All Forum Posts by: Mickey Powell

Am I wrong or does commercial or portfolio lending seem to be a good avenue for Paul?

And thank you, everyone, for the advice!

@Manolo D. You're absolutely right. I've actually been pondering this for 2 years. I wanted to make 100% sure that I understood who he is, who I am, and how that might go together. I appreciate you pointing this out as I'm sure many people don't and it ends horribly. 

@Natalie Schanne Similar to Manolo's question/point, I've been considering this for a long while (and will continue to). 

I am going to offer up some free labor to learn under him for as much as he'll let me. If he is open to it, I might make the offer you suggested and try to grow his business with him via sales. In addition, his brother is a realtor so there's another easy connection. In the long run, I'll absolutely get my license for all the intrinsic and tangible benefits that come with it. In the long run, I'll want to be able to monitor a crew even if my F-I-L isn't the GC or isn't around at the time. 

I love the idea of the IRS $500K waiver. I'll definitely be doing that for a primary residence. Do you feel that high-end "craftsmen" types can't be profitable? Or is it just a mentality?

@Lee Ripma Maybe someone with more experience will (hopefully)  correct me, but it feels like you might be able to get slightly higher cashflow with lease options while mitigating market decline? (understanding that cashflow is extremely hard to come by in general)

@Kiersten Vance Thank you for calling me out on that! I was kind of hoping someone would. I have some longer term goals that aren't $$$ specific but require I figure this all out to accomplish them.

Long term, I don't want to work a 9-5 job and neither does my wife. My parents will most likely need help with retirement and I want to be able to help them do so. My wife and I want to have a family in SoCal. Given all that, I would say we need quite a bit of income (to be defined) from real estate, which leads me to think high end residential/commercial rentals (though I am new, so can absolutely be wrong). 

Since his focus has always been on quality, low-end doesn't seem to make sense. Am I off-base here?

Thank you, @Jo-Ann Lapin and @Lee Ripma! 

@Jo-Ann Lapin, I haven't thought about manufactured/modular. Don't really know anything about how they work. Could you point me in a good direction there so I can get my feet wet? I agree with adding to affordable housing stock for personal and strategic reasons. I'd love to hear your two cents on how you think that might work? 

@Lee Ripma, If you were to name a few places that are up and coming, what would be at the top of your list? 

Also, what do both of you think about lease options? Might be a good way to allow lower income buyers into the market and demand slightly higher rent? Thoughts?

Hello BPers!

I need some advice. I'm about to relocate to Orange County, CA and start my real estate investing career. My Father-In-Law is a General Contractor for fairly high end renovation and private development. He's built up his business over the last 30+ years but is still on the low volume, high quality end of the spectrum. 

I am hoping you can all help me think creatively how to best leverage his knowledge, skills, and expertise. (I'll deal with getting him onboard at all). At the very least, I'll be learning everything I can from him. 

If you were in my shoes, what approach would you take to building your real estate empire?

Thanks in advance!

Hey @Christopher Rendon, congratulations on getting started young. You're ahead of the game and are well on your way.

Here's my two cents, (coming from an SF Bay Area resident whom is looking to move to Orange County):

Leverage the market's low interest rates and FHA to house hack. Save up $12-20K (or less, depending on where you want to buy), buy a 2-3 bedroom using FHA, and rent out the remaining rooms. CA rents can be strong but house prices are high as well.

Flipping is tough to get into because of the capital needed, unless you're good at finding deals and pitching investors.

Either way, I'd highly suggest continuing your education in your desired market. Have you read through, or started reading, all the free stuff here on BP? There's a pretty endless stream of education and it's ALL beneficial. Start to filter by what you think you want your strategy to be. (Rentals, flips, wholesale, etc)

Below is a cool thing that I've learned in my career about teaching people. It's something I keep in mind when it comes to teaching myself!

Happy to brainstorm, chat, or otherwise be of help. Good luck on your new career and adventure into real estate!

-Mickey

@William E. I like the idea of going back and jotting it down. I find that when I physically write something down it "sticks" more. 

I also wanted to share something that I've learned in my professional career that I think is useful:
Learning Pyramid

If you have ever seen this, then awesome! If not, it's pretty self explanatory. There are some really effective methods for learning and not surprisingly they aren't the normal methods. I'm not pointing fingers, it's just harder to practice the most effective methods. 

As for how to involve your wife - I can personally relate to that ;-P

@Jeff Brower Writing them down in that tense is a great idea. Really helps visualize the goal. Thank you for sharing, I really appreciate it!

If you're open to sharing more, I'd love to hear how you incorporate new things you've learned. E.g. You read about a new approach for something (anything) and want to make sure you've really understood. How do you get to the point where you say: "I know for sure that I can implement this new idea effectively."?