All Forum Posts by: Todd Powell

@Kirsten Fritze I know many on BP will disagree and say leverage it all, but given the tighter market, to mw its an easy choice. Pay off debts first and avoid paying interest and then apply that typical monthly payment amount to pay yourself. That is guaranteed safety and the fact you have thought about it says something. Listen to your gut! My two cents

@Keith A. The other interest is Doing Spartan races with my older son Jason, which requires weekly crossfit gym training and hill running. I am pushing myself physically and mentally and 54 years old and feel fantastic!

@Jon Stephens the key to flipping—and I have 40—is to have a solid contractor base you can trust and rely upon. About the only thing I can do well is paint, so I have had to hire many different people, but my go to guy is named Sam. Sam has been my trustworthy GC for 15 years and we began at $25 an hour and just finished a flip weeks ago at $40. He now wants to jump to $50. I do text to confirm at Home Depot and pay him for his time to shop for me, and the pro desk and cell is connected to my credit card. Obviously, trust had been earned! I am tired however as materials have shot up and Sam now is twice as slow at 55 years old and his price has doubled of course. He is still a deal but his hip has been replaced and now his knee is needed. He will no longer get on ladders and will not paint, but I can only imagine that all my flips have worn out his body

The key to finding a good contractor is finding one that does NOT have a fleet of 10 new trucks. Find one that has massive experience and has an old truck. A guy with diversified experience and let them know you will be a repeat customer so relationship is vital! I hear and see so many getting burned by flaky contractors. This is not rocket science, so vet your choice and find a go to GC you can build your business upon. I have always wanted to write a book, “Sam and I” as we have done our RE much differently. I flipped houses and he bought and held knowing so many old folks who let him buy on owner carries. He now has 13 houses and several paid for. He was a good old boy, but he also had a RE plan! We each built our wealth but it looked differently! Sam and I. You need a Sam!

@Keith A. Just finished my 40th flip and helped my son with around $170k equity and pretty tired of flipping! Managing my units and just did the yearly student turnovers and watching my stock portfolio more intently and making decisions there

MOST important stuff is my family, two year grand daughter and my second Granddaughter coming next month named Madison! Why I work is to better help my FAMILY! FOE….Family Over Everything!

@Wesley W. Its your business and your investment, not the other way around. You do not need to justify to them the reasoning so do not give them the control.

@Alex Mondragon. Stay out of LA! Maybe a suburb or somewhere in outlying area to grow your investment. I would be nervous about LA prices

@Dareen Allie early on its more about sacrificing, but now at 54, there is way more freedom. You literally have to start somewhere and I did not come from wealth so I had to hustle and work hard my entire life. YOU can as well and build what you want.

@Marcos Izquierdo asking enough questions to understand the sellers hot buttons. I was lucky on 4 different properties that I bought and held to find run down 4 plexes and making the deals with each seller. They were all old and all owned outright. It was about presenting the right down payments, Interest rates, and letting them see the TOTAL interest they would make! I ran the numbers and made a very easy visual presentation, all of which were options that worked for me.

I also did this with a flip on three houses owned by the same old woman, and got her to carry a balance for 4 months interest free while I rehabbed to sell it. The first deal was all cash, and she got to see what I did. Then I worked the deal for better leverage on the next house. Its all about trust and finding win-win solutions. I have negotiated my whole life in my occupation so this comes very easy and natural to me but its really about common sense.

@Gary L Wallman the words I am thinking. How can so many accept this form of control and dictatorship from our government? How can every landlord also not get paid, and giving tenants all time in the world and may NEVER pay back. Too many people getting conditioned into socialism which is what RE investing is NOT.

@Nathan G. Totally ridiculous! Tenants have more power than the person taking the risks! Transfer of wealth courtesy of our government.