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User Stats

79
Posts
118
Votes
Ehab Shoukry
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
118
Votes |
79
Posts

From 0 to 8 Rentals in Just 4 Months!

Ehab Shoukry
  • Investor
  • Houston, TX
Posted

Hi all -

I've been a long time lurker on BP and am happy to say I've listened to every Podcast and read as many posts as I can.  My passion for real estate started with rehabbing because I love turning old run down properties into updated homes that families can enjoy.  I did a few rehabs back around 2002 as a hobby and then took a long hiatus from real estate.

This year I decided I wanted to get serious about investing. I hired a mentor in January to teach me how to wholesale off the MLS and quickly did two wholesale deals. I can definitely say that I don't love wholesaling but appreciate all those out there who do.

In April of this year, I was about to wholesale my third deal for a nifty $10k profit when my mentor recommended that I start building a rental portfolio.  So I purchased the house for $56k and it currently rents for $1k a month.  I quickly found a second house with very similar numbers a month later.

I continued to build relationships with realtors and was approached with a six house deal for $320k.  All the houses have been completely remodeled and have tile throughout along with updated kitchen and bathrooms.  The investor who owned them was moving to another city and didn't have the stomach to be a long distance landlord.  I just closed on those six houses which each rent for $1k a month each to bring my total to eight houses.  

Next month I'll be closing on my 9th house which is bringing me very  close to my goal of buying 10 rentals this year.  All houses are in Class C subdivisions and I purchased with 20% down loans.  

Thanks to everyone who helped answer my questions along the way and to the BP folks who share knowledge and continue to motivate through podcasts and articles.  I hope this motivates others to follow their dreams.

Happy Investing!

Ehab

User Stats

1
Posts
0
Votes
Kendyl Palmer
  • Orem, UT
0
Votes |
1
Posts
Kendyl Palmer
  • Orem, UT
Replied

Wow, congratulations! This is very inspiring and encouraging for us new investors out here! Thank you for sharing.

User Stats

405
Posts
110
Votes
Davon Lowery
  • Investor
  • Whitttier, CA
110
Votes |
405
Posts
Davon Lowery
  • Investor
  • Whitttier, CA
Replied

Congratz, gutsy move.

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User Stats

149
Posts
65
Votes
Deshawn Lewis
  • DHS/Investor
  • Bowie, MD
65
Votes |
149
Posts
Deshawn Lewis
  • DHS/Investor
  • Bowie, MD
Replied

congrats man.. Hopefully one day I can build my rental portfolio this way!!!!

User Stats

3,789
Posts
4,452
Votes
Cody L.
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Diego, Ca
4,452
Votes |
3,789
Posts
Cody L.
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Diego, Ca
Replied

(Occasional reader / infrequent poster...)

I own about 1,000 units inside the loop.  Many of them are in the SE area (which is why I'm replying)

When you say SE, are you talking about the SE of the innerloop?   If so, drop me a line.  I don't get to meet many other actual buyers in this area.   While I no longer live in Houston, my company is still there and I'm buying all the time.

User Stats

309
Posts
17
Votes
Ray A.
  • Professional
  • Cypress, TX
17
Votes |
309
Posts
Ray A.
  • Professional
  • Cypress, TX
Replied

Congrats @Ehab Shoukry

User Stats

19
Posts
6
Votes
Jay Patel
  • Investor
  • League City, TX
6
Votes |
19
Posts
Jay Patel
  • Investor
  • League City, TX
Replied

Cool!!

Keep up the momentum you have!

Good luck.

jAY

User Stats

116
Posts
20
Votes
Sarah Miller
  • Investor
  • Canton, OH
20
Votes |
116
Posts
Sarah Miller
  • Investor
  • Canton, OH
Replied

Thanks for the motivation! Although not nearly as high dollar as yours, I'm looking to close in the next couple of weeks on the last of a streak of 10 units inside 6 months. good luck to you!

