All Forum Posts by: Craig Castro

Not much grand to update at the moment.  I spoke with the lender on Wednesday and am currently in the process of gathering all of the documents that were requested.  It feels like a lot more is needed this time around than when I purchased my home in 2010!  Getting it all converted to PDF is going to be a pain in the butt for some items too, but I know it's well worth the hassle to get started.  I'm envious of those who have already gotten past this part at the moment...

Thank you all for your kind words and advice. I've left a voicemail with a lender on Friday (who has not called me back yet) and I was told that a RE Agent from the David Greene team will be calling me today at 11am PST to discuss my goals/options. I have identified two multi-family properties that could potentially cash flow assuming my numbers are correct and I will hopefully be able to discuss those properties with them. The highly rated lender from Zillow never called me back (guess business is good for her), so I'll ask the agent if they know anyone that might allow me to get pre-approved. I haven't really found a local REI Group as the closest one is roughly 40 miles away, but I'm still looking. I've also joined a couple of somewhat local REI Facebook groups (eww, I had to join Facebook), but I noticed the main one I joined has a ton of spam in it. Is that normal? It gets hard to find the quality posts, but I am still trudging through the BS to find the good info.

While I wait for those discussions with agent and lender, I started reading The Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever:  Volume One by Joe Childress.  So far I'm not super impressed, but there's a few nuggets here and there.  Hopefully I'll have more to report later today.

So first action item has been completed. I left a VM with a lender who appears to be REI friendly and am awaiting her call back. I have also found an agent that I will reach out to once I'm able to speak with the lender and see what my options are.

I appreciate everyone's comments. A few mentioned getting my debts in order. I currently am debt-free with the exception of the mortgage on my personal residence. I will be speaking with the lender about possibly doing a HELOC to pull some equity out in order to finance a possible deal.

I know my headline was a bit harsh, but obviously I do not view myself as a loser overall I'm just frustrated by the information overload and was hoping that would spark some action to be taken and to hold myself accountable.  I am my own worst critic I'll admit, but I've done well enough for myself up to this point I just want more for myself.  The feeling of doing something for myself excites me and that's something I've never had when working for someone else, especially when they don't show appreciation for your effort.  A coworker of mine is leaving to venture off on his own and I'm super excited and envious for him.  I know the grass isn't always greener, but I've also heard the phrase "You don't get wealthy by working for someone else your whole life" and I do think there's truth in that statement in most cases.  I'm obviously not going to just up and quit my job, but I'd like to take steps to where if I can find success that it may be an option down the line.  

I will also look into the reading on the mindset.  I feel like I'm a very conflicted soul in some regards.  I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit but after having a child I also became fearful of taking big risks because I don't want to negatively impact their life.  I'm trying to find a way to achieve both entrepreneurial success while also keeping my child's quality of life intact.  

I will report more once I've had those initial conversations with the lender and RE agent. 

Thank you all for your replies so far.  My goal is to be held accountable by folks who have done this before and I appreciate you all for responding.  @Krystal Simmons thank you for your encouragement. My goal was to start out doing wholesaling and working up enough capital that I could start doing some BRRR deals as I feel passive income via long-term rentals would be my bread and butter. I'd love to hear your experiences on wholesaling and how you got started.

@Shai Flax - Thank you as well. You have 5 purchases under your belt and to me, that sounds quite seasoned! You're much further ahead and I view that as inspiration. I'd love to hear your journey too. I've always been afraid of going to a local REI meeting as I feel like they'd all just look at me like some poser. I know it's a stupid thought. I just need to buckle down and do it. Everyone has to start somewhere, right?

@Michael P. - Thank you for this.  Question for you.  My niece is currently working to get her RE License to become an agent.  I was originally waiting for her to get it so I could hopefully help her out, but also realize that not all RE Agents are created equal.  Am I doing myself a disservice by trying to help her out?  I did reach out to a lender I used in the past a few months ago, but she never called me back.  I got a little frustrated, but it may be time for me to find a new lender who will actually respond.  I will report back to you on this.  If you have any tips on finding good agents or lenders, I'm all ears.  

