All Forum Posts by: Dan Zambrano

Quote from @Lindsey Hu:

Hello, I currently own 3 rentals in Dupage, 1 multi family in Cook county and a few out of state. I would be interested in meeting up share and hear ideas relating to west suburb real estate investing. I have not not bought anything since 2021 due to work, life and interest rates but am ready to get out there again. Please let me know meeting date, time and location. Thanks. 

 DM sent

As February is winding down, I have quite a bit to be excited about. 

I have made the commitment to change industries into construction from utility engineering this year. I also still have the goal of getting into 1 deal this year, with a friend and business partner.

I attended the Cashflow Breakfast Club networking event this past weekend and it was awesome. Highly recommend for anyone in the Chicagoland area, I believe there will be 11 more sessions. Panelists were seasoned pros, very helpful and I was surprised by the level of experience amongst the attendees. There were only a few that were new to the investing game. In general everyone just wants to help each other get to financial freedom through Real Estate.

Looking forward to posting progress on all fronts here.

Cheers everyone, hope yall are having a great 2025 and remember small progress is PROGRESS!

Quote from @Bryan H.:

Quote from @Dan Zambrano:

Cool thread, thanks for posting this!

My sentiments are a bit similar to other commentors, slow but assured progress is best especially in this interest rate environment. But guess what, rates WILL drop in the next few months/years and most markets will explode after that IMO.

If I had 25K I would look into B or B+ (specifically with schools above 5 greatschools rating, and moderate to low crime rate confirmed by heat map and frequenting businesses there) areas within 25 minutes driving distance from my home for a SFH.

I would go with either FHA or FHA 203K loan (3-5% down) have some money left over for cosmetic improvement (paint and little else haha) live in for a year and rent. If you do this correctly you should be able to build between 30-80K in equity and have at least $200/mo cashflow when rented to set aside for vacancies rehab, repeat every year until you get 10. This is a GRIND but that is the way forward in this environment IMO.

Why this works is simple: You slow ramp to give time to build alot of skills needed to scale at the end of the 10th year you SHOULD have at least $3M portfolio assuming 3% appreciation that is $90K you are adding to your net worth EVERY single year guaranteed! Then you restart this process with your spouse's credit lol.

This path is hard, but doable. You will have setbacks, and you will require some kind of team, but again the path is there.

I have a thread on here about my journey to $20M portfolio. That would mean in so so years networth would increase by $600K if my maths are correct lol. Staggering when you start to scale this.

Why so confident interest rates will make a meaningful drop? I see this a lot. Current rates are about as average as they get. 

Heres a general breakdown:1960s: ~5 -“7%

1970s: ~7 - 11% (rising due to inflation)

1980s: ~10 - 18% (peaking at 18-19% in 1981-1982 due to high inflation)

1990s: ~7 - 10% (gradual decline)

2000s: ~5 - 7% (lower due to economic stability)

2010s: ~3 - 5% (record lows after the 2008 financial crisis)

2020s: ~2.7 - 7.8% (historically low in 2021, then rising in 2022-2023 due to Fed rate hikes)

Long-Term Average

Over the past 50 - 60 years, the average mortgage rate has been around 7 - 8%

In short and IMO, due to fiat system. There needs to be more and more money circulated now that our currency is not backed by anything. Right now circulation is very clogged and only a matter of time until a massive BK that will force the fed to lower rates. Best case scenario they start cutting before this happens. Its rough because according to experts there is not much long term hope in this system, it will eventually fail only hope is we still have a few more decades left before the failure.

Quote from @Jonathan Klemm:

Welcome back into the BP world @Dan Zambrano - I still love that you are sharing your journey here very helpful for others and vulnerable of yourself.

There is still hope for a Q1 deal if you are aligned and focused....but if time doesn't permit, just keep going with the flow of life!

Regarding your mastermind idea...I strongly suggest you come to our Chicago meetup this coming Saturday...we switched up to a mastermind format, and if you like it, we could figure out a way to partner up and start a suburb version.

Here is a link to the meetup:  https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/1230572-chic...

RSVP'd thanks for the heads up🙂

Quote from @Henry Lazerow:

Congrats fellow Chicago member! You sound like a very intelligent person and should do good in this. @Jonathan Klemm is a great resource! I would recommend house hacking, it’s easiest way to get started. My first deal was 5% down house hack on a 4 unit and then I used equity from that first deal to do 2 more deals once with a cash out refi and once with heloc. Currently looking for my 4th deal while also working as a realtor helping others. 

Thanks for the encouragement! And congrats on your success as well! How long did it take for you to acquire the 3?

Cool thread, thanks for posting this!

My sentiments are a bit similar to other commentors, slow but assured progress is best especially in this interest rate environment. But guess what, rates WILL drop in the next few months/years and most markets will explode after that IMO.

