All Forum Posts by: Travis Beehler

 Hi David,

I'm investing in St. Louis at the moment, but I'm not married to any particular city.  I'll buy properties all over the country if the numbers are good.

 Hi Michael,

You bet!  I got my start by cashing out my 401k early.  I had about 30k in my account, and took a HUGE hit on taxes for that.  However, I had done my research on the web and found Bigger Pockets here, and educated the living crap out of myself.  This was my retirement fund after all. :)

Once I was comfortable with my level of knowledge, I bought a house here locally in 2011, as the market was still in the tank.  I made an offer in April, and closed in October (short sale).  Got a renter in December 31st.

Fast forward to April 2014, I did a cash out refinance and bought 2 properties in St. Louis through my commercial lender (I also have a property manager there).  Those two were doing so well, and the market here in Vancouver, Wa. had risen so fast, that the returns weren't that great for the amount invested.  So, I contacted my tenant in Vancouver, and told her I was selling.  I told her my asking price, and also told her that I'd knock $5k off the price if she wanted it.  I figured since she was paying the rent in full and on time every single month, that it was a respectful thing to offer it to her first.

She couldn't afford it, said thank you, and I sold the property a few months later.

Took that cash, and bought a 4 house deal in St. Louis that my property manager told me about.  It was off market, so having him tell me about the deal was perfect.

That being said, if you go the property manager route (which I highly recommend), if they are good, they are worth their weight in gold.

Congratulations on your first duplex!  The first deal is always the scariest, but once you get the hang of things, it'll come naturally.

 Thanks!  It can be scary at first, as I know when I was signing the loan documents in my title company's office, I was thinking "This is real.  Am I REALLY sure I want to do this".  :)

Also, there's a LOT of obstacles in your way.  Just keep pressing forward.  You're going to have people in your life that tell you that you are going to fail, you don't know what you are doing, you're going to lose all your money (at least I had those people).  Funny how now that I'm VERY successful, those same people are coming out of the woodwork asking to invest with me.

You're also going to be told "no" a LOT.  I went through 8 banks before I found one that fit my needs.  I am doing commercial financing on residential houses $75k and below.  Many banks won't touch properties that small, or residential properties at all.

Some banks will want an astronomical amount of money in your account (I dealt with a bank who wanted 6 months of reserves, plus 6 months worth of reserves for every major bill I had).

But, if you stick with it, it will be worth it!  Good luck! 

Thanks! Loved your last webinar, talking about your BRRRR method. I'm currently investigating that as we speak! :)

Hi David!

Thanks!  I normally invest in single family homes, around $75k or less, that rent for around $800-$1000 a month.  Depending on the neighborhood, that's pretty easily obtainable.  Awesome that you have a duplex completely paid off!  I'm quite jealous! :)  I'm not sure about the area you're in, but there are cities across America that will get you properties for around those numbers, or even $50k or below if you find a diamond in the rough.  :)

Thanks Calvin and Bhekizwe!!  You too! :)

Hi Luke,

The second one was pretty run of the mill in terms of his costs, but he was MORE than happy to answer all of my questions, and when I asked how I'd get a hold of him after hours, he gave me his personal cell number.  I told him we were two hours apart time zone wise, and he said he understood and that wasn't a problem.

Over the past year, he's helped steer great deals my way, told me to avoid areas that I would have bought into (I'm in Vancouver, Wa, he's in St. Louis), and offered tips and tricks to help me build my business.

He's got a few owners who have hundreds of units, and he treats me the same as them, even when I only had 1 unit.  The guy is worth his weight in gold, and when we closed a 4 house deal (my biggest so far), I made sure to send him a bottle of his favorite scotch as appreciation.

Sorry, I'm an IT Infrastructure Manager, I'd only be good enough to make the hardware and networking run really well for your back end stuff like databases, servers, websites, email, etc, run well. :)  Good luck with your search! :)

Thanks!  I have a set of goals at the moment.

Replace my income

10k per month

20k per month

30k per month, and so on.

I don't think I have an end goal at the moment, as I will basically keep doing this as long as the bank keeps loaning me money, and it remains profitable.

Although, to be honest, I DO have the goal of retiring by age 50 (I turn 42 in June), and I've got my eye on this 7,200 square foot, $2.3 million dollar home I want as the house I retire in, so there's that. :)

I would agree with people saying poor management.  Finding a solid property management person is difficult, time consuming, but they can be worth their weight on gold.  Mine is my second one, as the first one just flat out sucked.  Wanted to do as little as possible, took days to return my calls, and when something went wrong and we had to involve insurance, he actually told me to fly out there (it's 2,000 miles away), and deal with it myself.  I fired him on the spot.