All Forum Posts by: Rafael Zavala

that was the good part of the story, there is also the not so good part, struggles,problems, obstacles  to get to where i am now, you guys are free to ask any questions about anything related to my story. Eventually  i will post the not so good part

@Dana wicker im from mexico, i was 17 when i came here. Plan was to retire when i was 40, just turned 42.

Guys i really appreciate all your comments, its good to know how other people thinks as far as investing  goes, i have been investing for 3 years  only, the little i know is by reading  books and watching podcasts, i believe  im doing ok by not having enough experience,  just started networking so i can expand my knowledge,  so any input from you guys  is greatly  appreciate it, if any of you think think that i could be of any help to you , contact me, and i will do what i can for you, i like to talk and meet people that are successful  minded.

@Dana wicker im from mexico, i was 17 when i came here. Plan was to retire when i was 40, just turned 42.

thanks guys i appreciate  it

Thomas s  that is exactly why i used .. is it the american dream? I  knew what i wanted before i came to the united states!  It was my dream not the american dream. I do think like an investor and consider myself an investor just dont do things like other investors, im managing all my houses,  do alk the repairs and maintenance,  have a full time job and currently remodeling  a house  to flip it. I do have control of my money because  i dont have  the pressure to rent them out to pay a mortgage , i rather own what i have that have what i owe. When i go full time into real estate  next year , i will leverage  my properties because i Will have more time in my hands to do so, i am in the process of building my own remodel team, once i have that it will be easier for me to just handle the financial part of my business. I have been managing my money since i was 15, i like to take short but intelligent steps to accomplish  what i want, doubt in my mind that  have investor dna.

thank you guys

thank you bob b for your wish!

makinga long story short, i came to the american land back in may of 1993. Did not read or speak any english, went to high school  in the am and work after school making 4.25 an hour, graduated  from high school  and went to trade school for 2 years ,my major was automotive technician, went to work for a gm dealership, have been a tech for 20 years . I worked a full time job and work as crazy on a side job, fixing car after work and the weekends ,saved as much as i could i did not know what i was going to do with the money i just wanted to save as much as possible, one day i realised  that my money in the bank was not doing anything,  so i went online and searched for different  investing  strategies,  what made more sense for me was investing in real state. In 2015 i bough my first single home did not know anything about houses, inspections, renting or been a landlord,  just wanted to invest my money, i had saved 200k at that time, paid 50k cash for that house and it wasnt easy letting 50k go. Once i had the house i researched  how i could rent it and rented out, after i started collecting rent every month it only made sense to me to buy more, i bought  another one and another one , so far i own 11 single homes, all bought outright, also paid my personal home 2 months ago ,i had a 15 year mortgage  which paid in 7 years. I currently get around 6k cash flow every month since i  owe 0 dollars, i do still have a full time job, i manage  all my rentals, do all the repairs and maintenance  myself.  I did my first flip  which made 24k on it, im working  on my second one now. My goal is to buy and flip and with  the profit buy more rentals, i want to own enough single homes that i can eventually  exchange  for a 100+ apartment building  and retire, i plan on accomplish  this in the next 5 years, im also plan to retire from my 9-5 in the next year or so, so i can go full time into real estate. I think i can see my goal a reality because  i have been always a bussines  in my heart, i say to myself if i feel it in my heart i will see it with my eyes. I have joint bigger pockets  so i can get inspiration in the tough  times and knowledge  when needed. 

thank you guys for your coments and advise