If I had 25K I would look into B or B+ (specifically with schools above 5 greatschools rating, and moderate to low crime rate confirmed by heat map and frequenting businesses there) areas within 25 minutes driving distance from my home for a SFH.

I would go with either FHA or FHA 203K loan (3-5% down) have some money left over for cosmetic improvement (paint and little else haha) live in for a year and rent. If you do this correctly you should be able to build between 30-80K in equity and have at least $200/mo cashflow when rented to set aside for vacancies rehab, repeat every year until you get 10. This is a GRIND but that is the way forward in this environment IMO.

Why this works is simple: You slow ramp to give time to build alot of skills needed to scale at the end of the 10th year you SHOULD have at least $3M portfolio assuming 3% appreciation that is $90K you are adding to your net worth EVERY single year guaranteed! Then you restart this process with your spouse's credit lol.

This path is hard, but doable. You will have setbacks, and you will require some kind of team, but again the path is there.

I have a thread on here about my journey to $20M portfolio. That would mean in so so years networth would increase by $600K if my maths are correct lol. Staggering when you start to scale this.

So small update on here, I managed to carve some time to begin to set things up to spring board for a deal in the next 2-3 months. I will definitely miss my target of having something before end of Q1, but I am pleased with my progress, and momentum. 

I am meeting with an attorney in the next few days to discuss business structure, and other things, and after that my goal for March is to have a meeting (along with my business partner) with an awesome MLO that was recommended by the great @Jonathan Klemm .

Important thing I wanted to plug here is a free mastermind meetup I am planning for March around Naperville. This will hopefully be a monthly meeting of high vibe RE investor folks to learn from each other and have community, everyone is welcome. Drop a comment or DM if interested and I will be happy to share details.

Cheers, and lets be safe with these single digit days coming up!

Quote from @Jarret Jarvis:

Hey Dan,

Thank you for sharing your journey—what an inspiring story! It’s incredible how literature and architecture can have such a powerful impact on someone’s life and direction. I love how you’ve integrated the lessons from The Fountainhead and Frank Lloyd Wright into your personal and professional journey, especially as you pursue both beautiful design and a growing real estate portfolio.

Your ambition to scale up to $20M and beyond is exciting, and I’m sure with your drive, experience, and passion for architecture, you’re on the right path. I look forward to seeing your progress and hearing more about how you continue to balance these ambitions with the pursuit of creating impactful spaces.

Thanks for sharing, and best of luck as you continue on this incredible journey!

Cheers,

Jarret 

thanks for the comment and kind words my friend :)

Quote from @James Phillips:

Hey Dan,

I've loosely followed your journey on here--thanks for continuing to share. I have a similar passion for Wright, Rand, and for architecture. I'm coming at it from the finance side; I'm currently wrapping up my graduate degree in finance. 

I think your general ethos aligns with the ideas outlined in ULI's incredible book for developers; I definitely recommend: https://a.co/d/2g0bxnx

Have you thought about investing out of state? I'm in the small Eugene market, which in terms of industry and jobs offers no real reason to be here. Population and job growth just isn't ideal. As a result, I'm thinking about investing in higher growth areas in the Midwest. There are a lot of places that stand to grow significantly over the next couple of decades but that are still affordable enough for learning/growing stage investors. Moreover, many municipalities are adopting new middle housing codes, so if you pick up properties at affordable rates that have big lots, then after a few years of appreciation you'd be in a good position to redevelop them.

Hope you're well, stay in touch!

 Hey James,

Thanks for the comment! Wow it sounds like we are kinda "brothers from another" haha.

It is extremely rare to find Millennials that are into Wright much less Rand :). Also thanks for following the journey.

Yeah the investing out of state thing seems to be a simmering trend right now. There is probably much to gain from that. 

My personal take is investing is hard enough without having the added complexity of building a remote team of folks that can handle things for out of state deals. (Contractors, quarterly tenant checks, etc.) I am always open to any trend but right now I am compelled to restrain myself to the local market, my rule of thumb is 25-30 minutes drive from my home. Wildly enough, a property of mine had a furnace failure this past Friday that turned the last few days upside down. Luckily I have a local team that is incredible at responding and was able to replace the blower motor at a nominal cost. I couldn't imagine how hard this would have been to navigate if property were even 1 hour away.

Since there was good traction and interest in this thread I'd like to propose a meetup for Mid March.

Casual, no-pressure vibes—just a group of real estate investors sharing insights and helping each other grow. Grab a coffee, bring your questions, and let’s talk real estate.

If that sounds like your vibe, drop a comment or DM me to let me know you’re coming! (I sent out details to the folks that already commented)

Cheers!