Share your Success Stories
One of the most unique aspects of today's RE market is class distinction between the experienced an inexperienced due to the fact that the market has turned downward and caused margins to thin. I think the question on everybody's mind is, "how did you become successful."
I hate to see anybody lose money. The reality is that the RE industry has become an intangible Las Vegas - ambition for riches overcoming logic and good sense. So to all you successful gamblers out there - anybody who has a success story - please share it here. Please keep your stories factful, brief and define the pitfalls you overcame.
LET'S HEAR YOUR STORIES ...
My success... let's see... I realized that I was tired of making others rich instead of myself. I jumped in full time. I tripped and stumbled and fell... then I got my bearings. I realized that I needed to dedicate myself 100% to my freedom and I did (and still am).. . still growing, still learning, still expanding. I work for no one. I feel like that is a success. :)
^^ that is awesome 8)
One of the hardest things about the real estate industry is how fast and often it changes. THis last sweep caught us with over 20 houses in hard money inventory and no buyers. We're down to 4 and have found a great model for moving forward. Selling properties at a discount to customers that want to start investing in real estate. Now we have clients from all over the country that buy discounted property from us.
Congrats to those of us who have made an impact not only in the market but for all of us due to the knowledge they have conveyed upon us.
Heres to you and your continued success 8)
Success for April 2008
Renting the last of our vacant apartments. We are now full. 28 for 28.
A great success - but we have to keep doing all the little things that make a difference to keep them rented.
>So to all you successful gamblers out there - anybody who has a success story - please share it here.
Well I am successful because I don't gamble. I only do slam dunk deals. I weigh in factors like the risk of the value dropping and the cost of a property being on the market for a long time.
I don't try to make a mediocre deal work. I have the patience to wait for the good deals.
Here's a recent deal, I acquired an abandoned property through a tax lien foreclosure. I am into the property for $15K I will sell it for $30K, ARV about $90K.
My only success story to date is that I bought a family house international, then the dollar tanked, so I sort of "made out" if I were to sell it now.. Hopefully I will have more success stories in the states where I am finally able to invest and starting on my "dream job" :mrgreen: after many years of cubicle dwelling.
About 4 1/2 years ago, I started my rental business. I started by studying the Carleton Sheets course, literally every waking minute, for a solid week. Next, I wrote a business plan that would allow me to be semi-retired in 5 years. That plan would require buying 10 rentals per year for 5 years with an average monthly spendable cash of $200 per rental (cash flow + earning management and maintenance fees) and an average equity of $20,000 per rental.
The first year, I bought 10 - right on schedule. As I really got going, more and more people were calling me with deals. I exceeded the 10 per year every year since. Last year, I bought 22 rentals. I now have several dozen rentals and am semi-retired (working 3-4 hours per day and 3-4 days per week).
I'm now in the process of getting my business stabilized and that's it. I'm not planning to buy any additional rentals. My goals for this year are to spend more time camping; riding my motorcycle (including one longer motorcycle trip); scuba diving; master the 180 off the jump on the snowboard, etc. In other words, have fun.
To reach this point, I worked VERY HARD the first two years without more than 1 day off each week; without vacations; and without much free time (a lot of 12 hour days). It was a lot of work, but well worth it!
Mike
You want the big secret? Here it is:
Patience.
Originally posted by "PNW":
You want the big secret? Here it is:Patience.
That's not much of a success story. Do you have one you can share with us?
Mike,
How the heck did you finance ten properties in one year, let alone 22 this past? Have you been taking them sub 2 or do the banks just really like you? What are the prices of these homes you are buying and do you follow any type of formula when analyzing these deals such as they must cash flow x amount, be located in a certain area, etc?
Thanks
P.S. Had you any prior RE experience before picking up the Sheets program?
David,
I have financed most of my properties with commercial loans from two small local banks. This was nothing fancy. The banks do like me, I have excellent credit and have NEVER missed a payment on anything. I did not have any significant real estate experience before studying the Carleton Sheets Course, but I do have significant experience being self-employed and have a track record of success. In addition to the bank financing, I have purchased some properties with owner financing, sub-to, and via lease-option.
I do follow several formulas to determine which deals are good ones. I won't look at a property unless the gross rents are about 2% of the acquisition cost (purchase price + rehab cost). Then, I do a cash flow analysis using real world operating expenses, which are 45% to 50% of the gross rents (I use 50%). Finally, I must have $100 per unit per month positive cash flow. All of my properties are located close to home.
That's about it.
Good Luck,
Mike
Success stories. i guess I can throw mine into the pot right?
