All Forum Posts by: Matt J.

This is a great topic. I have definitely experienced this, and in my experience, as some other people have already mentioned, the best thing to do is to just wait for people to ask you about it. I got my first place back in April and told family about it. Mostly they were excited and asked me a lot of questions, but since then, they don't really ask me about it. That's totally fine. I think that the less you mention it to people unsolicited, the less negative feedback you'll get. I would also recommend waiting until you do a deal to tell your family; that's what I did. I didn't need any second guesses clouding my judgement on whether a place was a good deal.

Now, the flip side. I know a lot of people mention you should tell everybody you know that you invest in real estate. I think that's a great idea, but I don't think it makes sense to bring it up more than once or twice with a person if they've not expressed interest in what you do. In the end, your decisions are your own, and anybody who doubts it will be silenced when they  see what you've been able to accomplish!

Hey everybody, I have a triplex in Duluth that is doing well for me, but we have a 4th room in the building that already has an egress window and a lot of things roughed in. I'm looking to convert it into a 4th unit, an efficiency unit, to take my triplex and turn it into a fourplex. My question is, which type of financing makes the most sense? It's looking like it will run me 10-15K. Some background, I do have quite a bit of equity built into my primary residence, so I was toying with the idea of taking a HELOC out against that, but I'd love to hear what others advice may be.

Thanks so much! 

Matt

@Josh Bigio I never really thought of utilizing an HSA in that way. That is a really good idea! 470 a month, that's really all that bad, but like you mention, it all hinges on being a prudent saver and thinking long term. Thanks for the tips! 

@James Wise Man, that is seriously inspiring! I hope I can have half your success and I'd probably be happy :) Thanks so much!

Welcome Richard! I just purchased my first rental property and it happens to be in Duluth! I went to school up there but live down in Hugo now, working in the cities. There is so much good information here. I would definitely start listening to the podcast if I were you, in addition to the reading you'll be doing too. Best of luck to you! 

Matt 

@Josh Bigio Thanks so much for your input on this thread! It truly is inspiring to hear your story and I envision my wife and I doing something very similar to what you've been doing. Absolute FF. That is awesome. I think keeping expenses low is so crucial in the beginning in order to speed up the process. Both our cars are paid off, no student loans for either one of us, no credit card debt, so it was much easier to qualify for this triplex that I'm closing on today! So excited!

 I totally agree! That's awesome to be doing two at the same time. That's a level I look forward to getting to. Congrats on your success!

@David Zheng That is awesome! To build up to 12K that quickly is really impressive, nice work man! I like that yachts and private jets freedom number, always OK to dream. :) Thanks so much David, I appreciate the well wishes and keep on killing it out there! 

I didn't call my job a rat race and I didn't call out my employer. I'm referring to the standard practice that most people follow most of their adult lives of trading time for money, exclusively. I actually really enjoy my job. The rat race is waking up in the morning, sitting in traffic, sitting at a desk at prescribed hours, sitting in traffic again, and missing time with family. That's the rat race. Having enough passive income to replace that job is my goal.  I just wanted to hear from people in this forum who have successfully built up enough passive income through real estate to work on their own terms, and not on their employers. No offense intended.

 I love the freedom number concept. I need to sit down and come up with that again now that we have a little one on the way. I like the idea of having a few different freedom numbers; kind of scale it up as you go.