All Forum Posts by: William Allen

@Lance Hitz and @Yolanda Salas, thank you for the kind words!  I remember reading these when I first got on BP and it helped me realize that it's possible to do what I wanted to do. 

@Matt Jones, I see you on here all the time and I remember meeting you.  Glad to hear you are doing well full time in real estate!

@Jay Hinrichs, I saw a Vision Jet at an FBO the other day.  Looked awesome!

@Manuel Hernandez Medina, here are some of my favorites. 

Money Mindset - Millionaire Next Door

Business - Traction by Gino Wickman (don't need this until you are ready to build a company in my opinion)

Leadership - Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin **READ THIS TODAY!

When I started flipping houses, I followed @J Scott's (not sure why I can't tag him here) book "The Book on Flipping Houses" almost to a T when I was trying to figure it out.  

If you want to flip, wholesale, be a SFR landlord, multifamily investor, syndicator, etc... will be very important. That is step one, figure out what kind of investor you want to be and focus.

Have fun in Pensacola, you will enjoy it!

@Jay Hinrichs, if anyone wants 5 and 15 they can just give me a call!  That's very nice, but I believe I have ready some of your posts in the past about having to take back quite a few houses.  Do I remember that correctly?  I'm in that situation now with one I have a loan on. 

 I started my company in Pensacola, FL then we moved into Chattanooga, TN and now we are also in Nashville, TN.  I live in a suburb of Nashville now about 30 minutes south of the city.  We moved to Nashville right before my second son was born for his heart surgeries and never left.  We were planning to move back to Florida about 6 months after he was born but my wife loved it here so we stayed.  Being able to wholesale and flip virtually in those markets with a great team allowed us the flexibility to live anywhere.  No office, everyone works from home, can't find a better business than that!  Sometimes I miss the office though where I get to see everyone all the time.  We only get together in person about once a quarter and a big Christmas party at the end of the year. 

@Jay Hinrichs, I totally agree with those skills transferring.  Having an engineering background and mind helps me on the analytical side and I feel like the pilot in my keeps that balance and not being too analytical that I just spin in circles.  I have always known that it takes quick decision making when flying and also in business.  We need to take the information we have at the time and make the best decision with what we have available and stand by it.  Then if something new comes along figure out how to make an adjustment, like a puzzle.  Someone told me a few days ago that the helicopter pilot mentality of making quick decisions is likely why I have had success, hadn't thought about that one but he is probably right.  I would rather make a wrong decision than no decision or bounce back and forth all day and get nothing done. 

Pretty jealous of the Cirrus flying, I have a 1975 A36 and the SR 22's just fly right by me!  I actually learned to fly for the first time in a 172 out of Destin (KDTS) as a flight student.  Such a beautiful place.  I am still a Navy Reservist so I go down to Pensacola and instruct in the T-6B Texan II 60 days a year.  Love it!  Out west, I would need a turbo...

I realize this is an old thread but I use them all the time.  Maybe over the years they have cleaned things up but they have incredible rates and close fast for me with no appraisal needed.  We have disappearing points and 8.5% interest rates.   Have done about 20 loans with them over the past year or so. 

@Jay Hinrichs, thank you! 

I was really proud to see what you guys are doing at A Hero's Home, Inc.  It was my mission this year to buy, renovate and give away a house in Pensacola, FL to a Gold Star Family or combat wounded Veteran.  We are calling that project Blackjack Gives Back: Homes For The Brave.  Right now, we have bought the house and are midway through the renovation.  We teamed up with a non-profit who will identify the family and work with them for 3 years to ensure they are ready to receive the deed 100% free and clear.  

I checked out your website just now and you guys are right, it's a lot harder than I thought it would be!  I've received some incredible donations from lenders, friends, family, etc.. and am working on grants to donate materials for us to complete the job but there is a ton of paperwork and red tape!

Thank you for doing what you are doing! 

@Stuart Grazier, good to see you on here and I hope you do!  For me, I definitely think it was the right one.  When I started marketing at that time I was still flying 10-12 hours a day at the VTs so there is no way I could have answered the calls.  And to be honest, I hate talking on the phone.  She also did tasks like working in the CRM, follow up, all kinds of other to-do's that I shouldn't have been doing because I needed to be working on bigger tasks.  So for me, it was the best fit.  

There were a couple of exercises that I did to figure out what tasks I needed hired out before I decided this was the right position to hire first.  I made a list of all the things I was currently doing, every little thing from checking email, turning on utilities, answering the phones, etc... Then I calculated my dollar per hour over the last year.  Just added up how much money I made over the last 12 months and divided that by how many hours I worked that last year.  My dollar per hour the prior year was $55/hour.  So, I looked at that task list and just started highlighting the tasks that I could hire out at a cost significantly lower than that.  That was my job description for the position I needed and it came down to a TON of admin tasks.  

At first, I found almost all of my hires on Craigslist believe it or not. My first hire came from there (the one I talk about on the BP podcast) but she left after 3 weeks because her husband got a job in another state and they moved away. Her replacement was someone I met at a REIA and on here actually. She has worked with me since the beginning and is one of the only people who is still with me today. Right @Account Closed!  Although she is starting her own bookkeeping business now and moving on and I'm incredibly excited for her.  

Now we find most of our folks on Indeed and are always running ads for applicants whether we are actively hiring or not.  I learned that lesson a few times the hard way, always be recruiting talent!