User Stats

272
Posts
50
Votes
Tristan Cortez
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Antonio, TX
50
Votes |
272
Posts
Tristan Cortez
  • Rental Property Investor
  • San Antonio, TX
Replied

Congrats!!

Very inspiring, Thanks for sharing!!👍🏻

User Stats

206
Posts
119
Votes
Aaron Mikottis
  • Architect
  • Joliet, IL
119
Votes |
206
Posts
Aaron Mikottis
  • Architect
  • Joliet, IL
Replied

My goal is 25 doors in 6 years... this was an inspiring story!

User Stats

241
Posts
85
Votes
Garrett Diegel
Pro Member
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Nevada
85
Votes |
241
Posts
Garrett Diegel
Pro Member
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Nevada
Replied

Always good to hear a success story. The more information the better.

  • Garrett Diegel
  • User Stats

    285
    Posts
    97
    Votes
    Hersh M.
    • Engineer
    • Carlsbad/San Diego
    97
    Votes |
    285
    Posts
    Hersh M.
    • Engineer
    • Carlsbad/San Diego
    Replied

    @Ehab Shoukry Congrats! Why did you choose 'class C' for all the properties? Just want to learn. 

    @Steve Rozenberg Congrats to you too! Do you mind sharing some of the 'lessons learnt' that you mention? Thanks. 

    User Stats

    6
    Posts
    1
    Votes
    Phani Malepati
    • Sun Prairie, WI
    1
    Votes |
    6
    Posts
    Phani Malepati
    • Sun Prairie, WI
    Replied

    Great Inspiration.

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    User Stats

    4
    Posts
    3
    Votes
    Wesley Barnett
    • Investor
    • Lakeland, FL
    3
    Votes |
    4
    Posts
    Wesley Barnett
    • Investor
    • Lakeland, FL
    Replied

    For those mentioning BRRR, where I am located banks won't loan on the home value until 1 year after the purchase. Until then, they are limited to loaning 90% of the purchase price, and that assumes you have a good relationship with them.

    For those of you who are buying, rehabbing, and refinancing, where have you been able to find 100% refinancing quicker than 1 year after purchase?

    User Stats

    113
    Posts
    36
    Votes
    Esaul Viramontes
    • VENICE, FL
    36
    Votes |
    113
    Posts
    Esaul Viramontes
    • VENICE, FL
    Replied
    Originally posted by @Barb Reynolds:
    Originally posted by @Brian Lauchner:
    Originally posted by @Ehab Shoukry:

    Steve...I think that's great advice. All of these properties fit my investment criteria. The biggest risk I have is with the tenants I inherited. They are going to need retraining, however, the properties themselves are all home runs IMHO...

     Hey Ehab, congrats on your success!  You said "the properties themselves are all home runs IMHO."....what is IMHO? I am not familiar with that acronym. 

    Thanks, Brian 

    I believe IMHO is "in my humble opinion".

     I thought it stood for IN MY HONEST OPINION.........LOL  (Laugh out Loud)  ;)

    User Stats

    79
    Posts
    118
    Votes
    Ehab Shoukry
    • Investor
    • Houston, TX
    118
    Votes |
    79
    Posts
    Ehab Shoukry
    • Investor
    • Houston, TX
    Replied

    I'm glad folks are finding motivation from my story.  I always found it encouraging to hear people share their success stories and it made it feel like real estate investing was more possible than I imagined. 

    To answer your questions:

    I used Spirit of Texas bank.  They lent me 80% of the $320k purchase price with 5% interest on a 15 year amortized loan.  I put 20% out of pocket but received multiple credits at closing including September's rent which the seller credited me.

    I was able to come up with the money to put 20% down because of a live in flip that I did where I bought a house in an up-and-coming area, lived in it for three years, and sold it for twice as much as I purchased it for.  That one decision has helped me to catapult my investing career because it gave me a healthy chunk of cash to be able to use to invest, rehab, have reserves, etc.

