All Forum Posts by: Matt Bogue

Thanks, @Larry Fried.  Good stuff!

Thanks @Tom Ott, I'll check that out for sure.

@James Wise - thanks!

@Curt Davis - Thanks for the comment. Yeah, if I did turnkey, I would certainly be more comfortable investing in something that was in a decent neighborhood.  Like maybe B+ or A-.  My hesitation with the lower end stuff would be that the house may not be in good shape when the tenant moves out and I may have to spend so much on turnover costs that it would eat in to the small monthly profit I'd be getting.  I guess there is no guarantee I'd get better tenants in higher end rentals, but it just seems safer.  Plus I may have less of a difficult time selling the property if I ever had to.  I guess the problem with more expensive turnkey properties is the monthly cashflow margin is even smaller... From what I've read anyway.  I just want to make sure I make a good decision for the long term.

@Kee You - thanks, appreciate it!

@Larry Fried - Thanks!  I actually saw something you posted on a few weeks ago and checked out your website (Do Good Investing - the name sounded like something I'd like).  I looked at the properties in Philly that are rehabbed after buying.  That is a different model of investing that I also spent a night or two looking in to.  Also, didn't you write an article about the "Holy Grail" of real estate investing?  I also liked that a lot and it gave me more to think about. (I apologize if it wasn't your article.  I have been reading and listening to a LOT of stuff over the last couple of months!)

@Brynn McNicholas - yeah, well, my family is all here so California will most likely be my home for the forseeable future.  I'll admit that there are some nice things about living here.  Living through one year in Chicago taught me to appreciate our weather, for instance!  Thanks again for the welcome!

@Terry Flynn - Thanks! Wholesaler, eh?  That's cool!  My cousin is looking in to doing that out here.  He was telling me about it a few weeks ago.  That's another area of real estate investing that I had no idea existed until a few weeks ago.  All these different possible routes and opportunities are why I'm so excited about real estate as an investment platform!  If I'm ever looking at Las Vegas I'll let you know!

@Elizabeth Wilson - Thanks! I think I saw your post in the thread that was started regarding note educational opportunities.  Eddie Speed seemed like a great resource.  I learned a lot just listening to his interview.  He said there are some free portions of the Note School to try out so I will probably head on over to his website and check it out.  I will be interested to see how it turns out for you!  Note investing is looking more and more like like the way I may want to move forward, but we'll see, still very new to all this and learning new things everyday!

@Franky Aikens - Thanks! Yeah, as I have started investigating a bit, I've realized that Memphis sure seems like a popular place for real estate investment opportunities! I have now seen 3 or 4 turnkey companies operating there.  From what I've heard it seems like there are good parts and areas that are probably best to stay away from, unless you plan to be very hands on! Like any city I guess.  I will be interested to hear your impressions!

@Dean Harris - Thanks very much, appreciate it.  Just investigating things at the moment.  If Memphis turns out to be a market I'm wanting to look in to further I'll keep you guys in mind for sure!

@Brynn McNicholas - thanks! Yeah, as I look around it seems like the "Pro" members have the blue lighted names tagged.  So I don't know if my @'s are doing anything or not!  Hey, who knows, maybe someday I'll be pro level too! I have lived in Sonoma County pretty much my whole life, except when I was in the Navy for four years, and for a year of that I actually lived in Chicago! Well, Great Lakes Naval Training Station actually - but pretty close.  We rode the train down in to Chicago every chance we got!

@Tom Ott - Thanks!  I'll check out your website!

@Dmitriy Fomichenko - thanks, I'll take a look at those links.  For some reason when I tag someone with the @ it doesn't seem to show up in blue like it does when other people do it.  I guess I'll have to mess around with it a bit to make it work.

@Jay Raught. - Thanks! I am following the discussion topic going on right now about education courses on notes.  I listened to an interview with Eddie Speed and I thought his "Note School" sounded like something worth looking in to.  

@Mark Nolan - Thank you.  I didn't know about the book store, I'll check that out!

Hi everyone!  My name is Matt.  I discovered this site about a month ago when doing some research.  I've been lurking around and reading discussions for awhile and really enjoying all the information I've been getting, so I figured it was time to join up!  I see there are other long introduction posts so I guess I'll take the liberty of doing the same! 

So, as of now I really don't have anything in real estate going on, other than owning the house I live in (and a condo that I ended up having to do a short sale on in 2010.....)  But I am a dreamer!  I earn my living as a Respiratory Therapist but I like to think of myself as an aspiring real estate investor!

This dream started for me a few months ago, when I was having a conversation with a nurse I work with.  She told me about how she and her husband had bought a house in Memphis, TN as an investment property.  She said they bought a fully rehabbed house for about 60k and have a property management company taking care of it.  She said they didn't make a ton on the property each month, but they made a couple of hundred dollars after expenses and the house was being paid off in the mean time.  This really got my attention.  Immediately I started crunching numbers in my head and had visions of sitting back, collecting rent money on my 20 properties - finally having the time and money I needed to live life in whatever way I saw fit.  I had always been interested in buying real estate, but I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and it's a really expensive market so I just kind of gave up on the idea.  

So that's where the Bigger Pockets forum came in.  As I started looking around, I found out that the house they bought in Memphis was bought from a "turnkey" real estate company and when I Google searched for investing in turnkey properties I found a discussion on the forum.  It sounds like there are differing opinions on this model of investment.  I'm still interested in out of state turnkey properties for sure, but it seems like there may be some potential pitfalls as well.

After I found the Bigger Pockets forums, I started listening to the podcasts too, and last week I was introduced to note investing, which I had never heard of before.  That sounds like an interesting way to get in to real estate without having to deal with the potential headaches of property and tenant maintenence! So now I'm doing all that I can to learn about that aspect of the business. 

So, bottom line, I'm glad I found this place! It seems like a great resource.  I'm really looking forward to learning and participating in discussions and possibly making some connections in a world that's new to me!  Thanks for reading!   - Matt