All Forum Posts by: Todd Fithian

@Aline Bender I know I wasn’t asked but I might as well chime in.  As for reserves, I like to keep 6 months worth of TOTAL bills, capex, utilities etc per property in savings.  

@Anthony Marucci man I couldn’t agree more with @Anthony Wick. That’s precisely what I did with my fiancé. Everyone bank accounts are at different levels and if we would have waited to save 20% and have a million in reserves etc we’d still be sitting on the sidelines to this day. We bought a $189k property for $7500 down, drained everything we had and did It. Was It Scary? Hell Yea. Was It Worth It? Oh Hell Yea it was! Four years later and we wouldnt be nearly where we are today if we hadnt made such a scary sacrIfIce

@Landon Rasmussen I thought I was a weird one for giving my tenants my cell when I started reading the first few comments in this thread, then I saw @JD Martin comment and it made me feel better about my decision. He is so right about weeding out the bums. Secondly, if you have good trust and good tenants, it shows trust and I’ve have numerous times where my tenants text or call and let me know about major issues that need addressing immediately. An example of one instance was there was a busted water line under one of my units and was flooding the crawl space. This needed to be addressed immediately, and on top of that I pay the water bill so it helped my wallet immensely

@Chad Carson just finished listening to your most recent podcast and man if I could borrow your brain for a year or so I promise I'll give it back in tact haha loved it. Stoked to read your book man.

@Daniel Tisdale. Don't do it. You make your money when you buy a property, not when you sell it, and if the numbers do initially work, you'll never make the property work in the long run

@Juan Alvarez i was a first time home buyer so I they allowed me to drain my Roth IRA from when I was young. FHA loan 3.5% duplex house hack. Worth every bit of trouble.

@Jacob Aguilera Here are some unpopular and not so shiney options, and I mean no disrespect with any of this.. Get another job, if you can't get another, work on getting a better job, focus HARD on it without distractions.. sell everything that collects dust, sell your unused toys, trade a fancy car in for an older one.. get sidework, work freaking HARD. Get a budget and make saving every penny you can your new religion. Do it without hesitation. Stop listening to nay Sayers, and focus on one avenue in real estate. Don't get bogged down with ten different options on where to go. There's SOO many different options that it will overwhelm you, especially when new. What do you want most, a buy and hold? A flip? A 10million unit complex? Focus on one and drive towards that one goal every day. Stop distracting yourself with information overload. Learn how to aquire that one avenue you want so badly and talk to as many people as you can. Look at this thread... I've seen GREAT questions go unanswered on BP, and you've got many many people here with experience sharing knowledge. Read this thread. Then read it again. Then bring it back up tomorrow and read it again. Soak it in dude. I know its not the TV shiney optIons but Its how to move forward. Huge luck to you, any questions please ask.

@Shanae Williams Drive: Financial freedom Keeps the Focus: Having to go to a 9-5 until then

@Braden Downs Hey Braden. I tend to try and follow what Brandon turner teaches, which is $100 per door minimum plus a 12% cash on cash return. $100 is pretty low per door so obviously the more the merrier, but in this hot market, especially where I am, it's pretty hard finding even $100 per door unless you find off market deals. My first purchase was a duplex and it cash flows after aaallll expenses about $300 a month, or $150 per door. Good thing about my location though is the how well the property appreciates.

@Tyler Yontz we use PropertyRadar.com. That site kicks ***.