All Forum Posts by: Heather B.

@Isaura Orellana while a few of your posts had some crazy numbers that didn’t make sense, I’m with you on Detroit. I don’t invest there, but there are many similar markets where you can cash flow crazy! And you can get decent appreciation, but not crazy. PM means absolutely everything and section 8 is a sweet spot that many turn from. But done right, you can kill it! Now, did you really compare Detroit to Florida??????lol! Don’t lose me, I was starting to be a fan

@Heather B. I have no advice but I'm in the same boat as you! Im in my 40s and staring over. I just don't see myself working 60 plus hours a week for the next 25 30 yrs. I'm missing a lot of my children's growing because of work and that needs to stop. My goal is to make enough to be there for them. And for me not to work myself to death and look back and say what if! You can do Heather just believe in yourself!!! Good luck!

-Mark

Hearther, you are a brave soul and very thoughtful concerning the risks involved with getting started on your investing career. I'm in my mid-40's and about to start with the purchase of my first home. Like you, I have my limitation, but I try to balance positive 'what if's' with the concerns and then move forward accordingly. Let's keep in touch. I would love to follow your successes. 

The two most terrifing moments on your first deal are when you make the first offer, and when it is (yikes!) ACCEPTED!

If you can, start small. If you haven't overextended yourself there is more fallback to make a mistake, which, ironically, reduces your chance of making  "under pressure"  istakes. You can pass on that sketchy rental prospect, because you don't HAVE to rent out right-this-minute.  You can go ahead and fix that ___that turns out to be bad, rather than just "hoping" it won't be a problem.  It's OK if the first property is a "hobby"/training property.

Figure out what YOU want to do, and what . I ended up with 3 small rentals that ALL had foreclosures involved, all needed some TLC, and two had just boatloads of "wierd" in the purchase process; foreclosures, non-performing notes, tax liens, unprobated estates (the most profitable one had all of the above!). I love the "figure it out" part, the "how can I make this fly" part, and the "doesnt' it look SOOOO much better!" parts. Personally, I'm very hand's on, and prefer to be accountable only to myself for either successes or failures.

 The best pieces of advice I've seen on BP;

1- It's better to lose 10 good deals, than "win" one bad one

2 - The deal is made in the "buy", not the "sell"

3- Always have a plan B. You never know quite what the market will do next, or what unexpected things you'll hit in a rehab

4- Have more reserves than you think you will POSSIBLY need. You'll probably need them.

@Heather B. The name of the game is to generate leads and you're off to a good start. If you're able to figure out if it's a good deal, then make an offer. Youre in a good network for education, but until you get in the game and make offers, nothing will happen. If you think it's a good deal, make an offer. The worse that can happen is, they say no. It may take 10 offers to get one deal. It's simple, get in the game!! My humble opinion

 Here's my story: 

35 years ago I bought a house and rented it out, it was my first venture into buy and hold REI. My tenant lived in the house for 14 months and I got a total of 4 1/2 months rent. He trashed the house so badly I sold it to the church across the street at 75% of what I paid for it and they tore it down. I was lucky to get that much for it. This experience left a bad taste in my mouth and I gave up the idea of residential investing for 33 years. February 2019 at the age of 62 I accidently came across a screaming deal. I bought a mobile home on 4 lots, sold two of the lots and rehabbed the mobile home. This property appraised for almost double the amount I have invested. I have had a good tenant in the property now for the past 19 months. I liked how that worked so I bought a couple of lots with a mobile home hook up and pad already in place thinking I would buy another trailer and set it there but I ended up renting it to a lady who parked her own home there. By now I had the bug so I began looking and I found a house off market in July of 2019. I bought the house rehabbed it, (for way more than I thought it would take) and placed a tenant who has been in the house for 9 months and has given me no problems. I bought my next property, a foreclosure, in July of 2020 and I am just now finishing the rehab. I have a total of $10200 of my own money in all 4 places, plus 6 months of mortgage plus taxes and insurance in cash reserves. All 3 places cash flow, I believe the 4th will also. I am now 63.

     The moral of the story is in order to do this you need to remain conservative. Cash reserves for a cushion is imperative. Look for deals off market and walk if they don't cash flow nicely. Never fall in love with a property, it's just a means to an end.

So many great advices here!

@Heather B.Congratulations for moving forward towards your goals.

I started last year at age 47. Just like you, I don’t want to take a lot of risk, unlike a 25 year old would. Though I understand Risk and Gains are directly correlated, I try to be cautious.

I started with one rental at a time and now I am hooked. I constantly have to control myself from ‘Shiny Object Syndrome’.

I don’t have enough experience to give you any advice but I think you made a wise decision to pass up other opportunities and focus on one opportunity at a time. Good Luck!