All Forum Posts by: Josh Kellum

I thought this would be a good lazy sunday forum. Although alot of us are able to remain focused on the task at hand, every now and then it's nice to think back to what got you started into real estate. So, with that said, I'm going to share a personal story with you all as to why I got started.

In 2011, my father lost his job and eventually the house we grew up in, to foreclosure. Now, I was 18 at the time, out of the house on my own already, but it still was very hard to go through as I had two younger brothers still living at home. Seeing the disappointment, embarrassment and sadness on father's face is something I will never forget. We had always prevailed, but not this time. They moved out of the house and into a nice rental(or so we thought). There was a period of bad storms that caused the basement of the home they were renting to flood. The landlord did nothing about it. The property owner did nothing about it. Mold grew. Long story short, lawsuit was filed and won, moved out to a new rental and are doing good now.

Moral of the story: I don't ever want to find myself in a place where I could lose the most valuable possession to my name and I want to be able to provide people with a living situation that provides them comfort and peace, not stress and turmoil. That's my inspiration, especially now that I have an infant daughter that I want to provide the world to.

What's your inspiration BP?

I have very little capital at the moment but I've just been driving around my neighborhood(B) and looking for properties that may be abandoned, have those papers taped to the windows, etc.., writing them down, coming home and doing some research on them. Once I have some qualified leads, I plan on attending some local REI club meetings where I will network and be able to present those leads to investors/wholesalers, collect a fee, build my business off that until I have made enough to buy my first rental. Bird-dogging/wholesaling is the avenue I have chosen to get started with. My long term plan is to buy and hold, flip 2-3 homes a year and eventually get into the commercial side. If that is not an option, I suggest maybe looking into a HELOC on your primary residence or one of your rentals that built enough equity in. Tons of info here on BP, just use the search bar my friend, for it will become your best friend. Best of luck to you! Us involved in REI is what keeps this country going! Kudos to the BP community!

thanks for the reminder! needed that!

Welcome to BP, boss! You will find a ton of knowledge and resources here. Check BP everyday, multiple times a day, anytime you may have a question or idea...Everybody is super supportive and will offer honest advice, even if it may be blunt. So take your time, learn and connect! I'm in the Winston Salem area too looking to expand my knowledge and connections. Best of luck!

Welcome to BP! I am in the Triad area as well and am new to REI! Looks like you're well on your way to killing it!

@James Wise

 yessir!! game 1 tonight baby!!

@Ian Ray

 i am not familiar with that area either

From cleveland! How about you?

thank you @Jesse Dresbach

@Colleen F. okay thanks