Newbie to 5 units in 7 months!

Newbie to 5 units in 7 months!

Contractor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2018 · 262 posts · 407 votes
I want to personally thank the BP Community for being so helpful and very humble with all of the questions us newbies always have. With the help of this great network my wife and I were able to start our OOS investing career at the close of 2017 and we are very blessed and thankful to say that we currently have 5 units under our belt and are in the midst of acquiring 2 more before the close of this year with the amazing growth that we gained from our first unit which we are in the process of doing a cash out Refi on. Alot of people here in the Bay Area think that OOS investing is crazy, that I'm out of my mind and that you can never grow wealth this way and that you should invest here in the Bay and blah blah blah so it was very difficult to learn and go at this alone until I found this beautiful network of good folks doing it everyday! My thing was always, sure I can invest here in the Bay Area but by the time it would take me to acquire $150k down payment I could have taken the opportunity and purchased 5 properties out of state that cash flow positively getting more bang for my buck. All I needed was a good team in place which I'm blessed to say I have in the 2 markets that I'm currently vested in. Our first deal (SFR ranch is sitting at a 10% COC return after all expenses, vacancy, maintenance, capx,property management, PITI etc.. our second deal (4plex is sitting at an 8% after the same expenses with meat on the bone to get me closer to a 9.5%) For all of those that were newbies like me hearing negative things and that you cannot build wealth, I'm here to tell you that yes you can! We have so much valuable information at our fingertips to make this possible especially with the amazing community here on BP! Thank you again all, I'm humbled and very much appreciate all of you! Junior
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Real Estate Investor · Palm Beach County, FL · Member since 2017 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
8y

You never mentioned where you are investing out-of-state.

See this reply in the discussion

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  • Contractor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2018 · 262 posts · 407 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Lauren Dwyer:
    @Junior Picanco this is an awesome post! Congrats! My husband and I are starting out as well and have big dreams. I’m curious about your LLC structure. Can I PM you?

       Absolutely, please do! 

  • Wilmington, NC · Member since 2018 · 10 posts · 2 votes
    8y

    @junior picanco Thanks for sharing.  Ive been researching and learning for the past few months.  I plan on getting into this also.  I currently live in NC and plan to invest here but also in Milwaukee WI since I see a lot of potential there and thats also where I grew up so I'm familiar with the area and have a lot of friends there that can help me.  

  • Granger, IN · Member since 2018 · 8 posts · 0 votes
    8y

    Congratulations!!

  • Contractor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2018 · 55 posts · 17 votes
    8y

    Congrats @Junior Picano! It's awesome to hear other contractors getting a piece of the action. It's definitely inspiring to hear you taking the leap out of state to more reasonably priced props. I'm in California myself where it's super difficult to find the "right" deal. ...but I still keep chucking along. 

  • Rental Property Investor · New Castle, DE · Member since 2016 · 376 posts · 158 votes
    8y

    @Brian Cox ... I just got off the phone with TD Bank and with Citizens on my lunch break (food can wait ... LOL) and both had pros and cons.  M&T seemed like the front runner, but I have to go back to my notes and call again for clarification.  TD Bank only goes through Experian for scores.  I didn't ask the other guys that question.  I'm with a credit union also and they wanted me to pay a bunch of fees ... closing costs, appraisals, etc.  None other other three wanted that from me.

    Have you made any calls?  I put together some questions for apples to apples comparison.

  • Contractor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2018 · 262 posts · 407 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Victor G.:

    Congrats @Junior Picano! It's awesome to hear other contractors getting a piece of the action. It's definitely inspiring to hear you taking the leap out of state to more reasonably priced props. I'm in California myself where it's super difficult to find the "right" deal. ...but I still keep chucking along. 

     
    Thank you brother, I appreciate it. Yea it's tough. I damn near sold my soul just to be able to come up with the down payment for my primary residence which is 2 hour commute to my place of business. lol. Good old Bay area

  • Contractor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2018 · 262 posts · 407 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Kurt Snyder:

    @junior picanco Congratulations. That is exactly what I'm looking to do as well. Thanks for your encouragement and good luck on your future endeavors.

    Thank you brother, likewise! Best of luck with all of your future investments! 

  • Rental Property Investor · New York City · Member since 2014 · 208 posts · 271 votes
    8y

    Very, Very impressive!  Congrats to you, and I'm sending energy for your continued success!

  • Realtor · Alpharetta, GA · Member since 2017 · 29 posts · 11 votes
    8y
    @Junior Picanco great markets to invest in. Very smart. Great news and congratulations!
  • Rental Property Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 22 posts · 21 votes
    8y

    Congrats! That's a hell of an achievement in my book! Keep it rocking dude.

  • Contractor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2018 · 262 posts · 407 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Account Closed:
    @Junior Picanco great markets to invest in. Very smart. Great news and congratulations!

    Thank you Tyler, I very much appreciate it. PM me I actually would love to pick your brain about ATL. 

    Best, 

    Junior 

  • Contractor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2016 · 7 posts · 3 votes
    8y
    @Junior Picanco..great idea to separate accounts and hold each property in LLC.
  • Contractor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2018 · 262 posts · 407 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Kimela Overstreet:
    @Junior Picanco..great idea to separate accounts and hold each property in LLC.

    Yes ma'am, plus insurance! 

  • Contractor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2016 · 7 posts · 3 votes
    8y
    @Junior Picanco. Great stuff!
  • Arlington, VA · Member since 2018 · 4 posts · 0 votes
    8y

    When wholesaling, do you guys send letters or post cards?