@Theresa Harris - After listening to countless podcasts and a lot of reading, I've decided that the BRRR method is my end goal with SFH/multi-families and to build up cash I'm interested in wholesaling as a lower-risk way of building up cash.

@Michael Noto - Thank you for your words of encouragement. Right now my goal is to figure out what goals I need to set for myself so I can do just that. Michael P. gave me a good action item, so I'm going to start with that. As I said before, sometimes I get so bogged down in the process/concepts of REI that I don't even really know what to do to get the ball rolling. That makes sense to me, so I'll start there and report back.

@Zambricki Li - I sent you a DM with more details.  Thank you for reaching out!

@Bud Gaffney - Thank you.  I know you're 100% right.  I just need that kick in the butt so thank you for affirming that action is the best remedy!

Gonna go get started on finding a good agent/lender and will report back!

I'm sorry if the title is a bit harsh, but this is where I'm at.  I've read numerous books including Rich Dad, Poor Dad, David Greene's books as well as others.  I do everything I can to soak up the knowledge, but then it just stops.  I just can't seem to figure out how to actually take the first steps.  I get so caught up in the whole process I never end up going anywhere.  A large portion of this is fear.  Fear that I might not be good at it.  Fear that I might be good at it, but don't deserve success.  Stupid reasons when all is said and done.  

I make a good living at my current job, but I absolutely hate working for someone else.  I get no fulfillment whatsoever and during the pandemic I've learned that being around family and having flexibility of schedule is more important to me than anything.  Even though I've proven to my organization that I can work well and thrive from home, they don't care and want me back in the office soon because they don't trust us to actually do our jobs from home (despite having done it for almost 2 years now).  I'm tired of being treated that way from people who have outdated views on how things should be done.  I really want to succeed this time.  I want to take those steps I was too afraid to take last time.  

I'd love to find a coach or mentor that can actually hold my hand and get me started on my journey so I can learn that it's not as scary as my mind is making it out to be.   In the past I felt too proud to ask for help, but this time I'm doing so.  I need to take those first steps so I can begin to build a life of wealth.  I understand it's not an overnight process, but the longer I keep being too scared to take that first step the longer my dreams will take to be fulfilled.  The thought of working for myself makes me feel alive.  Sorry for the boring rant, I just figured if anyone else was feeling that way I'd let you know you're not alone.

If anyone has recommendations for coaches or mentors please let me know.  I'm ready to take those steps.  Best wishes to all other investors and future investors.  I hope you all find success.

Way to go, @Quillan Houser!  Would love to hear more about your journey as you navigate the flip.  Wishing you all the best on your deal.

Hello, 

I'm a new investor and have been trying to generate leads in my area.  So far I haven't found a deal, but I had someone contact me asking if I needed a bird dog (someone to find leads) and if so how much I'd charge.  I was curious what people typically pay for these types of leads or if anyone has experience using a bird dog for leads.  Any input would be greatly appreciated. 

I'm looking for 10%+ cash-on-cash return and at least $150 per door profit on any purchase I make.  In the meantime I continue to save.

Thought I was the only one experiencing this.  Ran an analysis and I figured something big had to be missing because my expenses were crazy low.  I felt the input of the old calculator was much better, but I do like the addition of the sliding scale at the end.  Still think the overall output is better on the old one though.  

You're absolutely correct on that.  I've been trying to find areas with little rain too and I think the main reason for that is the wear and tear on a bigger ticket item like a roof, but I'm sure the trade-off with that is warmer climates would likely need more HVAC work which is just another big ticket item that can potentially go bad too.  Another mental block for me is I'm trying to think of places that I, personally, wouldn't mind living and I know I need to stop thinking that way.  It's not a house or location that I'm going to live in.