All Forum Posts by: Joshua Amezcua

Don't worry, the tenants won't be watering the grass. Could you add some solar to absorb some elec costs? 

I started real estate investing 3.5 years ago with no money, after listening to Bigger Pockets and learning about Hard Money Lenders, Private Lenders, etc. I had a career in Finance that covered our living expenses, so we didn't have to use any real estate income to live off of. For my first flip, I used a HML that funded 100% of the purchase and rehab, and leveraged a credit card for closing costs, etc.

My model from day 1 has been to flip single-family houses (including a lot of singlewides and doublewides on land) and buy-and-hold multi-family. I use property managers for my apartments, and contractors for my flips. My pure passive cash flow from my apartment rentals has recently surpassed our living expenses, so I quit my 6-figure Finance career to do REI full-time. I am currently flipping 9 houses (no partners or employees), and my rental portfolio is made up of:

8-Unit - 100% Ownership

16-Unit - 50% Ownership

20-Unit - 65% Ownership

15-Unit - 100% Ownership (pending to buy this one next week)

I just want to say thank you to BP for the life-changing content that has changed the trajectory of my family's lives. I wouldn't have known it was possible otherwise. 

If I can do it, you can too!

P.S. If you're attending BPCON in Orlando this year, hit me up!

A large majority of people new to real estate and wanting to make some aspect of real estate their full time “career” get it all wrong.  They’re misled by the hype from the “cult” created by would be mentors advertising via YouTube, webinars, lead capture websites, free newsletters, start up kits, and general misinformation.

Spending $40k on a mentorship/information class on wholesaling, subject, fix n flip, etc. does not create a sustainable career.  Even in the rare case where the subject matter did lead to a profitable job (business), it’s not sustainable in an increasingly fast changing, niche dominated, location dependent, law changing, environment.  

The people that I’ve met who have long term sustainable real estate investing career have been those who have, through either formal education or “on the fly “ learning became knowledgeable in 

1. The principles of real estate

2. Real estate law

3. Real estate finance

4. Real estate investing, financial, and market analytics 

Most coursework in preparation for real estate licensing exams cover the first two pretty well. An alternative is to either read a Principle of real estate text book and a real estate law textbook, or to take one of many classes offered by various colleges, organizations and affiliates of the NAR.

Back when I got my start in real estate investing, ( mid to late 1970s) there were some “gurus” that made sense - their offerings were relatively inexpensive, their teachings relevant, and they always prefaced that they taught one or two “techniques” that could be used in connection with obtaining a firm basic knowledge of real estate principles and finance.  I got to know a few of these personally, Jimmy Napier was a personal friend, and these teachers were eager to hear about deals I was structuring and often asked if they could use those as examples in the classes/seminars they put on.  

It all began changing in around 1979 as a few companies organized for the sole purpose of putting on seminars began to recruit professional actors ( ones that were not well known), provided them with scripts, and paid the. A percentage “of the gate” including “back of the room” sales, which were usually workbooks and video/audio tapes for dale at $899.00 but today only can be had for the one time low price of $399.00, with a set of steak knives.  It was a short hop from there to “the personality cult”, I don’t think that any of the people selling mentorship’s today have any any quantifiable success as real estate investors.  

You definitely have a competitive advantage with your renovation skills regardless of the path you decide. This will undoubtedly come in handy at some point in your investing journey. One thing to note specific to Arizona is the Handyman Exception. Essentially you/a handyman can conduct unlicensed work (labor and materials) for anything up to $1,000 on a particular portion of the rehab. I would suggest looking more into this yourself, but the legal breakdown can be found at: https://www.azleg.gov/viewdocument/?docName=http://www.azleg...

BRRRR makes sense, but unfortunately you likely won't be able to pull it off as effectively as you could in a more normal/balanced market. As someone mentioned on this post, it's currently an equity play instead of both an equity & cashflow play. So if cashflow isn't as important for you at this exact moment, then you could be fine.

I also completely understand the time anxiety that would come with a flip. It's not for everyone and if you decide to do a lot of work yourself, it might suck all the fun and joy out of doing your own renovations. 

The financial implications of getting stuck with a property that won't sell at your expected ARV is likely one of the following: 1) either understand why it's not hitting your price point and assess if it's worth continuing to add to the rehab 2) BRRRR it. Rent it out for 12 months to hopefully let the market work in your favor and assess the situation at that point 3) Sell it at a loss, claim the loss on your taxes, learn from it and keep on moving.

There are also those of us that used to did, sold and grabbed a chair while the music still played.   

There are 2.4 agents for each available house.  More investors than that circling each skinny margin distressed seller.  

RE isn't the only game around.  I'd let the dust settle if I was just getting started.  

@Joshua Amezcua

I'm based in Reno, NV there is definitely more rental stock coming online. But, the housing issue is certainly not solved. Not even close. 

 Bummer about the sale, but of course hindsight is 20/20. Like you said, everything happens for a reason. 

Some perimeter markets nearby here are looking stronger and stronger. There are certainly more investors, but a lot seem to be holding off on the sidelines right now. 

We're actually starting to see some of the best deals hiding in plain sight on MLS now - where in late 2020/21/early 22 there would be 10-25 offers.

Never too late to start - hope to see you in the forums more often!! 

Once you get the bug, it's hard to stop :)