All Forum Posts by: Dennis P.

You guys are something else. When I graduated college at the age of 22 I didn't want to move back to my folks house so the first thing I did was to look for a property that I could buy and move into. I didn't think about being afraid to buy something I  just knew I needed to get out of my folks house. That was a very strong motivation for me. I didn't read any books or view any seminars. There weren't any back in the late 70's. I just started driving around the city and I stopped at buildings that it seemed needed work at I knocked on doors to get info about the owners. Then I started calling them. I had $5,000 to put down, a new full time job that paid me $25,000 annually with less than 2 months on the job. I couldn't get financing as of yet from a bank so all I had left was to find an owner willing to finance me. I found a six family building that was old and in need of repairs. I talked to the owner who was an elderly gentlemen that couldn't keep up with repairs and was willing to talk to me about purchasing his building.  With careful negotiations I promised him I would take good care of the property with his supervision and asked him to finance me for 5 years on a balloon payment and with the option of renewing the owner finance loan for another 5 years. It all worked out and this was the beginning of my investment path. Not that hard to do. During the next 20 years I had purchased a 5 family, 8 family, three 4 family buildings, a 12 family, three single family buildings, and a 50 unit mobile home park on 50 acres of land. Then I teamed up with my 2 brothers and sister and we purchase 7 buildings with a total of 200 rental units and a vacation home in Palm Bay, Fl. 

My advice is, find a property, work the numbers and take the plunge. Once you get started there is the excitement to keep going. Good luck.

 Hi Tom-

Nice details, I think if you couple this with the following information:  (3) Secrets Everyone Needs to know about using a 203k loan for more information on the 203k loan, loan process and how to build the right team for success.

Good luck to you!

Thanks so much for all your encouragement guys! I am so grateful for the support!

@Dillon Bellyeah, we definitely love Mammoth :) Hit me up if you ever make it up here!

@Dennis P.As far as purchasing and renting, I don't know if my words would be wisdom or not, but we've definitely paid a premium to invest in the market that we really know and understand here in California. I'm excited about moving into Birmingham where our dollar is going to go a lot further, but having the majority of our income right now coming from around the corner is really reassuring. I know it's not good for scaling a business or anything, but we are friends with our tenants and interact pretty regularly, we know the market value of the rent here, and never have to worry about tenants trashing the place. It made the transition into investing a little less scary in my opinion. My only other tip that has been a huge help for us is the using the Fannie Mae "First Look" program and financing. Because our first property was also our primary residence, we were able to get an offer in before other investors and also only put down 7% with no PMI. That made a HUGE difference.

@Dennis P.right now I'd have to say to really spend time looking at your expenses and what's important to you. We didn't need much to make the numbers work because we keep our expenses really low by living somewhere small, driving older cars, etc. I know for a lot of people having a big house and a Tesla is really important, but that's not what's important to me. 

But also were still young and have a lot to learn, so maybe it's better to check back with us in a couple of years and see how successful we actually are !

@Dennis P.I posted this on a reply to another member but ill send it to you as well.

For me it comes back the big "why" statement. Why am I investing in real estate? Why am I investing in this town? Why am I investing in multi family properties? Why have I chosen these particular properties? And why am I the guy that should own this particular portfolio?

I could write pages for all these and have addressed these to stakeholders. My personal mission and vision is what keeps me focused every day. So I challenge you to ask your why questions and be sure you understand them with 100% certainty. This is what other investors, non believers, and lenders will be asking you(or variations of the questions). This is how you will defend, and convince them your the guy!

Good luck and let me know if there is ever any way I can help!

I am fortunate that duplexes, specifically "shotgun doubles", are a very common architectural style in my city. I got started by buying a shotgun double as my first home. I live on one side and rent out the other. That strategy is called "house hacking". It's awesome because, you will rarely find cheaper money or better bank terms than for an owner-occupied property. I found that house on the good ole' MLS. At the time, I believe I was using Latter and Blum's site.

That experience went so well (and is still going well) that it revved my interest in buying more rental properties. I just purchased my first non-owner occupied duplex a few months ago. That property was not on the MLS. Instead, I found it on Craig's List, being sold by a wholesaler.