All Forum Posts by: Jeremy Bourgeois

@Cara Kennedy one part that I did leave out is that I do have a plan for my financing. I have about 25k saved up debt free that I can use to BRRRR my house hack. If I find a property that looks good that is more of a move in ready place then those finances will be saved for my next BRRRR.

For my financing on the house flips I wanted to use a partnerships and private money with good safeguards in place for the private money lender. And continue to build that business model based on a 50-50 split. I do the work they supply the cash and we split the profits halfway. Until I have some more experience and savvy to be able to do a more profitable flip on my end.

Of course this is only going to be possible through networking and going to local REIAs to meet with other investors and private money lenders in the area. I think that will be a big focus for me! I already have a pretty solid realtor, lender, lawyer and potential contractor for when I arrive. That still leaves quite a few gaps and I’m looking forward to meeting other investors in the area and network locally. Thanks so much for the insight. I appreciate you taking the time to give some much needed advice.

Hey all,

So I have a few months before I have a pretty major move across the country. This year I've been educating myself through the forums, through books, and through the podcasts. I'm just itching to start my investment journey right now but I'm waiting until I'm back in my own neighborhood in 2 months.

My plan is to buy a 3-4 unit multifamily in need of some light rehab work using the VA loan. I want to combine the BRRRR strategy and house hacking and force some equity and appreciation in right away. After that I'm looking to partner with a business friend of mine on a flip to make some extra cash to continue to BRRRR multifamily properties in the future. The area I will be in will be Northeastern Connecticut.

Another thing that I have just recently started doing is analyzing deals, but since I'm not in the area presently, all of the properties I've been looking into have been off the MLS. Basically, I'm looking for ideas on what I should be studying up on or doing before I get there so that I'm as prepared as I can be to jump into my first deal. Should I be focusing on networking from afar? Should I continue analyzing deals? And if so where should I look for these deals? Zillow? Realtor.com? Should I be looking at what my capex/repair/vacancy budget will be for the area? Or should the focus be somewhere else?

Congrats on your decision! There's a rewarding journey ahead of you. Best of luck in your education and investment.

Congrats! Not many people can say they've accomplished such a milestone so quickly. Truly inspiring, especially for us newer investors.

My choice:

Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat

Written by @David Greene

While I haven't even finished the book yet; I'm just about halfway, David does a great job thoroughly explaining the entire BRRRR process, reinforced with his previous investment experience, in a way that would be easy to understand for new investors and experienced ones alike. I already know that in the future when I come to a situation in the BRRRR process where I am unsure what to do, I will reference BRRRR and find my answer. Whether you plan on using the BRRRR strategy or not in your business, you will find some true gold nuggets of knowledge in any aspect of real estate investing, even with relationships and handling people/situations in general. Of all the books I have read this year, this one takes the cake. And you can truly learn to become a "black belt" real estate investor through the application of the strategies used in this book.

@Brad E. My pleasure. Thank you for your support!

@Tom S. I actually completely overlooked the fact that HMLs would require that much down to begin with. And that was also one of my questions that wasn’t on this post. Maybe if I partnered with somebody who had the funds but didn’t have the time to run the flip? I’m sure this would be difficult and maybe impossible since it would be my first flip as well. But it’s the only thing I can think of as of now. It would take me a good deal of time to save up that 45K needed to fund it. But if that’s the case, I’m in it for the long game anyways and I will just save until I can make the next move, or come up with a different plan.

@Jaysen Medhurst excellent points! Clearly I need to do some homework on my flipping expectations. Still, if I could make somewhere around $20,000-$25,000 that would be good for me. I would rather make a smaller profit at first anyways at first learning the skills that I will need for the rest of my investment career than make some extra cash working a job that would really only be a means to an end.

As far as the meet-ups go, I’m actually in California right now but once I get to NE CT, I definitely won’t mind making the drive there.

Count me in

@Dave Grimson I really like the idea to turn my house hack into a BRRRR right off the get go. Not quite sure how I didn't think of that in the first place but I'm glad you brought it up! Seems like a great way to build some equity right off the bat!

As far as the daily steps towards achievement that you mentioned above I also believe that my whole path to success hinges on that as a large factor. Right now I’ve been trying to build my network, reading, and I’ve just started analyzing deals so there’s that too. Right now I’m on the other side of the country from where I plan on being but some of my next steps include growing my network in the local area by making contact with other investors, realtors, etc. and learning my markets in the area one town at a time. Anything you would add to this list?

Hey BiggerPockets fam!

As a new investor, I have just about a million questions to ask about just about anything at this point. So, before I dive into my plan as far as REI is concerned, I think it's best to give a little background on my personal situation. After serving 5 years in the US Marine Corps, I will be transitioning out into the civilian world in a few months. Until this year, I planned on going to college for a 4 year degree. But after opening my eyes to the wide world of REI, I'm convinced college would be a waste of my time, since I'm planning to go into real estate full time anyways.

My preparation this year for the great journey ahead has consisted of binging real estate books and podcasts, keeping an eye on the forums, and saving as much capital as I can. I'm moving across the country to Northeastern Connecticut but I do have a great team at my back who I keep in touch with on a regular basis (also the ones who convinced me to immerse myself in REI). I've saved about $24,000 and plan on making $27,000 by the end of my time in the Marine Corps (not a lot I know, but I effectively 10X'd my net worth this year so that's big for me).

So, onto my plan.

1. Step 1:
   1. Close on my first property within a month of my returning home to Northeastern CT. This property will be a 3-4 unit multifamily as a house hack.
   2. Using the VA loan, I will put 0% down, effectively only putting cash into the closing costs and light rehab work. I'd like to keep the total initial investment under $10,000.
   3. The end goal with this first property is to make at least a 40% COC ROI in the first year. I know this is ambitious, especially for someone on their first deal and house hacking, but I believe it can be done.

1. Step 2:
   1. Once the first deal has been closed I plan to move right into full time REI through house flipping. (side note- I do plan on working during the week, not in real estate investing. Just for something to fall back on if everything goes sideways)
   2. Buy distressed properties using hard money or private money to finance the deals, and shoot for at least a $50,000 profit off of each flip.
   3. Live frugally, and use any leftover capital to put into buy and hold investments using the BRRRR strategy

1. Step 3:
   1. Repeat until I can quit the 9-5 and go all in on flips and rentals, and eventually just buy and hold rentals

Now I'm sure that there are a million holes in this plan, and that is precisely why I posted this. It's my plan as someone who is new to REI, I've run it by a few people who seem to think it's a good idea, but the ultimate test is to see whether the BiggerPockets community thinks this is also a good idea. This is a very rough draft but it gets the point across. Does it make sense for me to go straight into full time house flipping with no prior experience? Is this plan just completely ridiculous? Or am I on to something here? Any criticism is welcome.

If you've read this far, thank you for taking an interest in my personal situation. And thank you in advance for the feedback, I look forward to hearing back from everyone!