  • Southbay, CA · Member since 2015 · 38 posts · 18 votes
    8y

    Great job! It feels great to see it materialize after all the great support from the forums.  As a newbie, my goal for the year was 5 units.  Will be closing on 15 units by mid September with my eye on another 4 plex.  All OOS as well.  Keep up the momentum!!!

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Tampa, FL · Member since 2015 · 19 posts · 4 votes
    8y
    @Junior Picancowere you able to get conventional financing even though your properties are held in LLCs? That seems to be an issue I heard and that people say you have to get commercial loans. Thanks for the help!
  • Contractor · San Jose, CA · Member since 2018 · 262 posts · 407 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Tiffany Chandler:

    Great job! It feels great to see it materialize after all the great support from the forums.  As a newbie, my goal for the year was 5 units.  Will be closing on 15 units by mid September with my eye on another 4 plex.  All OOS as well.  Keep up the momentum!!!

    Very nice! Congrats on your success, Mind if I PM you to pick your brain a bit? 

    Junior 

  • Investor · West Chester , PA · Member since 2011 · 620 posts · 138 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Alan Grobmeier:

    @Junior Soares, if these are Cali LLC's, isn't there a $900 a year fee PER LLC? I think that is what my CPA was saying.

    @Barclay Chan, I seriously doubt they are Cali LLC. If they are 'nested', that's $2700 a year just in FEES. ;-)

    Isn't LLC required to registered in the State where the property is?

  • Investor · West Chester , PA · Member since 2011 · 620 posts · 138 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Kimela Overstreet:
    @Junior Picanco..great idea to separate accounts and hold each property in LLC.

    One day you will have 50 properties and you will open LLC for each property

  • Investor · Tempe, AZ · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 731 votes
    8y

    Congrats Junior!  You're in a 'problem' market but found a fantastic solution; out of state properties!  Kudos and best of luck.

  • Investor · West Chester , PA · Member since 2011 · 620 posts · 138 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Pete Barrow:

    In learning any trade, art, craft, or skill, it's pleasant to have people to cheer you on. But it's not very useful. It's nice, for example, when your grandma tells you she loves the chair you made. But it's much more useful when your crabby old grandpa says, yeah well the dern thing squeaks every time I sit in it, and here's how you do it better next time. 

    BP has a lot of cheerleaders, and that's nice. But if people really need to be encouraged, congratulated, and flattered on what they're doing with their money...and if skeptical people who offer criticism are called "haters"... something is badly wrong with the business climate. 

    Obviously Mr. Picanco is free to invest his money as he sees fit, and best of luck to him, of course. But I'm not sure these deals are as solid gold as he seems to think. I think some of the numbers are unrealistic in the longer term, for one thing. For another, these houses are both in small towns. And as we've seen repeatedly in this country, anything can happen to the economy of a small town, it can happen very quickly, and it ain't always good. 

    Then there's the whole OOS issue. I know it can be done, because I know a guy who has done it successfully. One guy. He invests in my city from 1100 miles away. And he has spent so much time here that he knows the place about as well as I do, and every waitress and bartender is on a first-name basis with him. He is handy and does a lot of fixup work himself. He knows the neighborhoods intimately, he has bought very very smart and cheaply, and he has built good personal relationships with all sorts of people here. And he knows the metrics here enough to trust that the economy will probably keep chugging along, neither booming nor busting. 

    That is how you invest OOS, if you must. I don't know a single other guy who is doing it anywhere near as well. 

    What really surprises me is that people are seeking advice from Mr. Picanco. You know, if you want to learn this trade...and there is a lot to learn...you can go to local meetups. You will meet people who have made a living in RE for 20 and 30 years, and they will gladly share what they know. All Mr. Picanco has done so far is...he has bought two houses. He has not yet shown that he can weather an economic downturn, a factory closing or two, a unit that won't rent, breakins, a stolen AC, vandalism, plumbing leaks, falling gutters, frozen pipes, flooded basements, tenants with pitbulls, tenants with angry felonious boyfriends, tenants who won't pay, property managers who take the money and flee to the Caribbean, and the whole list which runs to so many pages. 

    In fact, I was about to respond to this thread several hours ago, when I got the strangest phone call about a house we just bought. I had to drop everything and head over there, try to figure out why there was a huge puddle of blood on the floor and at the same time improvise a quick temporary fix for an (unrelated) leaky pipe. It turns out everything is fine, everyone is recovering nicely, and all it cost was my time. But if I had to have that done by an OOS property manager, and a plumber, what do you think that would have cost? 

    If Mr. Picanco can weather a few years of this sort of thing without going broke or burning out, his advice will be well worth listening to. But at this point he is, no offense, just an optimistic guy...maybe over-optimistic... who has bought two houses, and started a business which may or may not pay off. 

    And those of you who want to learn the real estate trade, should be learning it not from him, but from the grumpy old guys who've proven that they can make a living at it. 

    I agree with your views and I was thinking too why so many people are  commenting negatively. We should not label anyone and open to listen both -ve and +ve.

  • Centennial, CO · Member since 2018 · 38 posts · 3 votes
    8y
    @Junior Picanco excellent job and thanks for sharing. Could you also share me how you choose your market and deals? Did research for a long time but can’t find the right deal to go. BTW, could you also share how you build up your team OOS?
  • Residential Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 155 posts · 42 votes
    8y

    Congrats! Great job and keep going!!!!

  • Santa Clara, CA · Member since 2017 · 12 posts · 6 votes
    8y

    Congrats to you!

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