When I was about 17 me and a older guy became friends while working out at a gym and just chatting. I was starting to become aware of my money and he told me about real estate investing. His line of business I guess you would say. He showed me his rental units and houses that he had flipped. Prices he bought and sold them for and rents for. At that point I became googly eyed and started saving as much money as I could and researching real estate.
Fast forward a bit. My first rental I bought was for 30k. I made the offer to the bank (it was foreclosed). They said no go as the area houses sold for 55-60k. Months later I get a call letting me to ask if the offer was still good. The home was on a double lot. I was able to have the home rented in little time and sold the extra lot for some additional cash which I used to buy another rental.
I still have my 9-5 right now, but its a lot easier going to work knowing that at some point I won't have to. Well not to work in the conventional sense. Plus I am only 23!
Originally posted by "reiguy":
Success stories. i guess I can throw mine into the pot right?When I was about 17 me and a older guy became friends while working out at a gym and just chatting. I was starting to become aware of my money and he told me about real estate investing. His line of business I guess you would say. He showed me his rental units and houses that he had flipped. Prices he bought and sold them for and rents for. At that point I became googly eyed and started saving as much money as I could and researching real estate.
Fast forward a bit. My first rental I bought was for 30k. I made the offer to the bank (it was foreclosed). They said no go as the area houses sold for 55-60k. Months later I get a call letting me to ask if the offer was still good. The home was on a double lot. I was able to have the home rented in little time and sold the extra lot for some additional cash which I used to buy another rental.
I still have my 9-5 right now, but its a lot easier going to work knowing that at some point I won't have to. Well not to work in the conventional sense. Plus I am only 23!
Congrats, I love hearing from other younger people who are involved in real estate. I am 23 as well.
When I was in college, a friend gave me a book called "The Automatic Millionaire". This book blew my mind and total opened my eyes to the world of investments. From this book I began saving money to invest and reading everything I could about investing. I was determined to buy my own home asap and to start saving for retirement asap. I purchased my first home6 months after I began working.
When I got my first job out of college, I put 6% into my 401k and began buying stocks each week. After I while I realized that I was not so good at buying stocks.
My father had 5 rentals and I saw the potential to make money, but every time I approached the subject with him he didn't take me serious or shrugged it off. I went to a free informational session for Rich Dad and was hooked. Once my eyes were opened to all of the opportunity that was out there, I began reading everything that I could. I closed on my first duplex this past December for $26,000. Since then we have completely renovated one of the units and raised the rent $100. We are in the process of refinancing the property, and plan to use that money to purchase another rental.
Not to hijack this thread but, I was wondering if Mike could share any financing ideals for cash poor investors, (i.e. newbies). Thanks
Originally posted by "slimmatic":Originally posted by "reiguy":
Success stories. i guess I can throw mine into the pot right?When I was about 17 me and a older guy became friends while working out at a gym and just chatting. I was starting to become aware of my money and he told me about real estate investing. His line of business I guess you would say. He showed me his rental units and houses that he had flipped. Prices he bought and sold them for and rents for. At that point I became googly eyed and started saving as much money as I could and researching real estate.
Fast forward a bit. My first rental I bought was for 30k. I made the offer to the bank (it was foreclosed). They said no go as the area houses sold for 55-60k. Months later I get a call letting me to ask if the offer was still good. The home was on a double lot. I was able to have the home rented in little time and sold the extra lot for some additional cash which I used to buy another rental.
I still have my 9-5 right now, but its a lot easier going to work knowing that at some point I won't have to. Well not to work in the conventional sense. Plus I am only 23!
Congrats, I love hearing from other younger people who are involved in real estate. I am 23 as well.
When I was in college, a friend gave me a book called "The Automatic Millionaire". This book blew my mind and total opened my eyes to the world of investments. From this book I began saving money to invest and reading everything I could about investing. I was determined to buy my own home asap and to start saving for retirement asap. I purchased my first home6 months after I began working.
When I got my first job out of college, I put 6% into my 401k and began buying stocks each week. After I while I realized that I was not so good at buying stocks.
My father had 5 rentals and I saw the potential to make money, but every time I approached the subject with him he didn't take me serious or shrugged it off. I went to a free informational session for Rich Dad and was hooked. Once my eyes were opened to all of the opportunity that was out there, I began reading everything that I could. I closed on my first duplex this past December for $26,000. Since then we have completely renovated one of the units and raised the rent $100. We are in the process of refinancing the property, and plan to use that money to purchase another rental.
LOL thats funny. I started reading automatic millionaire when I was younger. That is actually how I was told about investing. My friend/rei mentor heard me talking to someone about money, and he kind of took me under his wing from there.
