Hello BP Community,
I read a lot of posts, but post few of my own. I believe so much in building wealth through real estate that I would be remiss to not post my recent success.
I am not a realtor, but do have some in my family. Not being someone with the stomach for sales and customer service, I made the decision to not join the force.
However, I have read countless books and articles, spoken with real estate investors and financial advisors, and even went to Vegas to attend a Master’s of Real Estate Investing 3-day conference!
Needless to say, I am a planner and a great pursuer of knowledge - paralysis by analysis anyone? I learn but actions are the only way to really succeed; I’ve never seen money grow by reading about it. So I decided to put my money where my brain was...and I know there’s a lot more for me to learn. But I’m a learn by doing type of person, even if it might take me longer to act than some.
So I started looking, and looking, and looking. I spent a year looking at one property after the other. I wanted buy and hold properties, but was getting so discouraged at finding anything in my area (I didn’t want to start with a property manager or purchase a property not within driving distance - I want to learn by doing and succeed or fail on my own). I even bid on several multi-family homes only to lose out to a lease by owner to the current tenant who I bid over, to disrespecting some homeowners by lowballing their asking price (hey, I did the math...extensively...and was only buying “deals that make sense”).
While I was losing hope, a great thing happened along the way. Something that I planned (budgets are key) for, but hadn’t taken fully into consideration because it wasn’t part of my first time investing strategy. My frugalness over the two years of first research then property hunting paid off, literally, as I was so focused on buying a property that I wasn’t spending money on non-essentials.
And just when I was at my lowest, I found the perfect property. A duplex of sorts. Really it is two structures on one piece of land...and it had built in tenants with a 5-year perfect payment history!
And how does this relate to the budgeting payoff you ask?
I saved enough over two years that I didn’t need the proceeds from my current residence to pay for the new, two structure residence. So now I am able to rent out my old home, live in a new home, and supplement the rent in the newer, nicer home with built in, pre-screened tenants with a strong verifiable payment history.
In one transaction I became a two time investor and now own three properties.
Don’t give up! Keep learning, looking, and you will find success. I did and you can too!
Best to all you current and future real estate investors, J
