All Forum Posts by: Chris Jensen

@Matt Millard so that's interesting. In a down market you were able to raise rents. Is that directly due to the capital improvements, or was there another phenomenon at play? I've wondered, during a downturn, when fewer people can no longer afford to buy, if demand for rental homes increases leading to raising rents. Did you notice anything like this in Oklahoma?

@Nadine Delille I sure sense the frustration in your words. I'd like to offer two thoughts.  One is very personal, and the other very practical.

First is an approach my wife and I have used regularly over our 20-year marriage when facing a big decision. We study it out. We research, read books, ask trusted friends, ask others who have done what we're thinking of doing. All the things you describe. Most importantly, we pray about it and search our feelings. If it feels right, if we feel settled about it, then we start down that path. We firmly believe that God knows all things and opens doors in our lives if we are on the path that He knows is best for us. If we start down a path that isn't right (many times for reasons unknown to us), then He won't open those doors. In those situations, we circle back, reevaluate, and take a different path. It seems, based on your comments, that wholesale and rehabbing were not right for you at this time. You've circled back, reevaluated, and are wanted to try a different path. That's exactly what we do, and I applaud you for listening to your inner self. Keep applying that pattern in your life, in whatever you get involved with, and I'm confident things will work out the way they should. Not always easy, but the way they should.

My second, more practical thought is to narrow your focus and find someone locally who is doing that and learn from them. You mentioned a rental property or house hacking. I'd find someone who is doing or has done either of those and spend some time with them. It's one thing to read books, listen to podcasts or attend seminars. It's another thing entirely to spend time with someone where you can observe, ask questions, get guidance and advice. A friend, neighbor, relative, someone from church, surely there's someone in your sphere that can fill this role for you. If they want you to pay, walk away. You want someone is is willing to just share and help. That's how we started on the rental home path 4 years ago, after years of desire and fear. A friend shared with us their process, and we started small with one property. We learned and became confident and then grew from there.

At the end of the day, it's taking an informed leap of faith and then buckling down and making it work.

Hopefully there's a nugget or two in there that can help. Best of luck, and know that we're rooting for you!

Chris. 

@Sam Shueh, crazy stories and lots we can learn from them. Terrible to hear of the darker sides of people that manifested themselves when things got bad. Some out of pure desperation, some out of lack of honor and human decency. Tweetable quote, "Some will learn many will fall." Thanks for sharing.

@Russell Brazil, great advice. Always have an equity buffer and invest in areas with strong demand. I'd maybe expand "areas with strong demand" to include property types in addition to geographic locations. Thanks for sharing.

@Russell Brazil, key point about not being over leveraged. Such a dangerous position to be in at any time, especially when the cards start to fall. Of course I assume that when people and businesses are in the mode of levering up, they don't believe they're being dangerous. I even heard it said one time that equity is where smart money goes to die. But there's a magical point where smart levering crosses over into foolishness and becomes down right dangerous. What advice do you give your investors to help keep them on the right side of leverage?

@George Skidis if I interpret your comments correctly, your strategy all along was to have your properties paid off in a relatively short time frame (10 years).  That gave you a healthy equity position in your properties.  And when the crash hit you weren't in a crisis mode.  Can you expound on the kind of pain you avoided by being on shorter term notes, as well as what kind of pain you did experience?

@John Warren, ouch what a painful experience for that investor, and a good lesson for all of us to learn from. There’s a line between investing and speculating that maybe gets more blurry and easier to accidentally cross when discipline is replaced with fervor. Great that you were “coming of age” as an investor at the right time. I’m glad you’ve had good success thus far. Thanks for sharing your experience and perspective. - Chris.

It's been said that those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. There's so much discussion out there about a possible crash, with many experts weighing in on both sides of the debate. My question in this post is NOT whether or not one will happen, but rather about what those of us who began our REI journey AFTER the crash can learn from those who experienced it firsthand.

So my question is directed to those in the BP community who were involved in real estate during the dark days of 2007-2009.  How were you involved, what happened to your business, and what lessons did you learn that we might benefit from?  I'm sincerely interested to hear your stories and any lessons learned that you're willing to share.  Much thanks and respect to all who do!

@Ellis Hammond, oooh that's tempting. Afraid I'm gonna need to pass. Just way too much going on. But I like that you're setting goals. Keep hammering hard, and I know you'll go far. Stay hungry!

@Gilbert Dominguez, sounds just wonderful. Ok if I live vicariously through you? Have an amazing weekend.