All Forum Posts by: Warren Helmer

We've had a great relationship with Larry Beard in Ridgeland, MS. We've used him for all of our houses and he is very good.

https://www.homegauge.com/shgi/lbhi/

For Madison county, I gave the 3 day notice (had them sign it). If they haven't come current by the end of the 3rd day, go to justice court and file for eviction. Cost was $50 for one tenant and $25 for each additional tenant. That was not to get any money back. It was more to ask for money. They do the notice by the constable and give a court date, usually several weeks out. Show up for court and see what happens.
So for our house in Ridgeland, MS with 2 tenants, the cost was $75.

In Rankin county it was the same. You can choose if you want the court to go after the back rent, or if you simply want them gone. If you choose to go after the unpaid rent, then you will pay more. Make sure that you do this prior to going to court. If you didn't choose this option and change your mind, you can tell the judge and he/she will let you pay the increased amount and go after the unpaid amount.     Mississippi is owner-friendly when you have the proper documents and serve the 3-day notice.

Just to clarify, I would ask the lender for $60,000, not $6000. But I think my misunderstanding is in the title and ownership. If the debt service is all from one source, and totals $60,000, then this can still work. But the lesson here is far more valuable than the house itself. My very first house was purchased for $44,000, I put almost that much into it, and then sold it for WAY LESS and that was a happy day because I desperately needed to get rid of it. I have never come close to making that mistake since then. So I'm giving different advice than what I did many years ago, because I'm suggesting making it work, but I sold my mistake for a loss and never looked back.

The advice about looking back at this and laughing is 100% correct. So stay at it and you will succeed.

If you're $54,000 in, then you can still make this work. According to the realtor.com calculator, $60K debt on a house, with $100 a month in taxes and $100 a month in insurance, plus an extra $52 PMI (which you shouldn't have to pay, but this could also be extra liability insurance), AND if you are being charged a very expensive 12% rate (think hard money lender), then this house should still cashflow at $950 per month, with your total cost of $869 per month. Am I missing something?

I would find a hard money lender and ask for the $5K-$6K you need for an ac unit, or go cheap and put in window units, and make the house self-sustaining. Unless I overlooked something, you should be able to do this if you're willing to get a hard money loan. It doesn't have to be 12% either, I am just trying to make it expensive to show that it can be done. I included a pic below that explains the details. Please give feedback if I am missing something, or if this will lead to disaster.

What I have learned is that all billionaires keep score, and the scorecard is their financial statement. Before I started investing in real estate, all I had was a $40,000 per year job with a 401K and Roth IRA. Then I bought a property. The next year I had all of that, plus a house that had $12,000 equity. The next year I had all that plus 3 more houses, and began to understand cash flow, earned income, equity, AND the total amount of control that owning the rental houses gives me. I understood that my properties just climb in value, and I can use that value to get more properties. I review my financial statements monthly and watch it grow. Now I can see exactly how far away I am from $1,000,000, and I have grown more in the past 4 years than all the years prior.

So how? Watch your cash and make it grow by making it work for you.

Understand how to make equity happen, and then use it to make more.

Understand that by controlling properties that you purchase for 20% or less will accelerate how fast you reach $1,000,000.

Take stock of all the money you earn, all of the monthly passive income, all of your cash producing assets, and keep up with them often. This motivates you to keep climbing.

What @Susan Maneck said! That is the best idea I think. Another thing to do is start building your team. You can start with a realtor. Find one that is specific to investors if possible. But before you start calling realtors, you'll want to have at least a basic idea of the market you're thinking about getting into. Will you be renting to other students, faculty and families, Air BNB  for sporting events and graduation, Section 8, etc. So spend an open day looking at neighborhoods and houses for sale. After getting with a realtor, ask about property managers and who do they suggest. 

Attend a local meeting if there are any in Starkvegas. Or find out when one is being held in an area that you're interested in and travel to it.

If you can meet someone who is doing well in Starkville, ask if you can contribute a certain dollar amount to be part of their next investment, and also do A LOT of free labor for them on the one property that you invest in. This way they are more likely to help you and give information when they see that you won't waste what they offer. This will push you in the right direction, and give you a ton of confidence for deal #2, which you will be able to do on your own. (Get a contract before $$ changes hands)

Do not be afraid to give way more work than you think you should. The learning experience is too valuable. Or you can do what I did, which is throw all of your money into your first deal, get way under water, charge less rent than the cost of the mortgage because you have no other choice, and then sell for a loss after many years. I haven't made a mistake like that since, and it was a very valuable lesson, but it hurt badly. Don't be afraid to fail. The faster you fail, the faster you learn.

BUT START NOW!!!! Don't wait. Don't make excuses. Get out there and make some equity happen!

Property Manager: Jesse Barrilleaux Segway Properties, LLC http://segwayproperty.com/home.asp. He is the manager for one of our properties in Brandon MS. 

LV Hamilton is our realtor and owns several rentals. He has been exceptional with us. 

If you find any good contractors, PLEASE share that information. We have an excellent electrician and plumber.

We use Seabrook Insurance located in Ridgeland. Chad has covered all of our Mississippi rentals. I would've included the phone numbers, but BP doesn't allow us to add them in here. It's on his webpage.

Chad Seabrook
6955 Old Canton Rd, Ste A
Ridgeland, MS 39157

seabrookinsurance.com/testimonials

Thank you so much @Carlos Altamirano. I will make sure to spend as much time as possible networking and learning.

Thank you @Michael Le. for your response. I have been looking everywhere for what people have thought about it after attending, and it's all positive. We are very excited about attending. We are hoping to find investors that we are able to help, who knows more than we do, and create lasting relationships.