All Forum Posts by: Nick C.

@Christopher Jones What was the outcome of this story?

Thanks @Stefan Isaksen, see you then!

Hi @Stefan Isaksen, I'm looking forward to attending this weekend & would like to introduce myself.  I'll be taking my license exam in April and looking to get in to property management and multi-family investing.

Thanks again for the input here and providing some high-level thinking about investing.Let's bring it back to getting started in investing and which path to travel.  

I am now correcting for some mis-thinking in my mid-20s.  When thinking of how to create wealth in life, I understood that a good way to go about it was to start a company and build it.  Freedom comes from the scalability and/or the sale of a profitable business.  I had thought that the options on how to get there are to 1) gain expertise in a career and eventually create a business w/ that knowledge, or, 2) get started building something small and be prepared to "throw out your first pancake".  Well, I opted to go with option #2 and build something small enough that I almost couldn't fail.  But, I have found that the "first pancake" is ultimately not scalable to a size that allows for freedom and holds little prospect of selling to another owner/operator.

I was watching an interview with Tom Bilyeu of Tai Lopez [YouTube] where it's argued that if you fail in your first business, you're potentially doing damage to your brain's dopamine receptors.  Very similar to what  Jordan Peterson is talking about with lobster fighting & how to become a winner [YouTube].

That's all to say that, when thinking of which path to travel, I can't give up my dog walking business now, despite the fact that I'll still have to throw it out later.  I've got to at least finish cooking the damn pancake before I can throw it out, and I can tell you that there are enough systems-improvements to be made yet, that the thing is not yet fully-cooked.

After meeting last night with Rich Dad's Son, we covered how to browse Co-Star to look for deals.  I'll still take my real estate exam in April, I'll still run & improve my dog walking business, and I'll also get a job in real estate (property management?) when I've decided that my dog walking business is well-enough ready to toss out.

When I move on to build my second business, I'll know that I've found the industry that ultimately allows me to build a scalable, profitable, business with the hope of freedom and prosperity.  I'm not mislead to think that once I achieve that, I'll finally be happy.  I understand that I must happily achieve (along the way).  But I'm glad to see what's around the corner.

Thanks for your input again, guys, and feel free to follow-up with any additional thoughts or comments.

Thanks for your inputs @Chris Martin, @JD Martin, @Peter MacKercher, @Dave Foster, @Alexander Felice, @Max T., @Matt K.

Thanks for your response @Scott Innocente

Here's the scenario:

I'm taking the real estate exam in April and need your advice.  I'm currently the owner of a small dog walking business.  It's tough to scale and I'm stuck in it.  My dream is passive income and an automated business that gives me more time to snowboard in Lake Tahoe.

Growing up, my best friend's dad had all the time & money in the world because of his investment portfolio.  My dad, on the other hand, has only one investment property and is unable to retire.  Both dads & my best friend are in commercial real estate.  Here's what they have to say:

Poor Dad says, "Investing is not easy & you need to get started in brokerage or property management to build a foundation.  You'll get burned if you try and jump right in.  Close shop on your dog walking business and get a job in real estate first."

Rich Dad's son says, "Keep your dog walking business in operation.  Look for deals at night and in your free time.  We're looking for multi-family properties with 20-60 units, C+ to B, built after 1980, etc..  Find a deal, bring it to me, we will partner on it, and bring it to our investors.  We just need one deal together to get started and everything you'll need to know you will learn by doing."

Who is right?

Can I jump in here & build on what Alex is asking?  I'm 2/3 through my real estate studies and plan to take the exam before April.  

My story is one like Rich Dad, Poor Dad -- my dad is a commercial real estate broker who has one investment property.  My best friend's dad is the same but with a $50m+ dollar portfolio.  My best friend works alongside his dad hunting multi-families and has connections to investors and track record of 20-60 unit properties.

I've always desired the lifestyle of my best friend's dad, afforded by the passive income of their properties, and seek the same for my lifestyle.

When I obtain my RE license, which way do you think I should go?  As my father says: get a job in real estate (brokerage, property management, or corporate in-house for someone like Target, Home Depot, etc) and learn from the inside out.  Or, as my best friend advises: to continue running my small dog walking company and hunt for deals (20-60 units) in the moonlight to bring to him to partner on a deal to bring to their investors?

Thanks for your advice.

Hey Nick, I'm currently living in Oakland, CA. My goal is to move down to Santa Cruz next year with the hopes to find a way in to REI there. Let me know if you have any ideas on how I might be able to break in to it down there...

- Nick

Thanks @Jill DeWit - glad to have been introduced to the BP community.  Have listened to 3 podcasts per day over the past few weeks and looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and jumping in here to get some hands-on knowledge.