All Forum Posts by: Fran Pratt

 @Nicholas L. Yeah good reminder on the mortgage paydown. Cash flow is hard to find in my area anyway, so I've mostly let the idea go - it'll be gravy if it comes. You're lucky on the low rates! Good, optimistic perspective. 

As far as advice vs encouragement goes, I've actually thought about this a lot the past couple days. I wonder if maybe it's a cultural difference? Because it's not difficult for me to separate. My friends and I will often say to each other: do you need help solving the problem, or do you need us to encourage you as you navigate it? In this case I said: I don't need advice. Not as in "I'm so arrogant I know everything." But as in, "I've gotten advice and created a strategy for moving forward. Now I need to hear that it's possible for this to shift and get better, even though it's rough currently." And maybe it's not common/easy for everyone to adroitly make that distinction, and I'm more aware of that now. So, I'll for sure adjust how I communicate in future to avoid that disconnect. 

Anyway, thanks for chiming in!

 @Jeremiah Dunakin Thank you for sharing your story. And thank you for the encouragement and non-judgement you're gonna make me cry bro. I'm treading I'm treading!

 @Jerry Puckett Thank you for sharing this. It's exactly the kind of perspective I came here needing to hear.  Sad to hear you also had trouble with a NW purchase (I will leave those to the very experienced investors from now on). It's nice to hear you're still in the game 14 years later despite having to overcome difficulty. I'm weathering discouragement, learning from my mistakes and moving on to the next lesson. Blessings to you. 

I appreciate this perspective, and will be assessing over the next year whether to hang on or let go. At this point, the advice I've been given by smarter, more experienced people than me is to hold on and let it appreciate a bit, so that's my plan for now. The good news is: I'm officially finished with the renovation as of this weekend, and will be able to list it mid-term and hopefully get to a BEAF (Break Even Appreciation Focus) type situation over the next few months. 

The other good news is: we think we will finally have the student rental (yes, Southwestern) full in the next few days! I'm glad to hear you're also bullish on the area - that's encouraging. 

Thanks for your comment. Things are looking up today!

 @Jonathan Greene I am specifically asking for encouraging stories here. I've explained that I have the advice and strategy side covered. It's not passive-aggressive to say: I legitimately regret making a vulnerable post asking for encouragement, only to be met with an expert bashing me for mistakes I've already enumerated and taken responsibility for and measures to fix; and offering me advice I've already taken to heart. Instead of offering encouragement, you've beat me down further. I'll end this exchange by saying: I genuinely hope someone offers you encouragement if you're ever feeling down and need it, and I will even volunteer to be the encourager if that day (God forbid) ever comes. Hit me up, I love giving pep-talks. 

 Yeah, I may go that route next. At this point, I just have to stay the course and keep moving forward. Thanks for your comment!

@Jonathan Greene Thanks for your comment. I do have a local group and have spoken at length with a number of people more experienced than me. The consensus is: the only way out is through. I'm clear on the mistakes that I've made and am in no way blaming "the market" or anyone else. I take full responsibility for my own mistakes and my own learning curve. I'm fully capable of giving myself a dad-level "you effed up, own it" lecture, and I assure you I have. I have already moved through that phase of the process and am hustling every single day to right my ship. Now I'm hoping to hear from other new investors who have made mistakes and overcome them, come out the other side with some resilience and found some level of success. It sounds like you aren't the guy for that conversation. You are correct: I should never have posted here in hopes of finding solidarity or support. 

Ya'll. I need a pep talk. I started investing this past fall and my start has been ROUGH. I'm discouraged, and I don't need tough love - I'm hard enough on myself as it is. I really don't even need advice. I just need to hear some stories from people who have been through similar seasons and come out the other side still wanting to own real estate. 

I purchased my first rental property - a newer home in a high-appreciation market and neighborhood - with a business partner, and she and I have had the hardest time getting it rented. Our town has a small university, and we have been marketing it furnished to students. It's a HCOL area and long-term rentals are not profitable at current interest rates, which is why we went this route.  My partner is a savvy realtor and despite both of our best efforts, we have yet to see a cash flow positive month since we listed it in January. We are working the problem; it's just discouraging. 

My other property which I purchased around the same time is in a nearby town, also high appreciation market. An older (60's) remodeled home I bought via New Western for $223 that has a current tenant who pays $1650/mo; it has an apartment above a detached garage that was billed as needing "$10k in repairs to get to top of market rent." Top of market being around $900-1k/mo. I thought I was being conservative when I estimated the apartment would take $25k to get in order. But no. Turns out the structure is significantly older (1930's) than the main house - this was not disclosed - and it ended up needing more like $55k of work done. Which I have done. it. all.

To top that all off, the insurance company made me put a new roof on both structures (I think the roof had a bit of life left in it, but ok) - another $11k - and the main house needs around $6k worth of electrical that the previous owner didn't do properly ("fully remodeled" my ***). So I'm in for over $70k, which means I'm completely underwater in terms of what the property is worth (which, you guessed it, is currently around what I originally paid. ugh.). I haven't even financed it yet - I've been doing a BRRR strategy which is clearly failing. I've made mistakes, which I try not to beat myself up about and sometimes succeed. Oh, and my insurance agent is telling me my premiums are likely going to double once I rent out the apartment - fun times (Yes we are shopping that around).

At this point my only hope is to run the apartment as a mid-term, which I think is a viable strategy here; so I have furnished it (more $) and made it pretty. I happen to be good at creating inviting spaces. Hoping I can get around $1200 renting to traveling nurses and professionals According to my research on FurnishedFinder, this is reasonable, and I'm planning to list June 1. My other only hope is long-term appreciation. I won't be able to get my money out of it any other way. I guess the good news is I won't have to pay taxes bc LOSSES. 

Anyway, if you read all this: thanks. Tell me how you overcame adversity and it all worked out in the end. 

hehe every time I go in a fully-gray house I feel like I time-traveled back to 2009

I really appreciate this take. I haven't been able to find cash flow to save my life. And not for lack of grinding looking every day. So today I put offers on two duplexes that I think are a "base hit." Long term play, what some are calling BEAF: Break Even, Appreciation Focus. I like your planting trees metaphor - it comforts me. When all around me - podcasts, books, etc - I'm hearing "cash flow cash flow", and I'm over here looking for assets that will hopefully appreciate and cash flow in year 3 or 5.