All Forum Posts by: Arianne L.

@Robert Winters Welcome! Yes, we hire licensed contractors to do the work. We budget all of the renovation, including hiring licensed contractors in the budget. So yes we still make money. Our very first flip, we did some of the work ourselves. and it was a HORRIBLE idea. It took Chris and I one whole weekend to put up a backsplash. We could've paid someone $250-300 to do it. But instead the two of us spent 20 hours one weekend to do it. So we put 40 hours of our own time. And "saved" 300 bucks. We "made" $7.50 dollars/hr. Lol. and to be honest, it was sub par work. what do you expect from two noobs with no experience putting up backsplash? It was NOT a smart decision. After that enlightening experience, we hired everything out.

The great news for you is. It sometimes is a huge positive if you don't know how to do things. Just make sure you follow a process. Vet the contractor (license, bonded, insured, no criminal history) , do NOT pay them ANYTHING upfront. Only pay for COMPLETED work. Then after that, all YOU need to know is, what is the scope of work (what do you want them to do), and they need to tell you how much it'll be and how long it's going to take. That's it!

@Brian Brusich why thank you for loving on SLPs. I still miss working in the field. Dysphagia has always been my favorite diagnosis to treat :). 

Don't get discouraged. You're right you need to surround yourself with the right people with the right mindset. And it doesn't mean the people who aren't encouraging you are bad... it's just that they don't know. They don't know people who've become millionaires in REI. They don't even know what's possible. But you're the one who's going to show them. It was like that for us too - none of our family members thought we'd make it. At some point we stopped telling them about it because they would keep saying how its risky, and what if this what if that, focus on your nice high paying job instead... Just remember, they don't know what they're talking about. YOU DO! So for a season, there probably will be a time when you're just working working working, with not much to show. And you've got to find others who are either at the same place, or are a few steps in front of you to help motivate you.

Find some local investors who are actually doing it, add value to them, and stay in contact with them. There are probably a lot of meetups where you're at. I have friends in the metro detroit area - Mike Simmons from we buy roi. 

@Ludmila Hill it's not a "sexy" answer - short version: we only spent $ on things we truly NEEDED and saved the rest to invest. (we only spent $1,600 a month back in 2014-2016. and saved the rest)
Which, thankfully, both Chris and I have done that most of our lives, so we really didn't really miss anything.

@Matt P. we actually were in debt to begin with BECAUSE of our "nice high paying jobs". 

It cost me 4 years of undergrad ($20,000 in tuition, and $30,000 in lost work hours per year = $200,000)

2 years to get my masters  ($25,000 in tuition per year, and $40,000 in lost work hours per year = $130,000)

So it cost me $330,300 to get the job that I walked away from 3 years later

I only made about $200,000 from that investment. (First year in I started at $60k with a masters degree, and after being the best at my job, doing lots of overtime, earning several raises and promotions, I exited the profession at the six figure mark. I only ended up earning around 200k total from it. If I just spent those 9 years working, I would've made way more than that) 

So, the "100k job" actually netted me NEGATIVE 130,000. Imagine what I could've done with POSITIVE 130,000 back in 2014 when the market was still super low. 

Lol. I can laugh about it now. But it sure wasn't fun when I was doing that calculation a year or two ago.

I don't regret any decision I've made though. I've made amazing friends along the journey I took. I met the love of my life because of the path I took. I don't regret it. But, looking back, it wasn't the best way to start.

@DC Lawson advanced welcome to Orlando! Love that area. The best way is by networking with people who are already doing 100+ unit deals. So connect with me, and other people here on BP who are doing large deals. Then we can see how we can work together. The thing I love about big deals 100+ units is the pie is so large there is so much opportunity to work TOGETHER vs with 1 single family rental, its kind of hard to partner with multiple people. God bless you as well!

@Jerryll Noorden sorry for the late reply! I'll have one of my team members dedicated to this the next few weeks. They will be under your expert care :)

@Rodney Harris thank you! hoping to see many more of your wins soon!

@Rich Hupper Jerryll is the SEO wiz. Direct mail is effective but expensive. We're hoping to get our cost per deal down once we get our SEO running better

@Cody L. I've learned a lot from your BP contributions over the years, thank YOU! The American dream is alive indeed. Dream + hard work x time = success!

@Jason Hammond you got this! Keep on persevering. It took me 6 months from when I started learning to my first deal. The first deal is always the hardest but it snowballs from there. 

@Vina Real appreciate your support from when we were just getting started to today! You're doing amazing things as well!

@Rich Hupper 95% of our deals come from direct mail. 5% come from facebook ads, google ads, and referrals. Our website appears on the first page of google @Jerryll Noorden is helping us out with that. None of our team are great at the website stuff so working with someone who knows what they're doing helps  alot

@John Corey thank you !

@Tony Duong hey Tony long time no see! was great to learn from you during the commercial event. That's awesome!! Way to take massive action. Congrats on your two flips! Hope to see you at another event soon and keep in touch online

@Tony Duongundefined

@Account Closed I've never flipped in San Diego. We live in FL and our business is in FL and the southeast. What I meant was there is an event in San Diego called Flip Hacking Live that taught us how to build a business that flips houses. I do know people who do it in San Diego though. They usually do less volume but make more money per deal

Last year, I shared my story here on BP . Please read for more background info. @Chris Lemire and I are here to give you guys an update!

