All Forum Posts by: Erin Elam

Thank you. And if it makes a difference it is a section 8 tenant. 

Hey Nay, excited for you to start your journey! Hoping I can help you two out a bit here. 

Whether you choose to purchase your first multifamily or single family income generating property, a major key you're going to want to know is not to bite off anything you can't chew so you don't find yourself in extraneous debt positions and overly large rehab projects or timelines. When you're just looking to start investing but don't have unlimited capital, I've seen a not-so-common but very successful method of scanning small town, seasonal, or rural markets (off-market preferred) that have older homes needing an easy facelift. (New carpets, Siding, Paint, maybe just a few appliances) 

The reason being is that many (many) people seem to forget that rental housing is incredibly hard to come by in small towns or outskirts of cities where the primary industries are medical clinics, restaurants, bars, farms, and factories. A lot of independent contractors or blue collar workers reside in these areas as well (trade skills are prevalent). If you haven't seen it already in your area, midwestern investment groups (The big guys) are just starting to catch on in the last 2 years as more 100-250+ unit buildings are going up in these towns. But newer investors have an opportunity to take care of small town communities and provide housing for those who work often but aren't ready to settle down.

I've helped a good friend purchase an older and larger farmhouse in rural Wisconsin, which he then flipped it into two units by rehab and adding a second entry way. By the time he was ready to lease the applications came in quickly due to the rent being more affordable than inner city units and fulfilling a great need for rental housing in the more rural areas or outskirts of town. After a few years you could likely sell to a new investor or even a long term tenant while moving on to other adventures. These are all just possibilities on ways I've seen people get a foot in the door in this market.

If you're looking for good materials learning how to get started I've put together a leasing guide for new or self-managing landlords/investors. Its 22 pages, step by step on how to actually lease your property, and straight to the point. I also make myself available for people who use the guide to answer questions by phone while you learn how to get your properties rented. Connect with me if you're interested and good luck!!

I started real estate investing 3.5 years ago with no money, after listening to Bigger Pockets and learning about Hard Money Lenders, Private Lenders, etc. I had a career in Finance that covered our living expenses, so we didn't have to use any real estate income to live off of. For my first flip, I used a HML that funded 100% of the purchase and rehab, and leveraged a credit card for closing costs, etc.

My model from day 1 has been to flip single-family houses (including a lot of singlewides and doublewides on land) and buy-and-hold multi-family. I use property managers for my apartments, and contractors for my flips. My pure passive cash flow from my apartment rentals has recently surpassed our living expenses, so I quit my 6-figure Finance career to do REI full-time. I am currently flipping 9 houses (no partners or employees), and my rental portfolio is made up of:

8-Unit - 100% Ownership

16-Unit - 50% Ownership

20-Unit - 65% Ownership

15-Unit - 100% Ownership (pending to buy this one next week)

I just want to say thank you to BP for the life-changing content that has changed the trajectory of my family's lives. I wouldn't have known it was possible otherwise. 

If I can do it, you can too!

P.S. If you're attending BPCON in Orlando this year, hit me up!

anyone has worked with any DSCR lenders that they liked? what has been your experience in 2023?

@Erin Elam   What do you have?

Hi, my name is Jacqueline ('Jackie') Peterson and I am a Real Estate Developer with over 10 years of experience in executing an excess of $30 million dollars of projects. The types of projects: Mixed-Use, Multi-family, Retail, Commercial/Office (NNN Leasing, Rental and For-Sale Housing).

God has extremely blessed me! I am interested in hearing or reading about new ideas and concepts in the real estate industry  as well as networking with real estate professionals. I am willing to share (and have already shared some of)  my    knowledge /experience by posting comments within BiggerPockets.

For individuals that would like to read about an alternative way to turn up your 'financial thermostat', please click on the following link to read my 22 page FREE eBook-  'Creating Wealth thru Commercial Real Estate Development'

I look forward to interacting with new colleagues!

I am a property developer that has been lurking on Bigger Pockets for a while but decided it was time to make it official. 

 Completely agree with @Kaci Hunter, I invest and service Lubbock area and really like my city for investors.