All Forum Posts by: Brian Wolfe

Swanny - I very much appreciate and agree with your view point on financial freedom plan.  Great words.  My progression is much slower than yours, but definitely that is my game plan.

Rob - congratulations too on your progression!  In case helpful, although I'm only in SFRs now, I did join LUI's preferred program to get the education, to see transactions done, to possibly invest passively with some lead investors and to eventually get my own apartment complex.  I joined in early 2015 - the education is great online, but the key benefits I think are the interactions with the lead investors there, and the roadtrips.  So to the extent you make it out to Dallas consistently, in my opinion its worth it.  The nice thing too about the preferred group is that they are very open in sharing details of their deals, what has worked and what has not, and helping each other out through challenges at properties - there is a good teamwork atmosphere, which I appreciate.

Thanks Swanny for sharing!  That is excellent - your story sounds like one they should do on the BP - I would personally get a lot out of it, and I think a lot of California investors would too, who are looking at selling some appreciated property in California, and successfully branch out to better cash flowing areas. 

Very interesting, thanks Michael for sharing - I'm not very familiar with DSTs, though do understand the concept.  If you don't mind me asking, did you work with a particular group to identify the DSTs that you're liking?

I like the idea, esp. down the road when we are not as interested in managing the day to day activities of rentals.

I would also make sure that you have each of your tenants' full / accurate contact information and current job information, in case something goes wrong.  I learned the hard way by inheriting a tenant in a property I purchased, where I didn't receive accurate information from the prior landlord, and didn't push to get fully verified new information from the tenant - ended up having to evict the tenant.  It helps a lot to have that information, esp. if they have a longer term W-2 job, if for whatever reason you do have to move for eviction and/or they do a lot of damage to the unit on move out. 

Hi Joshua, I am from San Diego and we started investing in Texas (San Antonio) a few years ago, with single family rentals (4 so far, to add another 2 this year).  I'd echo what others have said, and from purely an investor's / business perspective, Texas is very landlord friendly and pro-business. Costs to repair properties are much lower in my experience than other areas as well (with my experience in California and Arizona), cash flow is generally very solid (with taxes and insurance a little higher).  In my experience, San Antonio also just seems to have great people on the whole, very open and easy to get along with / work with.

Swanny- that is phenomenal! You definitely had the foresight to strike in San Diego at the right time. I really like your idea of transitioning out of your appreciated properties to lower cost, higher cash flowing areas. We've been trying to do that for a little while (but on a much lower scale!) - we executed 1 1031 exchange back in 2014, selling a duplex in Richmond, CA (rough neighborhood, super hard to manage) to 3 low-maintenance SFRs in San Antonio, and added another SFR in San Antonio earlier this year. We're also looking to sell one of our Chandler properties and 1031 that property into 2 additional SFRs in San Antonio (sale expected to close next month).

I love your suggestions too on Lifestyles Unlimited - I'm actually a member (Preferred Investment Group) there! Love their education, and they have been key to allowing us to expand out of California into Texas.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you research / develop contacts / get comfortable with Northeast Ohio, and what made that market so attractive to you?  I have been considering Midwest / Great Plains locations for a while as well, but unsure how to develop a network of trusted folks in those areas and focus in on the right market.

Thanks again for your insight!

Thanks Tyler!

Hi everyone! 

I am new to the Biggerpockets community, though have listened to Josh's and Brandon's podcasts for over a year now, and been more of a passive reader of the wealth of information on BP.  My wife and I currently own single family rentals in Chandler, AZ and San Antonio, TX, and a 4-plex in San Diego.  Our goal is to achieve financial freedom as quickly and as safely as we can.  We have 2 young kids (ages 6 and 3), and another goal is to teach our kids the real estate business, to give them an opportunity to see the power of passive income and the opportunities it can create in their lives.  Looking forward to getting to know many of you! Brian W