All Forum Posts by: Connie Brzowski

I was raised with a work/pay bills/save a little /work/pay bills/save a little mentality... taught not to invest or start a business because it was 'too risky'... we almost starved to death.

Then I ran across Rich Kid/Smart Kid and Richest Man in Babylon-- completely changed my mindset.

Spent *3 years* learning about real estate and don't regret a minute. DH and I had years of stuff to unlearn and it did take a while to get on the same page. All that time was spent analyzing deals, running numbers and reading REI books until the process became automatic. Also spent lots of time reading various forums (mostly lurking). LOTS of practical advice on forums...but you have to sift through it. I have a great appreciation for them :D

We went into our first deal with the idea that we were paying our dues and even if we lost money, it was cheaper than a college education :roll: We didn't... it was profitable as well as educational :D Paid 82K on a 3/2/2 in a nice neighborhood with an 80/20 loan. Took 6 months and about 20K to rehab and it appraised at 130K. We kept it and rent it out for $350/month positive cashflow.

Full-time-- sometimes. I guess that makes it part-time? :wink: Before that, I worked as a nurse, then stayed home to raise the kids.

DH works in another industry which allows me to concentrate on the rehabbing stuff. Its the best of both worlds right now-- we have benefits and retirement, and I can grow the business. We plan to work on this together when DH retires. And DH works his backside off on the REI on his days off.

If we'd started younger, we probably would've done things differently.

Two very concrete things that moved us from thinking to doing:

*The first step was very small with low risk. We bought a single family home in a great area with a fantastic school district and historically high rents with an 80/20 loan. Not much out of pocket that way. The return wasn't much but the risk was low enough to overcome fear of failure. (BTW, we still have this home and its been very profitable... market went up and we were able to pull money out to buy other properties... and it cashflows very well)

*Multiple exit strategies. We knew we could either resell or hold-and-rent and make a small profit either way. I can't emphasize how important this was to our mental health at the time 8)

Love this topic-- great books everyone :D

Rich Kid, Smart Kid-- I could feel my brain cells rearrange on this one :-)

Richest Man in Babylon-- still read this at least once a year.

Thanks everyone-- great recommendations~

DH and I bought our first home at age 22-- then the market crashed in our area and it was worth half what we owed on the mortgage :crying: It took years for things to turn around.

But... (there's always a but, isn't there?) that downturn turned lots of people in our area into millionaires-- they had some cash, bought properties for next to nothing and rented them out until prices recovered and went onward and upward.

Looking back, we made a mistake buying at the top of the market instead of the bottom. If we'd rented for 5 more years, we could've bought a good dozen distressed properties during the time we were fighting an upside down mortgage.

Anyway, hind sight being 20/20 and all that, I'd recommend renting awhile-- perhaps with your friends to see how you work together and handle dividing up bills, chores, etc--- then learn everything you can about real estate investing and your local market. If things take another down turn, there'll be many opportunities for the prepared :D

Our area never saw the appreciation of the boom, so there's no crash to be seen :D But with lenders tightening up, I expect some of the distressed properties will go for less than before... nice time to be a cash buyer.

Thanks everyone--I'm here to learn :wink: We're doing well-- real estate has been good to us, but I've been going it alone and that just isn't always best.

I seem to think in small potatoes-- find junk, see the potential, buy cheap, fix, rent or sell. I need to learn to be the boss :crying: stop doing everything myownself, learn ways of paying less, speed things up to increase profit and minimize holding costs, learn better ways of leveraging and overall, just learn to think BIGGER~ Break out of that comfort zone and move forward. Maybe take some of the equity out and invest in a multi? But to do that, I have to be a better manager :-)

So... time to stretch a little. Or a lot :cap:

Thanks everyone--

We're located in Baytown and the surrounding area. I keep forgetting there are folks around that might actually know where that is :D

Several people have mentioned this already... but I don't consider a place unless I have multiple exit strategies. That eliminates some of the stress and the 'what if's?'

If for some unforseen reason it doesn't cashflow enough when rented, then sell for a profit. If it was bought to sell but the market changes and it won't sell for enough, then rent and hold until it does. If it cashflows, but doesn't appreciate, then hold indefinitely. The only way to make that work is to buy at the right price and know the market both for sales and rentals, but it really does make things better :D

I think in the stock market that's called diversification? 8)

Hello everyone,

Just found this great website and have enjoyed reading articles and posts on the forum. After lurking about awhile, it seemed like time to post an introduction and come out of hiding, so to speak 8)

We've been involved in REI for several years and generally buy junkers, then rehab and hold as rentals. I'm hoping to learn more about other types of investment strategies and hopefully crank our business up a few notches :D

I LOVE the smell of sawdust and come from a long line of carpenters and contractors. Rehabbing was just a natural progression I guess. We're trying now to contract most work out in order to move things along faster rather than doing too much ourselves.

Looking forward to reading and learning--- I love this business~!