Hey folks!
It's been a huge step in my confidence and knowledge base by finding the BP community here! I'm relatively new to the real estate investing scene with any true vision for the possibilities it holds, and the recent weeks I've been able to spend trying to wrap my head around it all has already started some major changes. I come from a very poor family, but for some reason I just couldn't stand the idea of repeating the pattern. After working full time through my school years, putting myself through college, progressing through a few unfulfilling desk jobs, then starting my own renovation business, then partnering in a food business startup, then growing the renovation business into custom new home construction that ultimately ended up in bankruptcy at the market crash, followed by working a couple more years with a small-but-prominent renovation firm in my area, then recently starting my own business again as a cabinet refinisher... well, I've learned a lot about business - most of it the hard way. It's been about 20 years in the making, and all along my growing family has moved from an apartment, to a trailer, to a small rancher, to a bigger rancher, to a half-dozen other homes along the way, now in a fairly comfortable home with a good bit of equity. It seems that all along we have been side-hustling a pretty traditional live-in flip model, never really knowing that was what we were doing. Recently I've started to really question if just sitting back and paying the bank each month, slowly chiseling away at our principle with only income that has come directly from the work of my own hands was really enough, and got to digging into options for utilizing our equity to develop some passive income. That took me to my next bout of research and learning, to see what may be possible. That is what brought me to the BPRE podcast with Brandon and David, their books, and ultimately here... I'm really feeling pumped!
So now, I have a refinance of our home in process to settle into a fixed rate with a HELOC to begin the investing work. I aim to purchase a small multi-family property to get started and operate with the BRRRR strategy to keep the snowball rolling. I have acquired quite a few solid contacts here locally for contractors, realtors, and a couple of potential private lenders over my years in business and have recently started to see why. I'm also aware of a lot of landlords here locally, but few good ones (another advantage I hope to have over the others), so anyone looking to network here in my area is encouraged to please reach out. If I'm not in the paint booth or enjoying time with the family, I'm watching for deals, reading the forums/articles/books, crunching practice numbers, listening to podcasts, and chomping at the bit. It's truly just a matter of time now...
I look forward to interacting with you all and continuing to expand my horizons for what may be possible, all while hopefully being able to support those of you ahead of me and helping those coming along behind me. It's bound to be quite an adventure!
Warm regards to all,
-Bryon DeGraw (with wife, Lindsay, and 5 daughters, Avalynn, Alivia, Elsie, Charlotte, and Raeya)
