All Forum Posts by: Miguel "Mike" Perez

Congrats and welcome to BP and south Florida.

Hands-on is the way to break into this business is what I've found.

You need hustle so stick with it.

Check out the webinars, funny, informative, and inspirational.

@Adam Schooley

Good catch.

I was quoting from my mortgage broker that told me 20% on single family and 25% on multis. 

However, I forgot that is for investment properties, not owner-occupied ones.

I gotta say those rates are pretty generous for house-hacking opportunities.

Seems perfectly doable and after looking around in south FL I have gathered most people are already into it.

The simplest house hacking method is to buy a property with 2-4 units, live in one and rent the others.

Up to 4 units is still considered a non-commercial property.

This let's you put down 20% on conventional loans and 3.5% on FHA loans.

That's the golden ticket for house hacking.

Buy a 4 unit using 3.5% down, live in one (cheapest one), rent the other 3. It should be easy to cover mortgage and maybe even some cash flow.

Even 20% on a conventional should work with more of your money into the property.

The other type of house hacking you have to be more careful with is what I have seen done over and over again in south FL.

You buy a single family with a 3/2 config, then you divided it up into a 2/1 and a 1/1. Or a 2/1 and an efficiency.

Without proper permitting, it is illegal although many people do it. 

Many people don't get caught, but when they get caught the fines and liens start coming from the municipality.

After trying some shortcuts (low cost fence project thankfully), I have learned that if it's worth doing, do it right and legally.  It will save you from headaches (losing time and money) in the future.

Hi Dorcas,

Welcome to Bigger Pockets.

There is so much to learn here it can be overwhelming at first.

Stick with it.  It takes perseverance and hustle.

You should fill out your profile and add details to this thread about what your goals are and what kind of REI you are interested in.

You will get even more responses.

Here's my first piece of advice:

Learning real estate is like learning most things.  You can read about it all day long, but you'll learn the most by reading and then doing something within real estate.

Can't you just go to their Web site and look up the info rather than physically going?

Matt, Maybe I missed it, but you never mentioned your income or even if you have any. You also did not mention the amount of debt. Maybe it was intentional. None of my business, but it would help to know if there is one and a ballpark number so we have an idea of what Orion's you have.

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

he doesn't sell a process. More like a deep understanding of the industry. Which so far I only have a slight understanding. 

Sounds like his process includes having a deep understanding of the business.

Maybe I'm seeing it fit my assessment too readily, but it sounds like that to me.

Maybe once you spend more time in it, you will find a process that works for you.

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

I mean I don't want to come off like he hasn't taught me anything. He's been very insightful. Just not $7000 insightful lol. I honestly don't think my investment is lost. Brian's reputation is why I went with him. I just wanted to see if he has other students on here and how they have progressed  

 There are tons of students discussing Gibbons.  Just search for Gibbons.

Please take my assessment with a grain of salt as I am merely working on acquiring my second deal.

Having said that...

I don't know Brian Gibbons.  I do know MJ DeMarco's Millionaire Fastlane. Highly recommend it.

One of its central tenets is that you should focus on the process, not an event.

Most people focus on the event.  You see a millionaire celebrity (yes, even Kim Kardashian who people love to hate), and they go why can't I do something and have that level of success. 

You can't.  You can't just do a single thing (short of winning the lottery).  

There was a process that these folks focused on day in and day out to get to where they are today.  Even if you say the money was inherited and handed to them in a silver platter, someone some time ago had a process they fine tuned and worked to make it to that event.

You need a process and you paid $7000 for what you thought would be an event that would grant you access into inevitable success, but the only thing you will get if they come through is an inside look at their process.

As I see it you have two options:

1) Bury your losses and stick with it and demand what they probably promised (an inside look at their process), then try that process and see i it will work for you

2) Bury your losses and move on to find another process or create one yourself

Notice both options start with bury your losses.

It will take every ounce of mental power to do this, but the lost $7000 should not be a factor in your decision.  It will only hinder you from making the right decision. 

The $7000 is a sunk cost at this point.

Read more here if you need to understand what role sunk costs play in decision making.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunk_costs

Which one is right depends on you.

I wish you success in finding your process.

Welcome to BP. I feel like you made my post except I'm starting the work before I move. I too live in Boston and am working on my second deal which I hope to wrap up this week at latest. You already have two great responses. Count me in if you want to pow-wow over relocation strategies and buy and holds. I put my entire focus on this until I reach my goal. You can read more about me in my profile. Good luck and don't give up. It takes perseverance. I've already met with Nick in person and have corresponded many times. He's a relocation inspiration.