Hello Bigger Pockets! My name is Dale Burnside, I am new to BP and I am amazed at what everyone here has done. This site is amazing, the recources are priceless, and the Podcast is like none other. I have been listening to Josh and Brandon for a couple months now, and I can't thank them enough for the content that they provide us. Thank you BP!!!!
And now it is time for me to jump in and join all of you, staring with my introduction!!!
So in short, I became a general contractor about 7 years ago after the new construction bubble in my area had its giant burst!! Before that time I was working as a construction laborer on a framing crew framing houses for a popular builder in our area. I watched it ALL go down. I saw this builder, along with many others, get in the trap of buiding one after another and becoming so big that they had to keep feeding the monster buy buying more land and building more and more houses. It never seemed to cross their minds that this may some day come to an end. Anyways I could go on and on.....
So when that job came to an end, I decided to go at it on my own. I looked anywhere and everwhere for work, and eventually found some investors who were taking advantage of the new market and flipping houses. I said to them "Do you have any framing to be done? Can I do the roof too? What about the siding? Sure I can paint a house too! " ..... And before i knew it, they were offering for me to take charge of the entire rehab.
For the past 6 years I have been working for investors flipping houses, rehabbing rentals, and providing maintenance services. I did much of the work myself, especially in the beginning, but before I knew it, I myself became way too busy. It was kind of crazy! But, I kept pushing though, taking all the work I could, and gobbling up new opportunities for work, and justifying the chaos by focusing on all of the education I was getting out of this experience.
However, truth be told, education always comes at a price. I have made many mistakes along the way that have cost me a lot. I have lost tons of time learning "hands on" about many things that before I had no idea about. And all while becoming the owner of a very busy small business, having no eduacation or knowledge about running a business... at ALL..... Needless to say there were a few bad years! Lol
So here we are now. February 1, 2015. At this time I am still working with investors, acting as a General Contractor to help them flip homes and rehab rental properties. I also work with customers buying foreclosed homes, as owner occupants, using a rennovation loan such as a 203k loan. There are also a few retail customers in that mix, such as kitchen and bathroom remodeling projects.
On the investment side, I own 2 single family residential rental properties, and I am looking to expand my rental portfolio over the next few years. Currently I am still recovering from a couple bad business years, so my plan is to save up funds this year and just focus on working with customers and investors. Next year I plan to employ a marketing plan to bring in leads, and may transfer into building the portfolio more full time, working less with clients and customers.
In the meantime I am looking to soak up knowledge, make new connections, and build my real estate business!!!
Thank you for reading and feel free to reach out to me with any questions or comments!
Sincerely,
Dale Burnside II
