All Forum Posts by: Evan Bell

Just wanted to share a little bit.  My wife and I flipped a house in Phoenix with my dad about 5 years ago - pretty much did almost everything wrong, but still ended up making about a $25k profit when all was said and done.  My wife, my dad and I all wanted to continue flipping properties, but my mom was opposed to it, so that pretty much ended our real estate investing dreams.  Until now....

I found Bigger Pockets by mistake while I was searching for self improvement podcasts. The description sounded very interesting and it got my REI juices flowing once again. I've listened to countless podcasts as well as read a lot of posts on the forums. My wife and I just had our first child a year and a half ago, and she is our motivation for breaking back into investing. We want to be able to spend time with her on our terms, not on an employer's terms.

A couple days ago I started writing out our business plan while using The Ultimate Beginner's Guide as a roadmap. Just today I went to my bank and talked with my loan officer about opening a HELOC on our primary residence. Unfortunately we filed a BK three years ago, and we have to wait one more year before they will give us a HELOC - sad clown, right? KInda, but not really. We can use that time to improve our credit scores even more (they are both sitting right at about 680 for each of us), pay down our existing mortgage even more and search for financing via alternate sources.

The business plan, once completed, will be sent out to a few friends and family members as an attempt to start some private funding and/or equity partnerships.  I feel that with the proper motivation and time being put into this business plan, the recipients of it will be inclined to make money with us over the next couple of years.

I am very excited and motivated to finish the business plan and get it into inboxes as soon as I can.  This forum has been a huge help over the past few months to say the least.  I also just recently paid for the PRO membership here and have started catching up on old webinar episodes.

Looking forward to posting more progress as it happens and also to networking with all the helpful  and knowledgable members here on the site.

I will be looking to build our team shortly - looking for agent(s), CPA, contractors and all the other integral pieces of the puzzle.

Nathan Paisley congrats!! I'm glad to hear it can be done with a little one at home. My wife and I have a baby girl who's a year and a half. Our goal for REI for the next few years is to be able to spend as much time with her as possible. Thanks for posting the encouraging update!

Jeff Green what are your thoughts on IPX? I am considering setting up a meeting with them

Seems like you answered your own question. I like the idea of putting a new tenant in and doing the cash out refi. Sounds suspiciously like the world famous BRRRR strategy from one of those real estate podcasts......

Lots of good posts here. I'm an investor from Maricopa preparing to get back into flipping after a few years away from it. We used Home Depot card and pro desk for our last flip. I didn't know you could get discounts for being an AZREIA member, good to know.

Jean Godin welcome! I am also interested in eventually doing what you talked about here. My wife and I are a bit west of you in Maricopa.

If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't worry about trying to explain it. If they get it, they get it. If they don't, they don't. Start surrounding yourself with those who are interested in and already doing what you want to do.

If it were me, I would make the tenant supply their own. It's a small expense for them to put out, and then you don't have to worry about repairs. I've rented a couple places and also been the landlord at a couple places where the tenant had to supply their own washer/dryer. Never had an issue doing it this way. Another plus with this routs is that you don't have to worry about them taking your washer/dryer when they move out.

Like other have said, make sure you don't have line and load reversed. Let us know what the problem is when you figure it out as well.

@Dax Desai & @J.M. thanks for clearing that up for me.