Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
Last week we hit our investment goal of $35k a month gross rental income. We bought our first investment property in August 2011 and the vast majority of our growth has happened in the past 10 months. We (my husband and I) now own 21 buildings and 59 units in Chicago and Milwaukee.
Life is still crazy, especially since we just got back from Mexico and are leaving for a two week trip to Europe this week… but I foresee a more steady and manageable pace moving forward.
It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. We have had our fair share of problems. Some buildings were an easy takeover where the tenants stayed, paid rent, and didn’t cause problems. Some we had tenants leave in the middle of the night or leave the place trashed. Some properties were profitable from day one and some won’t be profitable for at least a year. The good thing is because we have scale it all balances out and we are not putting our own money into them every month.
BP has been such a huge part of my success. I gained the confidence I needed to go into this full time and have met some amazing friends who have helped me so much along the way.
I am looking forward to this much needed vacation and returning in June fully recharged and ready to go!
@Derek Carroll- About half our portfolio is in Chicago with traditional residential financing. We were able to cash out on some of our appreciation to buy the rest with 80% LTV commercial loans. We borrowed $100k from my brother to push us past the goal line and now we will be pulling more equity out of Chicago to pay him back.
@Steve Perkins- It has been beyond my wildest dreams, I honestly barely recognize myself and didn't know I had it in me to do all this.
I'm sure you are using BP's guidelines about cash flow and you are careful about not pulling too much cash out on your appreciation. As with my business partner ventures, my own rental properties are never leveraged too the max even if the current net rental income can cover the new loan. One never knows what may occur to cause net rental income to suddenly drop for a while. So many "investors" do not consider that scenario as they were pulling cash out of all the built up equity. In almost 30 years of ups and downs of real estate I have not had any forced loss of real estate because all the loans were easily covered by even dropping rental income. Rental income does not always go up each year. Keep you wildest dreams from turning into nightmares.
haha! no! It has taken so much to get to this point that we are personally taking a break from buying. I will be working on some JV's to build their portfolio but our finances need a break.
@Derek Carroll- About half our portfolio is in Chicago with traditional residential financing. We were able to cash out on some of our appreciation to buy the rest with 80% LTV commercial loans. We borrowed $100k from my brother to push us past the goal line and now we will be pulling more equity out of Chicago to pay him back.
@Steve Perkins- It has been beyond my wildest dreams, I honestly barely recognize myself and didn't know I had it in me to do all this.
@Thomas Kayes - Thanks! Hopefully I will be seeing you around
@Brad Gordner - Each market has it's challenges, and it has been a learning experience for sure. But after 10 months we have almost all the kinks out and things are running much smoother
@Derek Carroll- About half our portfolio is in Chicago with traditional residential financing. We were able to cash out on some of our appreciation to buy the rest with 80% LTV commercial loans. We borrowed $100k from my brother to push us past the goal line and now we will be pulling more equity out of Chicago to pay him back.
@Steve Perkins- It has been beyond my wildest dreams, I honestly barely recognize myself and didn't know I had it in me to do all this.
I'm sure you are using BP's guidelines about cash flow and you are careful about not pulling too much cash out on your appreciation. As with my business partner ventures, my own rental properties are never leveraged too the max even if the current net rental income can cover the new loan. One never knows what may occur to cause net rental income to suddenly drop for a while. So many "investors" do not consider that scenario as they were pulling cash out of all the built up equity. In almost 30 years of ups and downs of real estate I have not had any forced loss of real estate because all the loans were easily covered by even dropping rental income. Rental income does not always go up each year. Keep you wildest dreams from turning into nightmares.
@Jon Klaus The next goal is a break! I honestly don't know what is in store for us next. We will be focusing on optimizing the portfolio over the next few months. We implemented some new systems to improve efficiency and will continue to do so. We have some rent increases coming up this summer as the past few months have been "don't rock the boat" mode. Plus I have a brokerage business and the TK Review site to focus on. But hey, 2 years ago our goal was to own 4 buildings in Chicago, you never know where this life takes you.
This brings a huge smile to my face! Congrats Brie! You are an inspiration! and you also have my mothers maiden name/grandparents last name! SOOO I LOVE IT MORE
Thanks for the advice! One can never be too cautious. We make sure to never go above a 70% LTV and keep ample reserves to handle rough patches, cause they will happen.