All Forum Posts by: Jon Hill

@Hunter Cone I love that question. I can say that so far no major bad deals. I have been able to purchase for lower than market which helps a bunch. The toughest piece for me was being a landlord on my first property. I have a property local so I decided it would be good to get experience in that. I struggled because the people I rent to are much further along in life and they knew I was both the landlord and owner. I wish I would have gone with the approach many people preach on here in saying that "I have to talk with my partner first" whenever they ask for something you know you can't or won't do. I had a difficult time because they would corner me in the property and make me feel as though I owed them. After a couple of times of giving in I laid my foot down. They didn't take it great, but they still paid their rent on time. I haven't had any major issues with them since. Those two pieces were the greatest hurdle I felt. I think they are easily avoidable with the partner thing and then you can always blame the "partner" for being the bad guy. Hope that helps!

@Hunter Cone that is very exciting to hear. I completely agree with @Marcus Long with Set for Life by @Scott Trench. That book was the thing that sent me over the edge into real estate investing. His book put a lot of words to feelings I was having as I looked around the cooperate world and even more so what my parents were going through. 

I am not a military guy, but I do some long distance investing and for me the key was the partnerships. I was able to find someone I trust in the area I wanted to invest and able to make a win-win for both of us. David Greene's book give some great insight as to how to build your core four in order to ensure you can be successful. He makes a great point that there is no major difference between having your property up the street or across the country. It may feel like it is better to see it, but it truly doesn't make a difference.

Hope that helps some. Best of luck in your investing career and the rest of college!

@Charlie Anne that is a great goal. I have a similar one.

My first property was a 2 bed 2 bath townhome in Thornton Colorado. It was a pre-foreclosure that we were able to purchase for $150,000. It had appraised for $165,000 which was paid for by the previous buyer that they were under contract with.

It went pretty well as we were able to do a quick close. The plan was to make it a live in flip without the sell and move it to a house hack. After about a month of work we were able to get a roommate in it. It cut our monthly expenses in half.

We do still have it and have transitioned it to a long term rental. Because of how cheap we bought it the property is able to cash flow a little over $100 a month which is a bit below market rate.

The thing I wish I knew was how valuable fixing everything in the property all at once when we first bought it would have been. By no means have you had a lot of expenses come up, but knowing how much more work we need to put into it while there are tenants there is a challenge. I wish we would have wait a bit longer before moving in to ensure we got everything to be almost brand new.

@Joshua Savage I had planned on raising rent only $50 as we were a bit below market. The $50 would keep us about $25 under market still. I do not believe I will do this now as my tenants have continued to pay rent on time and maintain the property well. With all this uncertainty having that means the world. Like @Ramon Flores said one month of vacancy could kill those profits you hope you have from the increase. Hope that helps! 

@Tamar Hermes we have two properties with a total of 3 different tenants and we have been lucky enough to collect 100% on both. I know that is not the case for everyone but we have been fortunate

@Josiah Patrick Zebarth mine is to be far enough financially free to bring my future wife home. She is currently working a job she doesn’t love, but does so we can continue to build. I am lucky enough to work as an agent and absolutely love it. It kills me every day to send her off to a job she doesn’t love. That drives me and we have the goal to bring her into our business full time by 2025. Hope that helps. Finding your why makes everything else easy!

I received my first payment from my tenants here in Colorado this morning. I have duplex in Milwaukee that will be paying me later this afternoon. Very happy to be able to collect 100% of the rent this month!

@Sean Tagge That is awesome. Do you aim for more experience or work ethic? Or more of a combination of both?

@Sean Tagge Those are some awesome goals. Obtainable yet challenging. Do you have a plan in mind for the hiring process?

I currently am investing in Milwaukee because of the multi-family inventory. Similar to what @Jack Medford, there is a great supply there relative to where I am located in Colorado. Agreeing also with @Matt Maurice on the overall appeal of the town. There are a lot of things trending in the right direction for the city. That does not mean you should just throw money at any property, but it also doesn't mean there aren't deals out there to be done. You just have to ensure you have the right criteria in mind and are willing to be more creative in finding and structuring them.