My Journey to $20M in assets
Hey all,
After thinking it over I decided to create a new thread.
I am a small time passive real estate investor who has ambitions to expand greatly, first to $20M and perhaps maybe more. i guess I will give a little bit of background on my journey up to now.
I am 38 y/o, Electrical Engineer by day, Architectural enthusiast by night. I was deployed to Iraq in 2007 and through a mentor got word of a book called The Fountainhead. Incredible book that has probably changed my life more than any other book I have read (though admittedly I do not read much) As I poured over the 700+ pages I fell in love with the spirit that was protagonist Howard Roark, who defied convention to make more beautiful architecture and was loathed by society, especially the ruling class. I forgot how the book ends but one of the high points was his design of a chapel "for the worship of God and the service of Man". I had no idea what Ayn Rand was writing about was a REAL person: Frank Lloyd Wright. Fast forward a year later I am at home (Chicago) and find myself in the beautiful suburb of Oak Park. Imagine my surprise as I walk up to this structure, thank god I was "awake" enough to be able to notice this beautiful piece of Architecture:
The enigma that was Roark hopped out at me in real life in the form of his temple, in reality it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. This was a turning point in my life. Since then I have dedicated most of my free time to study Wrights work, developing myself as 1st an Architectural Drafter, and now as a conduit of beautiful Architecture and interior/exterior design in the spirit and style of Frank Lloyd Wright. I have moonlighted for several Architects and through hard work and good fortune stumbled on an opportunity to become an apprentice electrical engineer. 10 years later I am a senior engineer, together with my wife, have a decent portfolio of Real Estate. I always suspected that to achieve anything of great notoriety in Architecture one needed to have access to wealthy friends or develop projects oneself. Not having the latter I find myself on a journey to build a portfolio not just for wealth's sake, but to move the proverbial needle on beautiful design and provide a more pleasant built environment for all!
So that is me. Thanks for reading and I look forward to posting weekly progress on here. Cheers and hope you all have a great weekend!
Little update, I got a silent partner to go halfies with me on a lot. Very excited for this Spring Summer as I anticipate the market shifting a bit more to buyers market for land. Current strategy will be to build out as short term rental, 2br 1 ba.
Still have not sat down to do business plan, admittedly this is my growth area, but I know its a necessary component to the journey.
cheers yall, hope everyone is getting out to enjoy the weather this weekend.
Hey @Dan Zambrano - Really appreciate the share. Thank you for your service, it goes without saying that you are an amazing civil servant.
Your story caught my eye...I started out studying architecture and quickly shifted to construction engineering as I was a bit more analytical than I was creative at the time. Nonetheless, I still appreciate great architecture. Love the part of your post about "worshiping God and serving men and women!"
I am down in Chicago, but out in that area often so if you ever want to talk architecture and construction let me know. Excited to see your weekly updates! Given your background I expect you to be pretty disciplined in that task.
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Contractor IL (#TGC116360)
- Quality Builders
- http://qualitybuilders.com
- [email protected]
Quote from @Jonathan Klemm:
Hey @Dan Zambrano - Really appreciate the share. Thank you for your service, it goes without saying that you are an amazing civil servant.
Your story caught my eye...I started out studying architecture and quickly shifted to construction engineering as I was a bit more analytical than I was creative at the time. Nonetheless, I still appreciate great architecture. Love the part of your post about "worshiping God and serving men and women!"
I am down in Chicago, but out in that area often so if you ever want to talk architecture and construction let me know. Excited to see your weekly updates! Given your background I expect you to be pretty disciplined in that task.
Thanks for the recognition and for dropping a comment :). I would love to connect at some point.
I started the business plan and presentation, which is always the hardest part. Now I just have to chip away at it everyday! who knows, might be putting in an offer on a lot this month fingers crossed. Lets go yall, 1st quarter 2024 is almost in the rearview!
Still working on my business plan but things seem to be moving fast. I am going ti be meeting up with a developer I met on Linkedin tomorrow so that should he fun. I think I need at least one of these events per month moving forward just to get myself well situated with folks that work in the industry.
Ok guys, I have been procrastinating at putting this business plan together, but I am committing to put an hour into it tomorrow morning. I am having a ton of fun just ideating and am so energized and excited by the next project. Will be a single fam short term rental build.
I follow a youtuber by the name of meetkevin. The guy is a total machine, and it is incredibly humbling that he is 6 years my junior but knows more about real estate and building wealth than I may ever. Anyway he made a video about the market being red today and then showed, very casually that his portfolio was up 24% on the same day!
