All Forum Posts by: Caleb Friberg

Hey Aaron, you're on the right path.  I won't be specific on how to invest with no money but Invest more time and what money you have to educate yourself as much as you can. Podcasts are free and highly beneficial as well. Keep a notebook with you and write down things you learn so you can quickly refer back to them. You'll need some kind of money to invest or at least have as backup, even if that means cutting back expenses bare bones for a year or two so you can save the rest. The moment I set goals, broke them down into tasks and took action, was when I started seeing results. My father always told me "Chance favors the prepared mind". Stay positive and don't quit no matter the cost. 

Here's a picture, the other one didn't upload properly.

So I'm looking at buying a rental house in cash that has 2 apparent issues; asbestos siding and steep stairs. I plan on residing the house in the Spring/Summer of next year, then go put financing on it to BRRRR my money back out. My biggest concern is that when I go to refinance it, the appraiser will walk through the house and notice the really steep stairs. They're not to code but I would think that they're grandfathered in. Does anyone know if this will prevent me from getting financing? I've seen houses with steep stairs like this before, just never thought about the financing part of it.

I agree with Aaron in that if you do buy a 2 bed, it's probably best to buy in a nicer neighborhood (A-B). I never have issues renting mine out to quality people. 2 bed houses are a little harder to sell but since I buy in areas with highest demand, I wouldn't have any problems getting rid of my properties if needed. What matters most though is that the numbers work. Good luck

Thank you!

Hey all,

My wife and I just closed on our first live in flip (first flip for that matter) on Monday and walked away with over $63k! Then yesterday I opened up escrow for our 2nd rental property. Things are finally picking up some steam.

We bought the live in flip over 2 years ago for $200k. The woman that owned it had passed away and her caretaker faked her signature saying that he was willed all of her belongings including the house! He got into drugs, had people living in the basement and ended up selling all of her belongings and stripping and scrapping 80% of the electrical out of the house to feed his addiction. Well, he was finally kicked out and electrical was redone by the woman's father, so we got it for a smoking deal. It's 4bd/4bth 3,800sq ft on almost 6 acres in a very sought after area of my town. We got a HELOC on the house and used it to build a garage, fix up the kitchen, new paint and fixtures throughout the house, landscaping and I acid stained the basement floors to give it a one off look.

One suggestion I would give to anyone looking at doing this is know exactly what your ARV is (and keep it on the low side), know your costs going in and adding 30% to that for safety margin and DON'T overlook how much monthly holding costs are because they will eat you alive if you're not careful!

The rental house we got under contract was from me doing extensive networking. I met with a local property management company owner a few weeks ago that is trying to liquidate some of his inventory. I liked the property but the price was a little too much for the repairs that needed done. I just got a call from him yesterday saying that if I was serious, they just dropped the price $15k. I met him 2 hours later and signed a P&S agreement and opened up escrow. Total price $70k, will need about $18k - 20k for fix up and it's ARV will be around $120k. I plan on buying it, then BRRRR out most my $ so I can go out and do it again.

Last suggestion/opinion: "Your net worth is only as big as your network". I'm not sure who came up with that saying but when I sit back and think about all the super successful people I know, this holds very true. The second thing they have in common is that they know there is no substitute for hard work, there is no such thing as get rich quick. I'm just a normal guy, I'm not super intelligent, I didn't come from a wealthy background or have a leg up in this world. I just set some high goals and I push myself harder than I did the day before and learn from my never ending mistakes. Lastly, I wouldn't have really got this far without everyone from BiggerPockets, thank you for all the interesting and inspiring articles and posts, I hope that my contribution might inspire someone else to take the next step. ~ Caleb

Wow! Talk about a diamond in the rough. Good job man!

Hey Wayne,

It's great to hear from someone else local. I'd be very interested in linking up. I'll PM you shortly.

Caleb

Hey all,

I just wanted to reach out and see if there are any wholesalers or investors in my local market of Longview / Kelso, Washington (Cowlitz County) that might have any properties under contract for sale now or in the future?

My wife and I have a house pending for sale (should be closing in a few weeks) and are looking to roll the profits into another rental property. We're looking for buy and holds 3/1 SFR's or bigger and multi-family's properties. I don't care how much work they need as long as the numbers work and they're in decent neighborhoods.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Caleb

Kaycee, That was my concern is that how can one prove that the person that signed it is the actual tenant. I'll have to look into the DocuSign for future reference but 99% of the time we meet all our future tenants in person because the properties are local.

Colleen, that is a valid point, I did have to tell her that I wanted her actual signature, not just a PDF stamp. I think as long as I have that and the money, I should be good to go. Mailing the original is a good idea too but if everyone's in agreement, then I don't think I need it.

Thank you everyone for the feedback, it really helped me out.