt genious. I've been combing over the paperwork to get a dealer's liscense but i HATE dealing with all the CL scammers and lowballing customers. I don't have any idea how i didnt even consider just charging a flat rate fee and only dealing with the sellers. But i am glad you mentioned it. Thank you!

@Matthew Paul i vote all of these simultaneously. Go kart lazer tag and alchahol. What could go wrong?

@Scott Schultz agreed. Every single time someone gives me "advice" on investing or a career path i spend a few minutes contemplating whether or not they take their own advice. And if it is benefitting them. I have friends that will take put a 30 year mortgage on their home to "start a business" but not listen to me when i suggest a couple of business books i have. Then they wonder why in the world it didn't work and the on top of that blame others.

@Tyler Kress not trying to diss your family. Heck, mine is the same way. But everything you do in your life is up to you. They likely learned the hard way like we all did about screening tenants or even worse. Didn't learn. I would for sure have some sort of property management company or programs to handle tenant complaints. Buy at least in an LLC for tax purposes. If you incorporate in Nevada you can move in and none of your tenants would even know you own the place. (Not soliciting but my attorney is barred in for Nevada feel free to pm me if you like.)

Landlording can really suck.  You'll likely have at least 1 bad roach infestation in your own personal unit.  People are loud and sharing walls sucks.  You'll have at least one or two "professional" tennants that slip by and are just there to rob you and make your life miserable.

Sadly until you have 20 units and are golfing at noon on a Monday you won't be able to change your family's minds.

I remember more than once having to burn my clothes along with an entire house full of stuff with my dad because it was just... gross.  Bug infestations, moldy food, fridges full and electricity shut off, pets that have never been outside or had a litter box, you name it.

My folks got burned so much they gave it up.  My realtor is my dad's girlfriend so he knows any time we even look at a potential rental.  He thinks I'm absolutely insane because all he remembers is horrible tenants with no respect for themselves or anyone around them.

He hasn't seen how nice it is to have a clean rental in perfect shape with a clean and respectable tenant.

My advice? Hands down take the ~12k profits from the sell and the 10k. 22k down on a 3.5% FHA loan is roughly a $650,000 multifamily. I forget what it's called but you may even be able to borrow along with that for repairs.

You'll never win the game if you don't play.  And as young as you guys are it may be tough to be taken seriously by lenders.  But from your post you already sound like you've put more effort in than some of the "successful" investors i know.  Go for it!