All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Cope

@J. Martin 

Well Done!

That is terrific to hear. 

I enjoy your description of managing from overseas while next door. 

Having managed property from overseas these last three years while we were in London, I really appreciate how powerful well-operating service can be. 

Will you be expanding to additional units using this model?

Were any of the automations trickier to arrange than others?

Congrats on your success. 

Thank you,

Jonathan

Robert Bowles Congratulations on your successes. That is great to hear. The pricing model seems quite advantageous in many cases. Have you successfully outsourced the guest arrival, turnover work and cleaning? As K. Marie Poe notes, that tenant work for short term visits could be arduous. I presume doing that work well is also key to your ratings and feedback. What an interesting point you raise about financing. Am curious how other operators are addressing this constraint? No doubt lenders are being approached more often now with requests for such financing. Will be interesting to see if the lending market moves toward or away from such borrowers over time. Good luck with you next unit. Thank you for your thoughts, Jonathan

K. Marie Poe You make a fair point as it concerns short-term vacation uses. My view is informed by my own uses, which have tended to be longer in duration. We've used properties for weeks at a time. At the moment, I am an AirBNB lodger with a family. I'll be with them for a month in their spare room. It is terrific cost opportunity for me and a key part of the family's financials. From that perspective, I do see cases where the model does trend toward the sharing economy. But your point is well made and true, I expect, as it concerns upcoming change. We stayed in Paris this summer for a week while I was visiting for work. Paris is the third most visited city via AirBNB. Their government is beginning a new program to identify AirBNB hosts so as to begin gathering tax. It is coming as you say. Hopefully some of the model will have legs, however. I have enjoyed it to date. Thank you for your thoughts.

@Joshua Dorkin 

Thank you for the Tweet of BP Team Korea.

How awesome. 

Congratulations.  

My family and I live in New Jersey. 

There are terrific folks to meet up with there such as @Matt Faircloth. 

For now, I am working in London, quite the commute, where no doubt you have many BP Nation members as well. 

I look forward to joining a few Meet-Ups during my travels, whether in the US, Europe or India. 

Knoxville is new territory for us but we are enjoying learning about it via BP and otherwise. 

Thank you again for the Tweet and the community,

Jonathan 

@John M. 

Maybe you consider starting up, or finding via the forums, a BP Meet-Up in lieu of the pricey REI session you've found otherwise?

Seems worth a try. 

Good luck. 

@John M. 

It is a shame to hear about the steep fee for attending a REI group.

I find they often do so to keep out the riff raff but it dissuades new investors, too. 

Are there enough BP members locally for a meet up?

@Joshua Dorkin and @Brandon Turner seem to be profiling on the podcast shows the range of informal meet ups happening across the country. 

I am hoping to visit one in Chicago that @Brie Schmidt is arranging later in the year during a visit I have planned. 

Am looking forward to meeting BP REI folks live.

@Account Closed 

Thank you for sharing your experience. 

Your start with Jacob Lei sounds tough. 

If you do come across quality it would be great to hear about. 

Thank you again. 

@William Ellis 

Thank you for the advice. 

I have been reading through sold data from the past few months recently. 

Your observation that prices are too high is confirmed by the prices taken. 

I am seeing many owners that accepted half of their asking price. 

I presume they are largely accepting prices that clear their debt. 

I can't imagine they have equity left after such a haircut. 

Good luck with your search. 

And, trust but verify. 

@Tavonte Battles 

You are welcome. 

Saving the money will be easier if you make the goal a priority. 

Each day, when I am walking to work, I repeat my goal to myself. 

In the beginning I felt silly doing it. 

But now it is part of my routine. 

The goal now is my purpose. 

I work on it everyday. 

So whatever it requires feels important and easier as a result. 

When I am saving for the next purchase I find it easy to skip silly purchases because I have the goal. 

Good luck. 

@Tara Hall 

Congratulations. 

That sounds like a great investment start. 

I am always impressed when folks find a way to make their spare assets work for them. 

The sharing economy seems like a great way to defray costs and build experience. 

I hope it continues to work well for you. 

Thank you,

Jonathan

@Blake Williams 

A great question. 

My observation is that leveraging a simple business with which to eventually fund real estate is a common approach. 

Ray Kroc did so with McDonald's. 

The family that ran the bodega in my neighborhood in New York did so. 

The pizzeria owner in my home town did so. 

In each case, the eventual real estate investor found the least capital intensive cash flow generating business with which to fund higher value investment in real estate. 

They each organized a simple funnel. 

Low capital, cash flow generating business to leveraged investment in rental real estate to passive income and wealth generation with tax offsets for them. 

Most people place themselves in the first position of the funnel with their own job. 

But a business can serve the same role. 

The simplest formula I have observed is:

Get a steady job

Buy an inexpensive primary residence 

(Not your forever home but something lots of people live in in a safe but inexpensive neighborhood)

Rent out the extra rooms while you live there

Save money by living for free at your roommates' expense

Buy a second similar place with your savings

Move out, rent out your first place fully, and repeat the process

Good luck,

Jonathan