All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Rivera

I waited for a while. I didn’t want this to be a fad thing and honestly it’s not. Give yourself time if you’re unsure. Properties and deals will still be out there if you sign up later. That being said, once I made up my mind (about 2 weeks) I jumped in. I found the calculators alone are invaluable. The ability to connect with other who see I have some skin in the game and I’m serious is another, not to say you’re not, but the pro does offer that bit of clout. Also just being able to go into all the extra education is great. I’ll let you in on a secret. There’s a Discount code at every webinar (at least the last three I’ve been on). I used it, it comes to an avg of $26 per month. You have unlimited use of a calculator to run as many properties as you want to find potential deals. As much as it’s an upfront cost, it’s ultimately less than $1 per day. I cut Netflix and some other subscription and that made up the cost of this. You can even go into your subscriptions, threaten to cancel and they usually send you an offer to lower the payments. So you can see it’s totally worth it. Also I can see that I kind of gave this a hard sell so let me just say that’s honestly how awesome I think it is and I am not paid by them in anyway.

I agree about the home inspection. That being said don’t forget about the surrounding areas as well. It doesn’t matter that you have a great property if your tenant turns over. More than the property, what about the neighbors that party until 3am every weekend, the street light that blares into the bedroom window or worst are the street lights not working at all and you have to walk in the dark to the house. I would say if you’re interested in the property pass by it at night, see what’s going on around the area at various times. Things may look fantastic in the daytime, but may paint a different picture at night. You may have an amazing property, but these things may turn off a tenant and leave you having to work on constantly getting the property filled. 

Yeah get copies see what they say. If it’s month to month give them their notice. My state is very tenant friendly so the moment there’s an issue most people start an eviction process soon after otherwise that party maybe there for a long time. You should ask the current owner for as much info as possible and figure out who’s been a problem or complained about problems. This will give you the clear choice on who to leave and who to kick out. If you have the unit with the “problems” you’ll be able to repair them and won’t have to hear from a tenant. Assuming there is anything.

You can also just upgrade your unit to up rent on that side. rent yours for higher and get the next guy out repeating the process on the last unit just before you leave. Food for thought. Best of luck! 

I’m also in a high priced area. I still look for deals here although they maybe few and far between. In either case I decided to go to an area about an hr out that’s “up and coming”, a big company decided to expand their business and provide 400 new jobs and police have clean up and reduced the crime rates. No Starbucks or hipster coffee place yet, but I suspect it won’t be long. Getting in now and even if nothing happens, I’m still buying into a deal and still getting cashflow out. In my mind the location I decide to go into doesn’t matter in the sense that there’s real estate everywhere, what is important is that you can find enough leads to get you to enough quantity of quality deals. 

I'm not hear to impress anyone, but to let you in on how I started getting all of this done in such little time. It was after I got excited about BP that I turn to my girlfriend to tell her about it and she seemed indifferent to it as she stared at her screen. A minute later she said look what I tagged you in. I open Facebook, check my notifications, have a giggle, then proceed to scroll through mindlessly. 1hr later and I realize what am I doing. It was like I was in a trance. I check my screen time and there it was a smack to the face. 5hrs+ hrs of screen time on FB. I looked at the apps that were on that first page and I shifted everything around. I started with deleting the Facebook app. Now I'm still on FB, but I have to open a browser window to even get on to it and without the app there I honestly don't think about it. 

14 days ago after spending most of my night wired and consuming as much information as possible, I decided that I was going to dedicate myself to real estate investing. I got an app to countdown/up, and I got a date to count up from that day. I also put in my retirement date 11yrs from now. Then I put another date of 6yrs from now. 6yrs is when I want to retire. I also brought Kindle, Audible, Podcast, Youtube, and BP apps to my first page, putting the BP app exactly where FB was. Now my front page is built for production. Along with those I put banking apps, google drive, some work apps (to keep me posted on open OT) and LetGo (to sell unused items throughout the house). Obviously, Zillow and Realtor app as well. 

My results have been amazing! I've gone through 4 books through audible. I'm on BP more ofter (due to that FB twitch) reading a couple articles and forums vs scrolling mindlessly. I've also managed to listen to 3 webinars and a couple of podcast. I feel like I've taken in so much information. My girlfriend is super excited vs nervous when I first told her about investing. Every time she has a question I'm replying back with a solid answer. 

Outside of the phone, I've connected with a realtor, talked to a couple of lenders and I've used the calculators over 50 times. Even did a little driving for dollars in an area we were looking at. I've also managed to snag a couple of extra hrs of OT. All in all, I'm happier, more productive and I'm actually feeling the wheels start to spin taking me somewhere. If you say to yourself "I don't have the time" MAKE IT. Cut those things off that are not going to help you reach your goal. No one on FB is teaching me about Real Estate investing, you all here in this community are. Why waste time on FB catching up on peoples highlight reels, food pics or relationship drama? 

I'll leave you with this thought. I was talking to my gf about what a long month its been and how much I got done. That's when she looked at me like I was crazy. She tells me its been a couple days, but not a month. We go back and forth for a minute and that's when I remembered I wrote down my date with the timer. 14 days. I couldn't believe it. I've gotten more done in the last two weeks that I would have in a month thanks to rearranging things on my phone to serve my purpose. 

Let me know of things you have all done or any cool apps I should also include. Hope this helps someone out there reach their goals.

I'm going to tell you I tried the cheap way as well. I did my own spreadsheet and honestly there were a lot of mistakes I had to fix and a lot of numbers that did not match up. Do yourself a favor like I did and go pro. Kill the netflix, hulu and some of other subscription that is going to distract you and not lead to your success and that will offset the difference of what you have to pay for pro. Not only is it easier, but its definitely nicer. You're looking to be an investor and this is THE tool you want in your pocket. I know it must've taken you some time to build that 200+k that you're ready to invest into properties, but you won't invest under $400 for Pro. Wait for a webinar, I'll let you in on a secret, theres a discount code at the end for you ;) Seriously, get the numbers done right. If you even missed a number or your calculations are incorrect you could be looking at a costly mistake. That's my two cents. 

Also I've not been paid by them in anyway, I just know what I was going through trying to calculate it myself and tons of things could go wrong. Last thing you want is what you thought was a good deal turn up to be a nightmare. Also lenders may appreciate that professional looking PDF.

@Donald Thomas

Congrats! You kinda motivated me to keep checking my area as well. Thanks for sharing.

Welcome! I'm new as well looking at moving to Florida in a few years. My coworker already retired down there and the guy is basically just texting me the current temp, pictures of the beach or of him fishing... So I hope you have the same experience. Best of luck!

@Marc Anthony

No other job like it man, but I feel it getting to me already. I’m on the Mc’s and I enjoy the work, but it’s changed a lot. Especially with the bail reforms here in NJ/ NY it’s hrs of work for slaps on the wrist. Honestly, I don’t understand how the property prices continue to be so high even with growing homelessness and crime on the uptick. Maybe it’ll take time.

Quick question: what parts of the job experience translates well into RE investing. I figured the usual stuff like the BS meter still works and the 1000 yard stare if someone is trying to take advantage, but anything you found yourself using that’s a carry over?

@Jason Lee

Wow! That’s one heck of a turn around!