    If I understand the BRRR strategy, I believe that usually involves getting a hard money loan to purchase and rehab the property and then you can refinance into a conventional loan, right? We have lenders here who will do that and lend 75% of ARV but you are paying hard money points and interest followed by additional points for the conventional loan. Plus you have to have a 720 credit score I believe to qualify for the conventional loan once you get more than four houses. Also these houses didn't need any repairs because they were properly rehabbed by the previous owner. Having said that, I may choose to refinance down the road to try and recover some of my initial investment but I'm happy with the current deal.

    I also talked with some conventional lenders I used in the past and they were going to treat each house separately with a separate purchase price, separate loans, yada yada.  I really was looking for a lender who would be willing to lend me on the bulk deal with one loan and simplify the process.  The bank I used was able to do that for me.

    Thanks for all of the positive feedback and keep the questions coming.

    Ehab

    User Stats

    3,405
    Posts
    2,425
    Votes
    Ryan Dossey
    • Real Estate Broker
    • Indianapolis, IN
    2,425
    Votes |
    3,405
    Posts
    Ryan Dossey
    • Real Estate Broker
    • Indianapolis, IN
    Replied
    Originally posted by @Lee S.:

    Congrats.  I have one request that I'm sure will go unanswered but it sure would be nice to talk in terms of $ value instead of units.

    It's almost impossible to find an "mls" house under 200k in my area, I could buy 4 units in some areas for this cost if not more.  I don't plan to buy off the mls, actually I refuse to buy retail for investment purposes and is why I've become a realtor and will be restarting a DM campaign asap.  I'll gladly sell at retail and take a commission on top of that.

     If you want any tips/tricks my help is free. Just appreciate seeing you around.

    User Stats

    674
    Posts
    444
    Votes
    Lee S.
    • Northern, CA
    444
    Votes |
    674
    Posts
    Lee S.
    • Northern, CA
    Replied
    Originally posted by @Ryan Dossey:
    Originally posted by @Lee S.:

    Congrats.  I have one request that I'm sure will go unanswered but it sure would be nice to talk in terms of $ value instead of units.

    It's almost impossible to find an "mls" house under 200k in my area, I could buy 4 units in some areas for this cost if not more.  I don't plan to buy off the mls, actually I refuse to buy retail for investment purposes and is why I've become a realtor and will be restarting a DM campaign asap.  I'll gladly sell at retail and take a commission on top of that.

     If you want any tips/tricks my help is free. Just appreciate seeing you around.

     Thanks.  I'm in the process of getting going again.  I put everything on hold to get my license and then had to jump from one broker to another unexpectedly due to the investor part of what I want to do.  Should be about 2 weeks before I'm active again.

    User Stats

    18
    Posts
    9
    Votes
    RJ Cox
    • Real Estate Broker
    • Duluth, GA
    9
    Votes |
    18
    Posts
    RJ Cox
    • Real Estate Broker
    • Duluth, GA
    Replied
    Originally posted by @Ehab Shoukry:

    This year I decided I wanted to get serious about investing.  I hired a mentor in January to teach me...Next month I'll be closing on my 9th house which is bringing me very  close to my goal of buying 10 rentals this year. 

    Thank you for sharing your story, Ehab. This is a great way to show how we can all benefit from learning from others when we're hungry to succeed. It would be great for you to share a follow up in a few months to see how your business is growing and if you took advantage of the BRRR strategy.

    User Stats

    18
    Posts
    3
    Votes
    Silvica Rosca
    • Corona, CA
    3
    Votes |
    18
    Posts
    Silvica Rosca
    • Corona, CA
    Replied

    Thanks for the post Ehab!   Glad to hear your success story.  Like you, I am reading and listening to BP everyday and learning as much as possible.  I started my real estate journey this year in wholesaling, and eventually plan on buying/holding property as well.  It's nice hearing the success stories of others. 

