What was the most important event in your real estate investing career?

Question

Should be interesting to hear the varying commentary on this one:

Scott W. · Answer

like Kyle J. said, I had to rent out my wife's condo. I became a LL overnight & didn't have a clue what I was doing. I went to Office Depot to pickup a rental contract (not a good idea btw) & BOOM! I was off & running.

Friend of ours was moving & underwater; she hired me to PM. Take that $ to put towards reserves on the condo (making the condo at a small loss after expenses).

After 3 years & an underwater refi  - resetting the  mortgage back to 30 years -  & PM'ing, we're now down to losing $26/month after expenseses, vacancy. Only positive is we have 2 (soon to be 3) years of tax returns so we can include part of the rent (loss!) qualifying for another mortgage.

Rented out my primary last June. Almost $400/month in equity.

Another realy good friend of mine moved Nov 26th; rented out their primary; hired me to PM. I do it for free, however, I leverage my contractor discounts with my volume.

Took Rob K 's advise & "went house shopping in december." Borrowed $ from my parents & won a BofA foreclosure. Will be my 1st major rehab (yeah, I'm nervous & scared) & will rent out to help cash flow the other 2 properties & then refi in June.

Sam Craven · Answer

Purchased my first foreclosed home 1.5 years ago for my wife and I to live in.  Signed on line and was in an instant $30k equity position (now augmented by the rehab we have done while living here)  But it opened my eyes to just how powerful real estate is.

1 year of reading books/bigger pockets and getting my personal finances in order and recently 6mo of hitting real estate hard and now have 5 deals under my belt!

Rich Weese · Answer

Marrying the RIGHT person! Josh can probably understand this one... Rich

Rob K. · Answer

It sounds like you're doing what Dave Ramsey suggests: Live like no one else so that someday, you can live like no one else.

I like it.

Tiger M. · Answer

10 Years of SFH investment blood, sweat and tears, were the eventual foundation and financial strength, to allow a move into buying a foreclosed 11 acre developable commercial site. It was exciting, scary, rewarding, educational and stretching. I realized the moment the land purchase agreement was executed, SFH experience had prepared me for the next phase of investing.  Would it not have been for all the rental and flip experience, the banks would have never considered making the loans required to complete the project. Thanks SFH Investments.

Jason Kosowan · Answer

I'd definitely have to say signing the papers and getting the keys to the first rental.  Real estate got very *real* at that point for me.

Glenn Espinosa · Answer

Depositing what was at that time the biggest check check of my life into my bank account. The check was for over $100k and it was written out to me. What a rush!

Of course I had to pay everything back that I owed on the flip, but the remaining amount was still a pretty nice sum. I reflected on how I came about earning that check and although it was some of the hardest and most stressful months of my life, I knew right there that I wanted to keep rehabbing homes and investing in real estate for a long long time.

Sarah Shockley · Answer

Getting started!

A few months ago I had this "week of serendipity", where I had the revelation that REI could give me the financial independence I've been seeking, and the universe simultaneously provided the capital I needed to get started.

What a rush!

Now I'm under contract on a triplex. Here we go!

Callum K. · Answer

I am in the process of renting out my primary home beginning Dec 1st.  I am moving into a substantially worse home for several months until I can buy another home.  Its going to be difficult to downgrade my home knowing that all my other properties that are rented are in better condition that what I will be living in.

I guess that is offset by the receipt of the rent payments each month, so I shouldn't be upset about it.  I guess, it just makes me scratch my head as to whether or not I am doing the smart thing.

Kyle J. · Answer

For me it was not being able to sell the house I was living in at the time. It was underwater so I would have had to come out of pocket $20k to sell it, or walk away from it (which was NEVER something I would do). So, I ended up keeping it and turning it into a rental.

As it turned out, I actually liked being a landlord. (I had no interest in it previously.) And now I'm hooked. :)

I now have a total of five houses and have plans to add three more in the next couple months.