All Forum Posts by: Anthony Poulin

Quote from @Rene Hosman:

1. My first resource recommendation for your education is this: Get a BiggerPockets audio subscription and start listening to the audiobooks available on the topics you're interested in, see what stands out to you. This is the BEST $100 you will ever spend, and if you listen to Amanda Han's tax book, you'll know it's also likely a business expense for you to write off :) https://biggerpockets.supercast.com/

My perfect way to learn from the BP books is to listen to the audio book through the subscription above, then books that really stand out to me I go old school and get the physical copy so that I can re-read it, take notes in the margins, and put post it notes so key points are easier for me to re-reference in the future. That's just my personal way of really feeling like I've comprehended the topics rather than just listened to them. 

2. Given your previous career, your goals, and wanting to diversify your investments, I'm wondering if you might find value in the PassivePockets community, it's a community with private forum dedicated to passive investing in syndications. There's a free 7-day trial for you to poke around on those forums and learn more. You can also check out the PassivePockets Podcast and if you take up my first idea, The Hands Off Investor by Brian Burke is a great read. If this seems like an avenue you're interested in there's a PassivePockets conference in Columbus this May, it can be hard to find syndication conferences that is geared toward LPs (the passive investors) aren't actually just a sales funnel for one particular group 

3. Beyond real estate investing, BiggerPockets Money has great episodes on how to avoid the middle class trap with your investments - ie how to structure your investment best so that they're not all locked up in accounts with penalties until you're 65. I'm happy to give you a list of episodes on that topic if you'd like! I think most BP folks would agree that you have the right idea, diversifying your assets with stocks, bonds, and real estate. Plus diversification within your real estate portfolio can be a solid strategy.

4. Meetups - Our events page is a great place to start, some areas of the country are far more active about posting their meetups than others, if you're not finding anything here meetup.com is a great place to look as well. Good to try out a few different meet ups with a few different topics and event structures and see what vibe fits you best. Really nothing can replace real life connections! 

5. That brings me to five, two great ways you can make lasting connections this year - Momentum 2025 cohort starts in February, this is an 8-week virtual summit with weekly meetings and what I'm most excited about is that when you get a ticket to Momentum, you'll have the opportunity to join small accountability groups with others from Momentum. BPCON happens every October, this year is in Vegas Oct 5-7th good to get some practice in going to local networking events because BPCON is like drinking from a firehose, in the best way possible though! I will be on the sessions for Momentum, as well as attending the PassivePockets convention and BPCON myself so maybe we will cross paths. I will not be at the NY Real Estate Investors Expo but I'm sure that's a great one for meeting more people in your region!

6. Once you've thought a bit about what your ideal wholistic investment portfolio looks like, if you decide that you want some kind of more active real estate investing in the mix, I cannot recommend more getting Start with Strategy by Dave Meyer and the accompanying workbook The Strategy Planner. I've been very slowly investing over the last 5 years, and I cannot tell you how much of an impact this book had on me when I read it last September. I was feeling really overwhelmed with thinking about what real estate strategy I wanted to pursue and I was going in circles for over a year not making a decision. I read this book, and within 3 weeks of finishing it had my next deal under contract because it helped me make my strategy decision and feel good about finally acting on it

Happy to help if you have any more specific questions. Again, welcome to the community!

I actually got introduced to BiggerPockets because I recently searched for REI audiobooks on Spotify that were free with my premium subscription and listen to How to Invest in Real Estate by Joshua Dorkin and Brandon Turner. I love audio books and listen to them regularly when doing mindless work tasks or on walks. I will definitely look to take advantage of that resource. Thanks.

I did see PassivePockets mentioned here but was not quite sure what it was about. Thanks for letting me know about it and the trial period offer. Passive investment is definitely something I am interested in dipping my toes into. 

Please send me a list of episodes you would recommend on BigPockets Money and will happily add them to my audiobook/podcast queue. Investment is just one piece of the puzzle, actually knowing how to handle the cash flows and structure asset types can be just as important.

I am glad you are recommending Momentum because I was trying to decide whether or not to sign up. The agenda looks like it could be really informative and I like that is offers discounts to BPCON and Pro. I think it even comes with a copy of Start with Strategy for signing up.

