All Forum Posts by: Jessica Muto

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Hello BP,

My husband and I own a plumbing company in San Diego, CA, and are working on becoming real life real estate investors as well as business owners. Our area is a tough market, so we've been looking in other states, and Texas came up as potentially a good market. I've got a real estate agent sending us small multifamily listings as they come up, as we are looking for at least a duplex for our first investment. I've run a lot of these listings through the calculator, using information from local insurance people, property management people, the Tarrant County property tax estimator, and rentometer, and I must be doing something wrong. Even with prices that to my California eye seem really good, cash flow is barely adequate and often in the negative, mostly due to the property tax (I think.) Can you veterans see anything else I am doing wrong here?? 

Thank you in advance - Jessica 

We are huge fans of Dave Ramsey. His advice allowed us to start our plumbing company 5 years ago with no debt, and we still run it that way. However, we are also inspired by Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad Poor Dad mindset, which has a different message regarding debt. I think both schools of thought can be very powerful, but you have to be disciplined and focused to achieve your goals either way. Therefore, we want to build our asset column as fast as we can and with a sharp eye on what we can afford at the same time. 

Thanks for all the encouragement! The best way to learn is to do, and every day right now makes more sense than the day before. Can't wait to share our first deal with everyone!

Thank you all! We're listening to podcasts and reading as fast as we can and will be starting to go to local groups this month. We do own our home already, so we won't be doing the house hacking thing this time around. While it would be awesome to find a good deal to rent out in San Diego, right now it's not our focus as a possible market. We're looking in nearby but out of county areas and in other states such as AZ and TX. 

Thanks for all the advice! 

@Franky Davis Thanks for sharing your story. As someone trying to find our first deal, figuring out things like how to navigate how much to offer and asking for seller financing is a bit intimidating. I learned a lot from your post and reading all these replies. Good luck! 

Hello,

My husband and I are new to Bigger Pockets and are enjoying all the information, resources, and support it has to offer. We currently live and own a plumbing company in Carlsbad, CA and are eager to start building our little real estate empire. We've begun the process of looking for a market, finding real estate agents, lenders, and property managers to help us. I have to admit I have a little FOMO at the thought of deals I am missing because I don't have our financing all figured out. I know in theory about creative solutions like partners and seller financing and house hacking, BUT putting them into practice in the right order is another story. We're working on conventional financing (20% etc) but that's going to limit us tremendously in the opportunities we can take advantage of. I guess you could say I am looking for logical "next steps" in exploring asking people to invest with us (how to decide terms, etc?) or talking to the right people (brokers, lenders, sellers, etc) about other options. What the best way to say, "Look, I've heard of this creative option on Bigger Pockets, but I have no idea how to do it, so do you want to invest with me?" while still inspiring confidence? :) What are some ways you more experienced people began branching out from the conventional methods?

Thanks for reading this far, and for not laughing too loudly at my questions, and in advance for your tips!

Cheers,

Jessica

Hello @Elliot Saks

My husband and I are pretty much in the same spot, living in San Diego and looking at other places to invest. Setting up a team in a place we've never been is a challenge, especially for our first investment, but we are up for it to make a smart decision. I'm trying to cram as much information in my brain as is humanly possible while running our plumbing business in North County. While we are looking primarily in Texas right now, I have not given up hope that a good deal is out there in Southern California. 

I don't have any good advice to offer yet, but am working on getting the experience necessary to gain some. 

Good luck and if I can help let me know.