All Forum Posts by: Travis Beehler

Happy to help!  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to ask!  You can also PM me if you don't want to keep posting on this thread. :)

As a payback, when you become a vast multimillionaire from this, and you're going to donate some of it, put my name on the hospital wing your money paid for.  HA!  :)

Travis

Everyone here has perfect advice.  A real mentor wouldn't charge you anything, or maybe just you paying for drinks and dinner while you discuss your strategy.

Personally, my friend's father owned LOTS of real estate when he and I were growing up, so we got to see the bad side of owning real estate.  

So, when I decided I wanted to jump in, I took him out to dinner, bought drinks, etc, and picked his brain clean.  Because he lost a lot of money in real estate, one of my questions was "Where did you go wrong"?

LOTS of people will tell you where they went right.  They'll brag about how much money they have, nice cars, free time, etc, but not a lot of people are willing to tell you where they screwed up and lost a ton of cash.

 You bet!  I would suggest private lending then.  Friends, family, etc.  Try to anticipate every possible question they may have when you hit them up for the cash.  People investing thousands of dollars are going to want to see that you have answers, and if not, where to find them.  They are going to be a bit more conservative when it comes to loans for an "unproven" business, for lack of a better word.  What I mean by that is that you're new to this, not that real estate is unproven. :)

Also, I have found in my experience, is that people want to see that you have some skin in the game.  For example, if I hit you up for say $20,000, and I'm putting in nothing, wouldn't you think "Gee, if this fails, he loses nothing and I lose everything"?  It doesn't have to be a lot, but just a good faith showing that you have something to lose as well if a rental goes south.

As for your bad credit, it happens.  No worries at all, but I would do everything you can to get your score up.  Set up bills to be on auto pay.  Have your paycheck direct deposited.  That way you don't have to remember to pay a bill or go to the bank.  I did that a few years ago, and it made a massive difference in my score.

Also, get rid of debt where feasible.  You don't have to be completely debt free, just showing that you're able to pay back debt.  That gives you a lot of leverage in the future.

I know it can be very discouraging at first.  I know it was VERY scary to me, as I emptied my entire retirement 401k savings, and let it all ride on one property.  But if you perservere, and be always willing to learn, it will eventually get easier for you, and you'll start to build real wealth.

Oh, and one last thing:  Save for a rainy day.  A roof will need to be replaced, a water heater will develop leaks.  It happens.  Just make sure you have a few thousand saved up for those eventualities.

Hope that helps Kwame!  If you have any further questions, please feel free to chat me up!

Travis

Personally, I think it's fear.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of the potential failure.  Fear of losing all your money.  Fear of losing a nest egg, etc..

I know when I signed on the dotted line for my first rental, my first thought was: "Ok, this is real, and in front of me now".  It's all misc. thoughts and fantasies in your head during planning, but when you're staring a 50 page document on the desk in front of you, it becomes very real.

Hi Kwame,

Quick question: Do you have available funds elsewhere, such as cashing out a 401k, IRA, etc? I cashed out my 401k to buy my first property. That might not work well for your situation, just thought I'd give you some food for thought.

Also, I noticed you said that you have no credit to fall on.  What do you mean by that?  Do you mean you have bad credit/no credit?  I only ask because any financing you'll deal with by a bank will want a good credit score.  Don't want you to get your hopes up and find out you can't do the deal because of a bad/no credit history.

Travis

I've been to a few seminars, never paid for them, just to see what they were about, and they are ALWAYS vague, hyped the good "You can quit your job!  You can drive a Mercedes!, and downplayed the bad "A replacement roof" or some such nonsense.

Information should be free.  If you want SPECIFIC information, then yes, I say give the person a couple of bucks.

But general information should be free.  If you want to sit down with me, explain your goals, and I help custom tailor a workable business plan for you, then yes, I'd like to be paid.

Hope that helps!

Travis

I would like to add that I would try to get WAY past the $3k a month goal.  You mention that you could quit your job and make it "barely".  "Barely" will bite you in the *** sooner or later.  A new roof here, a pipe burst there, some kind of emergency will need to be addressed and you WILL have to come out of pocket for it.  I'd say try to get your goal to say $6k a month, and put the additional $3k a month in a savings account until you hit say $25k, so you're prepared for any emergency that may come up.

When you do get hit with it, pay for it out of that $25k pot, then put the money back until you reach that $25k level.  

Of course, your numbers may vary compared to mine.  My comfort level is $50k in savings for emergencies.

Hope that helps!

Travis

Oh this was easy for me:

I was involved with it before she became my spouse. :)

I've got a thought, and people might hate me for it, but what about Google?  I bet a quick search around would get you the info you were looking for.  I know I've had a ton of good luck with it.  Hope that helps!

I agree with James.  Being that far behind in rent would get you evicted in my book.  Unless your rent is $3,400 a month? :)