I “luckily” caught the wave of property appreciation between 2020-2022 which set the foundation of my investment journey.- I was scared to drop out of law school In 2021 and go all in on REI, I’m super happy with my decision.Now, whenever I’m scared/nervous, I take that as a sign that I should probably do it, and that it’s room for growth.Yes, sometimes it will be a mistake, but that’s how you learn.4) Value Relationships over everythingGood relationships will bring you more joy and take you farther than being selfish and/or greedy.What principles do you live by?

Build a solid foundation before taking a step up - each and every step of the way.There’s a way to scale recklessly and there is a way to scale safely.When OPM is involved safe is way better than reckless.Despite a life long career in RE, I scaled as followsBought a few duplexes for my own accountBought a fourplex for my own accountBought 12 units as a JV with some friendsSyndicated 43 unitsSyndicated 30 unitsBought another 12 units as a JVSyndicated 281 unitsThis was over a 3 or 4 year period.and so forth - now I am GP in close to 1000 units with $125M AUM.Even with all that, my sweet spot is 30 to 50 unit properties - they work best for my partners and I and more importantly our investors. 

The home was built in 2006, great neighborhood, close to the highways, close to everything new that is being built, close to a military base.

Once you’ve built capital, transition to small multifamily units using DSCR loans for steady cash flow.If you need help analyzing deals or securing funding, let me know.

This is how long-term success is built.

Quote from @Kelvin Lee: After American Family dropped my multi-family coverage, I’m still struggling to find a carrier for my 1969-built apartment, with only three weeks left before the current policies expires.

The current way the studs are built is not up to code, so they have to rebuild the entire structure of the kitchen wall This is not uncommon especially when renovating an older home and when budgeting you should also carry a very heavy contingency for unknowns. 

Apply for a dimensional variance on the vacant lot to allow a smaller lot and/or setback so it can be built upon.Your best first steps are to sketch a plan, possibly with an engineer's help, then contact the zoning department to discuss your idea with them to get informal feedback on your liklihood of success before you spend a lot of money.

Don't split the work between multiple contractors if possible, finding one to do all or most of the work will keep prices down.Challenges were finding replacement pieces for certain items as manufactured homes were very different than stick built as well as going through state guidelines for affixing the house to the land

Here are the specifics on our Seattle house: 5br 4ba 3,400 sq ft, built in 2019, $1.7M est sale price, $5.5K-$6K/mo est rental value, 4.0% mortgage with $3.3K monthly payment, around $1M in equity.