    User Stats

    308
    Posts
    144
    Votes
    Travis Beehler
    • Rental Property Investor
    • Vancouver, WA
    144
    Votes |
    308
    Posts
    Travis Beehler
    • Rental Property Investor
    • Vancouver, WA
    Replied
    Originally posted by @Ehab Shoukry:

    Hi all -

    I've been a long time lurker on BP and am happy to say I've listened to every Podcast and read as many posts as I can.  My passion for real estate started with rehabbing because I love turning old run down properties into updated homes that families can enjoy.  I did a few rehabs back around 2002 as a hobby and then took a long hiatus from real estate.

    This year I decided I wanted to get serious about investing. I hired a mentor in January to teach me how to wholesale off the MLS and quickly did two wholesale deals. I can definitely say that I don't love wholesaling but appreciate all those out there who do.

    In April of this year, I was about to wholesale my third deal for a nifty $10k profit when my mentor recommended that I start building a rental portfolio.  So I purchased the house for $56k and it currently rents for $1k a month.  I quickly found a second house with very similar numbers a month later.

    I continued to build relationships with realtors and was approached with a six house deal for $320k.  All the houses have been completely remodeled and have tile throughout along with updated kitchen and bathrooms.  The investor who owned them was moving to another city and didn't have the stomach to be a long distance landlord.  I just closed on those six houses which each rent for $1k a month each to bring my total to eight houses.  

    Next month I'll be closing on my 9th house which is bringing me very  close to my goal of buying 10 rentals this year.  All houses are in Class C subdivisions and I purchased with 20% down loans.  

    Thanks to everyone who helped answer my questions along the way and to the BP folks who share knowledge and continue to motivate through podcasts and articles.  I hope this motivates others to follow their dreams.

    Happy Investing!

    Ehab

     Nice job!  It's always encouraging to see people who keep at it and build themselves up a nice portfolio!  

    Personally, I was at 1 property about a year ago, now I'm at 6.  :)

    Account Closed
    • Real Estate Agent
    • Burlington, MA
    20
    Votes |
    43
    Posts
    Account Closed
    • Real Estate Agent
    • Burlington, MA
    Replied

    Thanks for sharing! Always nice to read a success story.

    User Stats

    40
    Posts
    35
    Votes
    Gil Estupinan
    • Investor
    • Trabuco Canyon, CA
    35
    Votes |
    40
    Posts
    Gil Estupinan
    • Investor
    • Trabuco Canyon, CA
    Replied

    Way to go @Ehab Shoukry!!

    Talk about taking action!!  :)

    Gil

    User Stats

    58
    Posts
    32
    Votes
    Antonio Lopez
    • Miami Lakes, FL
    32
    Votes |
    58
    Posts
    Antonio Lopez
    • Miami Lakes, FL
    Replied

    Those are AWESOME deals! 

    You're getting a .2 gross cap on those houses which I think is GREAT. It's great too because you get the deposit back relatively quick. 

    You're  story is definitely one with power and I appreciate you sharing it. It's truly inspirational. 

    Do you mind sharing what you're expenses are like? Do they differ per house? 

    Update on the tenants?

    Thanks.

    User Stats

    838
    Posts
    212
    Votes
    John Cohen
    Pro Member
    • Rental Property Investor
    • Mineola, NY
    212
    Votes |
    838
    Posts
    John Cohen
    Pro Member
    • Rental Property Investor
    • Mineola, NY
    Replied

    great work

  • John Cohen
  • User Stats

    172
    Posts
    29
    Votes
    Courtney Merricks
    • Investor
    • Fort Lauderdale, FL
    29
    Votes |
    172
    Posts
    Courtney Merricks
    • Investor
    • Fort Lauderdale, FL
    Replied

    Joe, way to go sir... Great job! Keep up the great work buddy... Looking forward to see what happens next for you sir.