All Forum Posts by: John Ellerman

@Michael Warinner unlike most of the people on this chat (and not knocking on them or their experience by any means), I can probably relate to you the most because I am 22 years old and have contemplated doing exactly what you did and almost did it if my mentors didn’t talk me out of it.

What you should do varies based on what your major is and if you’ll be in any debt after school, but I’ll give you some solid general advice.

If you’re majoring in something what will realistically get you a decent paying job out of school (ie: Engineering, Finance, etc), just go back to school.

There’s two reasons for this:

1) Having a steady cash flow will make it easy for you to both get your credit score up and to save cash for a down payment. Lenders also love a steady cash flow because you are less of a risk than someone who makes commission or gig-based income, and they also prefer someone with a college degree for their job security.

2) You’ll probably my make more money with your degree than as a realtor (at least in the beginning, which is where it counts).

You also do not need a license to make money in this business. You will gain knowledge by actually investing and from mentors whom you will meet throughout your life.

Make sure to network and read books as much as possible.

Just some food for thought.

Hey @Michael Burks,

I just ran through some of the comments/replies here, and I have to agree that there is some merit behind the whole "What would you bring to the table" argument.

HOWEVER - I would strongly suggest not spending $20,000 to "get woke" or "learn" free information.

Here's what I would do:

1) Network - use BP, go to REI meetups, etc. Try to meet people who are already in the multifamily game.

2) When you find someone that is doing well and have become acquainted with he/she, tell them "Hey, I really like what you're doing, and I've wanted to do the same thing for some time now. Would you be interested in going in on a deal with me where I would provide the funds and you would help find/manage the deal and mentor me along the way? I would finance and you would get a portion of the profits."

That is what you could "bring to the table"; that being a percentage of profits of a deal.

He (or she) gets an income without any financial obligation/risk, and you get help with the deal, profits for yourself, and mentorship along the way. And being that person has a successful track record, it would probably be a successful deal.

Just some food for thought

Hey Guys, This is my first post on BP, so I'm going to give a really newbie question. I recently moved to Miami for work in construction and am looking to start investing in multi family properties. After running the numbers, I've realized that the market here in Miami is very competitive and the asking prices of MFs in the area would barely cash flow, if at all. Because of this, I've looked a little north (WPB, Delray, Lake Worth) and a little south (Kendal, Homestead, Florida City) for properties and found some cheap MFs in need of a desperate rehab. My question is: would it be a better idea to buy the land and build a brand new multi family property or buy an old one in need of a full gut/rehab for cheap and fix it up?