I like PNW's secret: Patient. Be patient with everybody and yourself.
it's good to read a success stories here fro ti helps me motivate myself I am hoping to succeed too...
In fact, one of the boring aspects of our real estate business is we need to travel, move from one place to an other, no stability :crying:
But, lately I have discovered an effective system that allows me to turn a dirty cheap land, let's say about ($100 to $1000 land) to several thousands of dollars.
I was chocked how things turn over quickly :shock:
First, I was not totally self-confident, but with the success of a friend of mine, the training and coaching program and the benefits of this system, I finally decided to give it a try.
And YES it works perfectly for me. But, it works for every one of us also, I'm SURE..
What's amazing also, is that with this system, NO big real estate experience is required and it has nothing to do with buying tax
certificates, short sales or foreclosures!
I find my direction, definitely
Greetings,
Re: Success Is In The Finish
Starting-Out Requires A Commitment towards Finishing Whatever You Start-Out to do - which always seems to be the ultimate challenge.
Don't let Down-Days, Discouragement, Disappointments, nor Distractions Keep You Down; Get Right-Back Up, and Stay in the Game...
Note: A Football Player Does not Score A Touchdown Everytime he touches the ball, but he believes that everytime he touches the ball he can score. Often times, although he gets hit by the defense on a number of ocassions, I noticed this amazing fact in Football: No matter how many times a player with that football gets hit, they get right back up with this undying Spirit that says - "Give Me the Ball" I want to Score A TouchDown. The moral of this story is: whether you are a male/female, you have the ball in your hands, now score. The ball may be symbolic of your plans, your goals, or your dreams. Don't Quit, and Don't Give Up until you Score that Touchdown; and when you do, Score Again, and keeping on Scoring: That's Called Winning! Every day you make progress is like getting closer to the goal-line, so keep making progress (first downs), and eventually you will Score and ScoreBig in Life!
Persistance, Perseverance, and and Positive Attitude should keep you moving. Never quit nor Give Up, even if and when you make a mistake(s). Mistakes, although costly at times, are still opportunities to get better at what you are doing; mistakes are not reasons to quit---unless you are just not at all interested in that endeavor---Nevertheless, whatever you decide to pursue----Remember: Success Is Always In the Finish!
Best Regards & Much Success As You Invest!
MoneyMakers,
Yes, failure is an asset. Even in your failure there is an asset: why it did not work ?!!
You should ask yourself, why things are not working the way you want them to work..
..and KEEP GOING>>>>
Here's my success story:
I bought a triplex a year and a half ago putting quite a large down payment on it, figuring I would end up spending the cash slowly if I didn't put it somewhere to work for me. I like the stock market but I was kinda feeling this economic slowdown coming and it got me scared.
The opportunity came with the divorce of my own parents. The triplex had to be sold quickly and there was no way I was gonna let an outsider buy it. I offered my parents 270k for it, market value was 306k at the time, since it's family I didn't want to eat out of their cake too much wich explains this abnormaly high offer.
6 months after I bought it the new subway stations opened 1 minute from here, value jumped 100k in about 6 months, then 50k in the following year. I'm now sitting on a property worth 420k that has a 154k mortgage on it. That makes a nice spread of 266k to play with, and that means more investing. No properties going down in value here, as a matter of fact Canadian real estate has been doing very good these last few years.
I don't get any positive cash flow but I do break even using the 50% rule, and that's with a LARGE down payment . I'm keeping it for 2 reasons:
1- major devellopement around here should bring me GREAT appreciation in the next few years
2-It's also my house, so it makes the situation acceptable from an investment point of view
I've got plenty of time left to build my empire, I'm only 25!
I moved out at 15 so I worked in the mall at a kiosk selling video games, photos, etc... Considering my age it was the only place that would hire me. I worked 7 days a week and was paid 25% commission of my net sales. When my 18th birthday came around I was ready to do something else, I invested $2500 in earnest money on 5 condos which were $60k a piece. Each condo had a tax value of $86k+, a renter, and were selling for $95k+ a piece. Now I had the properties under contract for 60 days. The mortgage industry was begining to tighten due to the sub prime meltdown and banks were not allowing assignment of contract. Finding cash buyers is not an easy task, I was able to find an investor who bought 2 of the condos for $172k. With 3 condos and 22 days left I had to change my strategy. I forfeited the rest of my earnest money and did a net listing for the last 3 condos in order to appeal to a broader clientele. I sold the last 3 condos to a father and son for $255k. In the 2 months I learned more about real estate then I would have dreamed of learning taking a course, and after making $77k in 69 days i found my calling and passion. It's not as easy as it looks and the results will vary but if you put enough time and effort into it you will be well compensated. Don't give up!