All Forum Posts by: Joseph Firmin

You should start by understanding the value of your home right now. If you have renovated it or it has appreciated since you purchased it, you will be able to do a cash-out refinance. What this means is you will calculate your LTV (loan-to-value). Since this is a primary residence for you, you may be able to get a refinance at 80% LTV, but for an investment property you should be able to get 75% LTV. As an example - If your house is worth $100K now and your current loan on the property is for $50K, and this was an investment property, you should be able to refinance at $75000, meaning you would get the balance, $25K, ($75K-$50K) back in cash. There are refinance calculators online you can use to help. It is a pretty straightforward process, replacing your current property loan for a higher loan amount, and receiving the difference in cash for you to use on another investment property.

@Maurice W. Evans This is very interesting and something I believe many investors would jump at. Personal preference and style would come into play but I think you could find 5 investors from one city to do this for sure. I do feel that REI gives you the opportunity to achieve wealth without fame or celebrity, which is fantastic and highly appealing to many. Wealth means different things to different people but if you had the credentials to make this sort of thing happen then people would definitely be interested. You could also sell this documentary to HGTV.

@Trent Strang I use Stessa tracking (my REI tax advisor actually recommended it over QB and others, especially for landlords) and I use Cozy for rent collecting, background checks, etc... I just started as well and it wasn't too hard to input my expenses YTD on Stessa.

Congrats, looks like a nice deal! Can you share what bank gave you a loan for $40,500 and also your thoughts on how you transferred it into your LLC (how you brought this up to your financial institution?)?

Thank you for sharing David!

@Jonathan Perez If you are comfortable investing in Colombia, SC but want to live in Jacksonville and your personal fulfillment will increase by doing so, go for it. You will be a more effective person firstly if you take care of yourself first, and secondly that personal improvement will flow to your investment side and help you grow in that area.

Another option to decrease your risk on the investment side would be to start forming a team and getting to know the market (1-6 months) and then make an investment in Jacksonville before moving there.

All the best! - Joseph

@Andrew R. Sorry I’m late to your post by a day. I hope you had a great REÍ event last night. If you are new all the way just start absorbing and reading as much as possible. Invest time in yourself and education on BP. There is so much info here about basic steps from buying your first investment property webinars to books etc... most of the info is free!

Get clear on your goals and where you want to invest. That is a first. Don't try to boil the ocean and do all sorts of REI. Look for a good real estate agent that understands investors. Tell them your criteria and goals. Ask for help and ask for questions you don't know how to ask, be intellectually honest but not completely dependent - go search the answers and questions.

There are lots of little steps that aren’t mentioned but just break it all down and start ticking off the action items.

Thank you everyone for the encouragement and recommendations. We will plough through it and yes @Ryan Murdock, I will subject her to all the BP podcasts as I've done! Thanks everyone!

I have recently begun my REI business and purchased my first duplex. It is about to close (next week!) and I have planned the renovation and am ready to start improving the asset prior to renting out. I have been on this journey of acquiring the knowledge, connecting to awesome people and asking questions since September 2018. I have kept my wife in the loop during the process and let her know about everything I've been doing and learning and she has been very supportive.

She is from MX and English is her second language and is in the process of preparing to take the TOEFL as she recognized that she need to improve her English prior to going back to work.

She mentioned the other day that she'd like to be involved in the business and maybe she could manage the properties that we acquire.

I'm looking for feedback from the community on how to best coach and encourage her without pushing too hard (understanding English makes the learning hard).

Thank you, very grateful for your responses!

A key thread throughout all the answers here is that in negotiating you are selling. Even if you are buying... You are selling. Selling your ideas, expertise, passion, etc. I have worked in sales and negotiation and the best in both are those that listen. Those that have the humility to ask a genuine question and truly be interested in what the other person is saying. That genuineness creates trust and trust breaks down lots of barriers.

I enjoy the journal so far. My goals are different:

1. Buy 6 units or have $2,000 in cash flow by the end of 2019.

2. Lose 20 lbs by April 6th

3. Save $20k by April 15th.

One is longer term, the other two are 90 days from when I started journaling.

The Mastermind group has been good so far as well!