If i attend PassivePockets or BPCON I will be sure to try to make an introduction. Thanks so much for all the information and suggestions. I really appreciate the time it took for you to respond.

@Abel Curiel

Abel, great to meet you. Thank you for the feedback. I actually had come across your post below in the Events forum and thought to myself it would have been nice to attend that to see first hand a local flip and talk shop about the process.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/1215682-chec...

I am happy to hear that someone with your experience in the region feels that Westchester is a market with some potential. I am leaning on local first for my next investment, but not ruling out an out-of-market opportunity. 

If you do attend the REI Expo then lets connect. If you do not, I would still love to connect sometime when time permits. I know that I will need a good realtor on my team that understands not just the market but the real estate investment industry itself. Perhaps there is an opportunity for us to work together.

Thanks again for responding.

Hello everyone, my name is Anthony Poulin and I live in Westchester County in New York. I am happy to make my introduction to the community. First off, apologies if this post is too long or has too much information for a first post, I am just trying top get as much put there in hopes it connects with as many people as possible.

About me.. 

I am an attorney in New York and New Jersey and for the past 15 years worked my way up and became an owner/partner in a multi-state law firm. While not my main area of practice I represented a Brooklyn credit union lender, some buyers/sellers and a few landlords in real estate transactions and rent arrears cases.

While we had successes and some failures along the way I ultimately concluded that I wanted to do something different with my life and cashed out of the business. I am looking to begin the process of a 10+ year plan to build out a sustainable REI enterprise which would ultimately provide me with significant passive income and net worth to make a legacy business for my family. In the meantime, as this is built I will continue to earn income elsewhere so immediate cash flow is not necessary, and long term growth is prioritized.

I freely admit that despite some of my other qualifications in business, I am a novice in the world of real estate investment. I may even think I know just enough to be dangerous to myself. Which is probably worse than knowing nothing. I joined this community because I want to get my hands dirty and not just meet people online but form some real connections and try to provide value back to those that are willing to offer me advise and guidance, and even encouragement.

So, this is my current situation:

Back in 2020 I was one of the fortunate ones who purchased real estate when prices were still low (compared to today) and interest rates where at 3% or below. It was my first ever purchase and I focused on a obtaining a property in the Scarsdale School District. At the time I never thought of it as something that would be a rental or a REI platform. But as of today, I am strongly considering converting it into a single-family rental because based on some Zillow comps I've seen I could get upwards of $8000.00 per month which is more than double my mortgage, taxes and operating expenses. More importantly though, due to the extreme property appreciation over the past 4+ years I have somewhere between $600-$750K in equity in the property. I am hoping this gives me a head start in funding the initial investments.

I also have some high balance liquid assets, but I am putting all or most those funds into other investment vehicles to diversify my holdings such as stocks, bonds, etc. I was possibly considering REIT assets to put some investment in as well, but I do not know much about them. Does anyone else incorporate these into their strategies?

I know I want to do this but am suffering from a bit of analysis paralysis trying to figure out if I should jump right in and do small multi-family project or just do a small deal to get my feet wet where if I mess up it wont derail the whole endeavor. If I want to do buy and hold rental first or a BRRRR or Fix and Flip? What city or areas should I look at and what should I avoid…and probably about 100 other questions.

I welcome any feedback the online community may have; I am sure several of you once has the same uncertainty in your mind. If there are any community members that are local to Westchester County or the surrounding area and have time to meet up and share experiences and tips, or even have projects themselves that I could provide some help within exchange for the guidance please let me know!

Local Events

I am eager to attend some events near me and I did not see anything coming up soon on the Events and Meet Up page, but I did see this online from the New York Real Estate Investors Association (REIA) and am likely going to check it out:

NYC 6th Real Estate Investors Expo

https://www.meetup.com/new-york-real-estate-investors-association/events/302291858/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events

Is anyone else in the community attending this? If so, please let me know I’d be happy to make time to find you and say hello.

@Scott Trench  and @Rene Hosman – thanks for the first post tips