All Forum Posts by: Taylor Ripp

@Mark Ferguson

Mark,

My mother is Susie Ripp, with Elevations Real Estate. Formerly of Coldwell Banker. My father, Bob Ripp, is also an appraiser in Fort Collins.

@Account Closed

I would certainly consider investing in Greeley sometime in the future. My mother is a realtor in Northern Colorado and is a huge resource to me in that part of the state. I really wish I would have had some capital to invest in Greeley a few years ago. That market really took a dive and there were some incredible deals in that town. Unfortunately I was still in school, and have only recently been able to build a little capital. Thank you for the suggestion!

@Tom Goans

Tom, you most certainly are not raining on my parade. My parade has yet to even enter the planning stages, and certainly is a long ways from being disturbed by the weather.

I could not agree more with you. I guess I should say I have the beginning of a foundation, instead of a solid one. By that I mean I have one cash flowing investment property, an education, and a little bit of capital. I am still just trying to get my feet wet, and that is what brought me to this forum.

I would love to work for an investor or company. That kind of hands on experience is the best way to learn. Do you know of any of the companies or individuals in my area that would be interested in taking on an ambitious young man?

Tom, you most certainly are not raining on my parade. My parade has yet to even enter the planning stages, and certainly is a long ways from being disturbed by the weather.

I could not agree more with you. I guess I should say I have the beginning of a foundation, instead of a solid one. By that I mean I have one cash flowing investment property, an education, and a little bit of capital. I am still just trying to get my feet wet, and that is what brought me to this forum.

I would love to work for an investor or company. That kind of hands on experience is the best way to learn. Do you know of any of the companies or individuals in my area that would be interested in taking on an ambitious young man?

Fort Collins is cheap compared to Durango. I don't know how feasible it is with my level of capital to invest in this area. 20k gives me 20% down on a $100k property...that doesn't really exist in the Durango area (or Fort Collins for that matter), where a 1000 sq ft SFR sells for around $300k within the city limits. Its a pretty interesting real estate market down here, and its a pretty small town (around 17,000 people), so the market doesn't work like more densely populated areas. Its a tourist area with a lot of vacation homes. I am sure there are opportunities here, I just don't know if they are within my price range.

Hello BP,

I am new to this community and very excited about all of the incredible resources and wealth of knowledge BP has to offer. I have a very unique background, and I would like to take some time to introduce myself.

My name is Louis Ripp, I am 25 years old, and I currently live in southwest Colorado in the town of Durango. I have a bachelor's degree in Economics from Colorado State University which I have not used at all in my career choices. I currently work as a Wildland Firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service. This means I spend most of my summers traveling around the country fighting fires, and have a lot of time off in the winter.

I already have a bit of a start investing in real estate. When I was in college, my grandparents helped me put a down payment on a house in Fort Collins, CO. Through college, I lived in the house and rented out the other rooms which covered my mortgage. Now that I live in Durango, on the complete opposite side of the state, the house is a full blown cash flowing rental property.

I have about 20k saved up that I am looking to use as a start for investing in real estate. My ultimate goal is to be a full-time investor someday, living off of rental income and other assets. I would love to be financially independent and work for just myself someday, and I see real estate as one potential investment vehicle to help me achieve this goal.

I currently rent the property where I live in Durango, and between my girlfriend and I, we pay $950 per month in rent....for a 1 bedroom condo...Yikes! This seems like a lot, but Durango is a town where the median value of a single family home is somewhere around $360k. The 1 bedroom Condo I live in sold a few years ago for $170k. It is an expensive place to live, and this seems to be my biggest obstacle to entering the game at the moment. I would consider moving back to Fort Collins. My house there is paid off and I could save a lot of money to put towards my investments if I lived there, but I really love this area and would like to stay if possible

An appealing option to me at the moment to get started is a live-in flip. The money I am already spending in rent could be going towards the mortgage, and my job affords me a lot of time in the winter I could spend fixing up a property. I am very handy, so this type of work would not be a problem. I suppose the problem is finding this type of property in this expensive town that I can afford with a 20k down payment. These properties do exist, but it will probably be some type of foreclosure or similar type situation.

So I guess I am here to figure out how to get started. I feel like I already have a solid foundation, and being only 25 I think I can really make good things happen if I get the ball rolling. What pieces of advice do all of you have for me as a young man trying to get started in this business?