All Forum Posts by: Christopher Penaflor

Seriously guy? Even a 2 second google search can prove that’s a lie! So your response is to keep lying? Wow

Waking up to the same routine for the next 20 years of my life staying in a W2, knowing my kids will likely follow the same path and ask the same questions I have.  "Is this really it?"  I want financial freedom and more importantly, time freedom.

I was an accidental landlord. I was building a new house and my wife and I on a whim decided to buy a fixer-upper and rehab it ourselves. We went to our agent when it was time to sell and he had a couple who wanted to buy but their credit wasn't quite good enough. He convinced us to rent to them instead. They were great tenants for 3 years and once they improved their credit, we sold it to them at a fair price. We felt so good helping these people out while we made some money. We want to keep doing that and haven't looked back.

@Christopher Penaflor

The short version is this:

I was taking a class in Dec 2019. There was an older guy in class that looked lonely. I invited him to lunch during the break between class. In our 15 min ride to get tacos, with 2 others guys my age, he asked what type of retirement plan each of our employers gave. There was nothing stellar. I did tell him that I over the last several years I have purchased 3 SFRs with 15 yr mortgages and they will be paid off around when I will retire. I lived in one for a few years to fix it up. All were fixers. I was breaking even, or actually losing money every month because I self manage. But I figured in 15 years, they will be paid off and I'll start to make some cash flow. He said he invested OOS. He was an auditor in his 60s. I'm barely in my 40s.

He asked me 2 questions that changed my life. He asked if I followed the 1% rule, I told him I never heard of it. He then asked what was my CAP rate, I told him I never heard of it. The conversation ended because class resumed. But I was intrigued. I wrote it on my hand and looked it up on Google that night. I HAD NEVER USED THE INTERNET TO LOOK THINGS UP until that point. I never knew there was so much info online. My life had just revolved around work, raising kids, and terrorizing the neighborhood on my motorcycles.

Needless to say, my Internet research led to YouTube, which eventually led to the Bigger Pockets podcast around Feb 2020. I NEVER KNEW THERE WAS SO MUCH INFO ON YOUTUBE until that point. Kept learning and started to test out what I heard on YouTube that June of 2020... Middle of the pandemic.

Within 2 years of hustling, I achieved F.I. and quickly R.E. Now I'm a house husband by choice. Raise kids full time. Enjoy what life has to offer. And I still continue to invest in RE. It has been a life changer.

I did it for generational wealth, but lately, I'm rethinking the whole generational thing... But only time will tell if my kids even care to carry the torch. I hope one day they will realize it's power and how it has provided for EVERYTHING we do these days.

@Christopher Penaflor noticed when I made $1500 on a commission as a RE agent and my client made $40k on the transaction and then went to Europe or China for a month while I kept slaving away I knew I was on the wrong side of the transaction. 

I've been in the hospitality business my whole life. I figured it would translate well into hosting short term rentals. 

Rich Dad Poor Dad initially influenced me. 

Then I got on BP and that influenced me some more. 

Then I bought a move-in-ready house hack for $180,000. After moving in I realized that the guy I bought the house from paid $100,000 for my house like 4 months before selling it to me. That inspired me to get into house flipping.