I think this is the sign I need to push me to familiarize myself with investing in markets. Because admittedly my money is languishing being so over invested in Tesla. Lol
that is all, hopefully I can make a cool announcement on here soon.
So I had a talk with an architect and he basically quoted me $100k for a set of plans. I almost fell out of my chair.
So yeah that's not happening, what I am going to do instead is draw up the concept myself in autocad since I know how to do that and then basically will he looking for a young hungry architect that can produce construction drawings off of my concept plans.
This will be a grind, I may not finish the concept drawing for another 1-2 months but hey at this point its going to literally save me 10s of thousands and I love this piece anyway. No brainer.
The land deal is slow motion, maybe have something to report on that end in a few weeks.
Hope everyone is having a great week!
Look into working with a drafter to draw up your plans. There are freelancers that do work for engineers & architects who are already familiar with their work and can review and stamp for a fee as well.
Best of luck to you, my friend.
Brilliant post. I share your sentiments. Thanks for sharing your inspiration beyond merely making money. The finance obviously has to be right, but other things are often overlooked, such as the beauty that can be inherent in good architecture. Please do yourself a favor and watch this documentary by philosopher Roger Scrutton https://vimeo.com/549715999. He muses upon the importance of beauty, specifically in architecture, for the human soul. Architecture is everywhere among us--if it ugly, or if it has been build with only the function in mind, then what impact does that have on us? Also, if people are interested in returns then they should prioritize building beautiful things. The most beautiful buildings are the ones that generate the most economic value over time.
In any case, I share your vision and I'm currently undertaking a similar plan of action. Reach out if you want to chat more. Let me know what you think about the doc!
Wow James! Love that reply. I will definitely check that video out. Wright saw these things 150 uears ago, which just melts the mind to consider. He predicted our current state 100 years ago, but he never let that deter him from making beautiful architecture. Wow James I can't tell you how refreshing it is to hear someone else with a similar visiom, hope we can commect sometime.
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Well folks, I have an incredibly exciting update!!! I and a bisiness partner are the new proud owners of 8000 sq ft lot in McHenry County. Beautiful infill lot that overlooks a sweeping prairie below, pics below. Now I am diving into the rabbit hole of site prep and septic/ water systems ti get this baby moving forward!
Hey Dan,
Yes, I'd love to connect sometime. Nice job on moving forward on your new lot--best of luck on what you do with it next.
Quote from @James Phillips:
Hey Dan,
Yes, I'd love to connect sometime. Nice job on moving forward on your new lot--best of luck on what you do with it next.
Thank you :)
Much needed vacation this week. Wife and I are out to Sedona Arizona for the first time ever. We purchased a cosmetic fixer upper in August of last year and have been sprinting ever since to get it the way we want it. Replaced floors throughout, painted every interior space, new hardware everywhere. It has been a grind. Now we are on the 3rd day of our trip and its been an incredible experience, horseshoe bend, grand canyon, tuzigoot and of course the famous pink jeep tour all have not disappointed. I am astounded by the very obvious general wealth of folks around town here in Sedona. On another note, I am vigorously researching construction methods for the new house, and also chipping away at some concept drawings for it. I want it to be perfect as I have been yearning for this moment for over a decade.
cheers yall!
Quote from @Dan Zambrano:
Much needed vacation this week. Wife and I are out to Sedona Arizona for the first time ever. We purchased a cosmetic fixer upper in August of last year and have been sprinting ever since to get it the way we want it. Replaced floors throughout, painted every interior space, new hardware everywhere. It has been a grind. Now we are on the 3rd day of our trip and its been an incredible experience, horseshoe bend, grand canyon, tuzigoot and of course the famous pink jeep tour all have not disappointed. I am astounded by the very obvious general wealth of folks around town here in Sedona. On another note, I am vigorously researching construction methods for the new house, and also chipping away at some concept drawings for it. I want it to be perfect as I have been yearning for this moment for over a decade.
cheers yall!
Exciting! Dan, If I can help with a consultation for the Sedona property, just holler.
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Real Estate Agent Arizona (#SA637448000 )
- (928) 300-9449
- [email protected]
I have been really preoccuppied with my last undergrad project, graduating May 5th!
I am in the begining stages of producing a conce0t drawing for the rental property. Really fun activity but also requires alot of energy and meditation to determine the right kind of structure to grace the land and also frame the view of the soft prairie slopes.
So I travelled to Sedona I didn't buy property there I wish I had that kind of wealth haha. Sorry for the confusion as I usuaply write these pretty fast. May will be a great month with some cool updates.
cheers!