Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2018 · 84 posts · 462 votes
I just hit one of my major life goals of owning over 100 units! I just closed a 70 unit deal which puts me at 118 units total. The reason I post this in the starting out section, is it is important for anyone just getting started that it really does start with that 1st deal. I got my start in 2013 by renting out my residential home instead of selling it when I moved. I hadn't thought about becoming a true real estate investor at that time. I just wanted to buy residential homes and rent them out when I moved so that when I retired I would have a little extra income coming in. From there I realized how much I enjoyed being a landlord and thought about maybe doing more than just a couple properties. Fast forward to today and I now have over 100 which has been a major life goal for me for the last 3 years. This allows me the option to quit my job if I ever decide to, as well as secure that I will be able to retire by the age of 45. I'm not where I plan to end up, but this is a huge step forward for me. When people think of success or wealth they see the fancy cars, big homes, and amazing vacations. They don't realize all the time, most of which is unpaid, sweat, and tears that goes into becoming successful/financially independent. They don't realize the sacrifices you have to make with friends, and family. The sleepless nights of wondering how the heck you are going to pay for all these bills starting pile up. My advice to new investors is to just keep pushing through. Make sure you are educated with what you are doing, and just keep moving forward. Eventually everything falls into place as long as you don't give up!
Wow, I'm completely humbled by the amount of replies I have received on this post! Thank you everyone for your very kinds words. I don't know how to tag people individually so I will just try to answer everyone's questions with this reply. If I miss anything or anyone just want to talk more feel free to send me an inbox message!
1. How did I get the deal?
-This 70 unit deal I actually aquired from my employer. A couple years ago I took a 15-20k pay cut to leave car sales and go be a property manager for a local investor that I greatly respected and had 350 units. through the last couple of years I have helped him to grow first to 500, then 700, and now he is getting close to 1,000. As he is expanding into the larger complexes he does not have the interest or time for the smaller multi-units. He sold me this 70 unit deal on a land contract. I actually didn't have to come in with any money down, but I look at it as the 40k that I gave up from my other job over the last 2 years was my down payment on this deal.
2. How much was it per door?
-This particular deal was 22k per door. Honestly it was a little pricey for the conidtion and area that they are in, but it was 100% financed by the owner which makes it a phenomenal deal for me.
3. What is the return?
-My cap rate is about 16%. My net operating income is about 262k after accounting for vacancy, utilities, maintenance etc. My annual debt service is 183k leaving me with a proffit of around 79k per year. It will be paid off in 15 years and at that time i will see a huge increase in the cashflow.
4. Was multifamily always my goal?
-I had always wanted to get a 2-4 unit to live in and then move into the next one, rinse and repeat. My wife at the time did not like that Idea so we just went with a single family house. I had never planned to be an investor with a bunch of multifamily though until about 5 years or so ago. I just wanted to own my houses, and rent them out when I went to my next one to build a retirement fund.
5. My thought on a podcast?
-I would love to do a podcast. I started listending to bp about 6 months ago and love all the information I have learned. I truly thought I knew most of what there was to know about real estate investing. While I do know most of what the podcasts have touched on, there is still a ton of information that I had no idea about. Also different points of view about different sides of investing that I had not thought about before. You truly don't know what you don't know.
6. What's my next goal?
-At the moment I am just trying to stabilize the 70 units I bought. about 20 of them were vacant with a lot of work needed and we are almost done with all the repairs. My short term goal is to be fully rented by the end of June. The next project I would like to work towards is converting a school into a community hub. Erie has experienced a lot of economic hardships, especially with the school system. This has caused many of the schools to close. I am currently talking with a few different people about converting one of these school into a central community center. We will have communal living spaces, supportive services such as work ready and daycare, along with activities for children and youth.
7. What is my background?
-Well it is a much longer story so we will cut it down to I was first a real estate agent. I kind of fell into a niche working with investors and realy loved all the mechanics of real estate investing. I then went to sell cars because I wasn't making any money and was going through a divorce. From there I became a property manager and have been doing that for the past 2.5 years.
8. Where do I buy?
-I stick with my home town of Erie, Pennsylvania. There is a ton of opportunity with buy and hold investing in this town. I would like to look at other areas in the future, but for now Erie is where I buy everything.
9. Do I have an LLC?
-YES! I actually have 3. I do believe it is essential especially where I live to work from an LLC. I have a couple different partners, and have different LLCs set up with each of them.
Again, thank you so much to everyone, and if you want to talk more feel free to send me a message!
This is great congratulations!! I have a goal to acquire 100 units as well. I am a new investor and I’m still on the hunt for deals #1. It’s great to see you accomplish this it definitely inspired me to keep at it.
congrats on your success, hearing stories like yours help to give new investors like me starting out hope and encouragement that it can truly happen for anyone.
I just hit one of my major life goals of owning over 100 units! I just closed a 70 unit deal which puts me at 118 units total. The reason I post this in the starting out section, is it is important for anyone just getting started that it really does start with that 1st deal. I got my start in 2013 by renting out my residential home instead of selling it when I moved. I hadn't thought about becoming a true real estate investor at that time. I just wanted to buy residential homes and rent them out when I moved so that when I retired I would have a little extra income coming in. From there I realized how much I enjoyed being a landlord and thought about maybe doing more than just a couple properties. Fast forward to today and I now have over 100 which has been a major life goal for me for the last 3 years. This allows me the option to quit my job if I ever decide to, as well as secure that I will be able to retire by the age of 45. I'm not where I plan to end up, but this is a huge step forward for me. When people think of success or wealth they see the fancy cars, big homes, and amazing vacations. They don't realize all the time, most of which is unpaid, sweat, and tears that goes into becoming successful/financially independent. They don't realize the sacrifices you have to make with friends, and family. The sleepless nights of wondering how the heck you are going to pay for all these bills starting pile up. My advice to new investors is to just keep pushing through. Make sure you are educated with what you are doing, and just keep moving forward. Eventually everything falls into place as long as you don't give up!
That's awesome! I'm glad you posted about this milestone. I'm going to buy my first property this year and your success is great motivation for me to push forward.