All Forum Posts by: Charles Smith

Welcome to the family!

I’m a St. Louis investor.... best advice I can give is to do your homework, get familiar with terms, a few strategies, then test the waters!

Also, networking is extremely important!!! Good luck!

So.... just wanted to share that’s I’ve finally worked my way up to a small apartment building and it feels amazing!!!!

I’ve been doing single families and after a few they started becoming easier and easier.... my long term goal is to retire in 7 years so I needed to position myself to purchase something with much more cash flow.... I just acquired a 4 family that has 2/1 in each unit.... I’m going to make 2 of those units 3/1!!! Comfortably.

Now my portfolio is 11 single families 1 apartment building- total of 15 doors.

Anyway.... I just wanted to say, if I can do it so can you!!!!!!!!!

Learn. Grow your faith. Do the work.... brrrr works😎

Just finished my one last week... it took longer then expected because the way my ownership is setup with my trust and llc... the bank apologized and ensured me it’ll go faster on the next one because they have the info now.... there will always be hurdles... just have to see it through.

@Andre Taylor

Sorry I forgot to mention... those are all good points for using hard money... as long as your numbers make sense do it.

@Andre Taylor

I strongly believe you did it the right way.... sadly all the finical institutions requirements are different... some banks require a seasoning period and others do not... some banks allow multiple properties under one loan others don’t.... only thing I’d suggest is doing your homework on your local banks and their requirements and save that info somewhere. Doing it this way will give you a heads up on your next refi because you’ll know which banks to avoid based your your current circumstances.

@Jeff Lawrence

I ended up missing out on the deal... couldn’t find private money fast enough but I did check back on it... the house ended up selling for 50k and whoever did it did a beautiful job and put it back on the market for 180k... I took a couple screenshots and sent it to the investors I was trying to get to finance the deal for me.... I ended up buying a 5 bedroom rental a few months later 

I ended up missing out on the deal... couldn’t find private money fast enough but I did check back on it... the house ended up selling for 50k and whoever did it did a beautiful job and put it back on the market for 180k... I took a couple screenshots and sent it to the investors I was trying to get to finance the deal for me.... I ended up buying a 5 bedroom rental a few months later 

@Brandon Zeng

Hi I'm Charles... I'm not a foreigner but I've worked with investors from other countries..... from what I've noticed most investors find their own deals and don't rely on the realtors to do so.... last guy I worked with literally purchased a home in my market for $5k.... networked with me as the boots on the ground to find a quality tenant and lease to own that same property for @ $600 for 7 years! Idk about you but that's a great investment in my book.... good luck on your journey!

@Eli King... I'm late to the welcoming committee but WELCOME!!!

I'm in a Similar market and I have very humble beginnings of there's anything I can do to motivate encourage or guide you please don't hesitate to reach out! My number one advice getting started is to not make emotional decisions EVER.... run your numbers.... don't trust them? Ask someone else to run them if you have too.... Good luck my friend!!!

Thanks for all the advice guys... I finally got to see the property in person and they definitely left some things out..... 20k is what it’s going to take for my guys to bring some new life into this property.... but I’ve been on it... I’ve spoke with 3 investors and one hard money guy whom I’m speaking with again today.... he doesn’t want to loan less then 50k tho.... so I’m thinking.... 20k to buy 20k to rehab that’s a new roof and most of my hired labor.... 10 I’ll hold to cover the payments and bills.... 

my realto provides great comps from 110k to 130k. If I can bring this 3/1 property to 100k my deal works once I refinance..... thoughts?

Only thing I don’t know is how much profit I’ll be paying the lender so far... that’s why we’re speaking today