Our progression:

June 2015 - 50k in debt. joined Biggerpockets. Started learning about REI. Started taking action

Dec 2015 – closed on our first rental (technically our primary residence but purchased on rental criteria)

Feb 2016 – closed on purchase of 2nd rental (bp post - rental case study) and 1st flip

June 2016 – sold 1st flip (concept proven). Started building a flipping business

October 2016 – went to Flip Hacking Live event to learn how to build a flipping business in San Diego and joined a mastermind group

Nov-Dec 2016 – bought more flips

2017 – sold 15 flips and 35 wholesales (bp post - flip case study)

2018 

– Closed on local 24 unit multifamily property. 

- Limited partners in 250+ unit apartment complex. 

- Flipping business did 21 flips and 35 wholesales

2019  

- 24 unit value add strategy now complete 

- closed on an additional 400 units as limited partners and general partners 

- Flipping business - our awesome team is on track to do 100+ deals 

- Goal is to close another 250+ units as limited partners and general partners before the end of 2019

A closer look at our flipping/wholesaling business

We have an amazing team of 10 including Chris and I that run this business. Couldn't do it without all of them. Right now we have 25 flips on the board and 60 wholesales. Goal is to finish 2019 and sell all the 25 flips and 75+ wholesales

A closer look at the 24-unit deal
@Chris Lemire executed the value add strategy. We renovated 8 1980 vintage units and brought all rents to market ($875-900). Cashflow is $100,000+ pear year after all expenses, debt service, etc.

A closer look at the 630 units

We partnered with great sponsors in the multifamily space and are limited partners (passive investors) and also general partners (active part of the sponsorship team). The complexes are all in the southeast (Atlanta GA, Beaumont TX, Savannah GA) all managed by professional management and are cashflowing well. We'll be closing on another 250+ units before the end of the year

Thoughts and thanks

It's crazy to think how...

-3 years ago we couldn't go to NZ for a family emergency - we couldn't afford last minute plane tickets, and were afraid to lose our jobs if we left

-5 years ago we were deep in debt (Negative $50,000 net worth)

-6 years ago our "first home" was a long term stay motel and I couldn't get a job in the usa

-10 years ago I was working a minimum wage job while going to school to help my family pay the bills

-15 years ago my little sister, brother, mom and I lived in a 100 sqft studio in Manila and my goal in life was to make $5 an hour so I could help provide for my family

Now....

🏢 We're buying large apartment complexes with amazing partners 

🏋️‍♂️ We've got a rockstar team who buys/sells 100+ investment houses a year.

✈️ We'll be spending 4 weeks in New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii with Chris' family and mine.

Thank you to Biggerpockets for providing an amazing platform for learning and networking. We met so many people through here, that have become mentors and partners that allowed to get where we are. If it weren't for us connecting with @William Allen here on BP, and him inviting us to Flip Hacking Live 3 years ago, we wouldn't be doing this now. 

If you have any questions please post here and I'll do my best to help!

Come and network with other local real estate investors and real estate professionals who invest in the following areas: Destin Fort Walton Beach Shalimar Niceville Navarre Mary Esther Crestview Miramar Beach

Some of the Topics Covered: Multifamily, Rentals, Rehabbing, Wholesaling, Private lending, Personal growth, BRRR, Delayed financing exemption

We hope that we can share ideas and do deals together.

There is no formal teaching during these meetups, just networking.

WHEN: Tuesday August 27 6:00pm-8:00pm

VENUE: Twisted Grape - 1193 B Eglin Pkwy, Shalimar, FL

@Manuel Hernandez Medina In Pensacola I'd recommend going to the Professional Investors Guild. We go to the Destin chapter. https://professionalinvestorsguild.com/
Also sign up to pensacolacashdeals.com @William Allen puts out a lot of great deals every week  

@Jerry Padilla just dropped a gold bomb I didn't know about. Definitely taking note of that renovation cost on closing statement trick for our next delayed finance BRRR!

@Matt "Roar" Gardner Congratulations!! You did an amazing job from being persistent in finding a good deal to start with, managing the renovation and contractors that come with it, to listing and getting a great offer! I agree with taking good care of your investors - we do as well, but we gotta get you started with lendinghome so you can get some good hard money rates  too ;) Looking forward to working with you a lot more!

Come and network with other local real estate investors and real estate professionals who invest in the following areas: Destin Fort Walton Beach Shalimar Niceville Navarre Mary Esther Crestview Miramar Beach

Some of the Topics Covered: Multifamily, Rentals, Rehabbing, Wholesaling, Private lending, Personal growth, BRRR, Delayed financing exemption

We hope that we can share ideas and do deals together.

There is no formal teaching during these meetups, just networking.

WHEN: Tuesday July 30 6:00pm-8:00pm

VENUE: Twisted Grape - 1193 B Eglin Pkwy, Shalimar, FL