All Forum Posts by: Matt J.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is what kicked everything into motion for me. I never even considered that people could earn money without working a job or at least running a business. Without reading that book, I don't know if I ever would have started doing any real estate investing. 

Other books I've liked - 

Millionaire Real Estate Investor 

Think and Grow Rich 

The Magic of Thinking Big 

The 4-Hour Workweek

Buy Rent Rehab Refinance Repeat 

I just received mine a few days ago, maybe it's a bad link?

Huge loss, loved his appearance on the podcast and all his knowledge he shared in the videos he'd post. Seemed like a really great guy. 

Thanks everyone, I think you're all right that I don't need to over complicate the issue. 

I've heard some people have success contacting landlords who have posted an apartment or house for rent, with the intent of buying it from them. What's the best way to initiate this conversation? 

@Rafael Frias

I have 2 end games. The first is to acquire enough rental property to replace my current income and leave the 9-5. The second is to build a real estate investing business that carries my family and I to big wealth; lake house, oceanfront property, philanthropy, the works.

@Kirbi Campbell

Purchase four 4 or 5 bedroom single family rentals that cashflow at least $400/month each in Duluth, MN within 1 mile of the University of Minnesota Duluth using the BRRRR method, financed with hard money and a portfolio lender on the refinance.

I'm sure a lot of others will have a similar answer here but just want to address your concerns. 

You don't need to know anything about property management, you can outsource that to a property management company. 

Finding good deals just takes time. The first thing you'd need to do is set your criteria on what a "good deal" would look like to you. 

The logistics of owning at a distance are first and foremost to build a trustworthy team. @David Greene (I think) coined the term the "Core 4". You need a trustworthy and competent real estate agent, property management team, contractor and lender. Investing long distance is all about leverage and building trust. 

Now your last point, why real estate instead of VTSAX (had to Google that) is an index fund gives you appreciation long-term, but not much else. With real estate, you generally should see appreciation long-term, cashflow each month, tax benefits that can lower your total taxable income, equity growth as your property is paid down by your tenants over time, plus you can add value to the property by making improvements. 

With an index fund, you really are at the mercy of the market and have no control over how that investment performs, like you do with real estate. 

If you were really interested in real estate, you could check out the podcast and some of the books BP published like The Book on Long Distance Real Estate Investing, especially since you live in Brooklyn. 

Totally hypothetical, but say someone was a recruiter considering starting a headhunting business, but also owns a few rental properties and is really interested in REI as an avenue to financial freedom.

Is it better to build a business that could reasonably scale to high six figures and use those funds to by more real estate, or stay in the w2 job until you buy enough rental properties to cover your expenses, then go out on your own? 

How many BRRRR deals have you analyzed? Have you determined a market you want to invest in? Do a lot of that for the next couple of months; analyze 2-3 deals a night until it becomes second nature to you. Listen to all the BRRRR-focused podcasts on BP. Connect with people on here who list BRRRR as a specialty in their profile. But don't fork over $7,000 for a course. That's a big chunk of what could be a down payment for your first deal.

I did my first deal in 2017, thought I knew a lot, turns out I didn't. And I still don't, but I still do deals because that's the only way you learn. And I think 99% of people here on BP would say they don't know everything there is to know and still learn something new with each deal they do. 

Good luck!