Beat my 10 Year goal in 1.5!!! :D

Beat my 10 Year goal in 1.5!!! :D

Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes

So Dec. 2015 I started my real estate adventure. I'm a huge numbers guy so I love my spreadsheets and planning my financial future. Thus based on a 20% down per property mindset, I tried to gauge what I could realistically achieve with a 60k salary. If I lived like a boring robot living on rice and beans, I would be able to buy ONE property a year and reach a 10 property goal by the time I was 35, which I thought would be my freedom number.

Well on May 4th, 2017 I officially closed on my 10th property and more than doubled my fulltime monthly income through just rentals!! Yes I am still at my W2 job and I plan on staying here for a while because I like having multiple streams of income. Plus as my goals get hit, I aim for higher and higher dreams which my job will help me achieve.

 So here's the order of properties I've bought

1. Condo 2. Condo 3. Condo 4. Condo 5. SFH 6. SFH 7. SFH 8. Triplex 9. 4-Plex 10. Duplex

Many ask how I was able to buy that many properties as a noob middle class salaried investor in his first couple years of doing all of this.Well I've probably used every strategy in BP. BRRRR, Cashout refinances, Family/Friends/Investors, Business Loans, HML, etc. etc.

I encourage everyone to seek their own answers and research themselves rather than asking me to hold their hand on each of my deals and try to replicate. I haven't done anything too much more different than thousands of other people have done on here. Really, you just have to learn how to work 12-14 hour days for a months and be OPEN to being said no to and be OPEN to learning.

and no I had no mentors or personal gurus to help. All I had was good old google, youtube, and most importantly. Bigger Pockets  :)

So where am I headed now? If I've learned anything, its that the sky is the limit. Don't compromise and don't sell yourself short, because you CAN do anything as long as you work hard/smart enough. In saying that, I want to hit a passive income of at least $1million/year. Lofty? hell yes, but why not? As my dad has always said to me, aim for the highest achievable goal. Even if you don't get there you will get where you deserve to be and you'll know you tried your hardest.




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Investor · Fort Pierce, FL · Member since 2016 · 47 posts · 16 votes
9y

Time to get @David Zheng on the podcast.

Congrats!

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  • Investor · Downers Grove, IL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 955 votes
    9y

    congratulations @David Zheng !

  • Investor · Bryan, TX · Member since 2016 · 165 posts · 82 votes
    9y

    well done!!!! My goals are VERY similar to yours and I'm close to being 7 years ahead of schedule. 

    Have you thought about heading a different direction? (Of course what your doing in obviously working great.) I have thought hard about a small apartment, trailer park, rv park, laundromat......can you see yourself stepping out of your comfort zone to increase cash flow?

    Just curious to see what a person in a similar situation would say.   

  • Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Chris T. THanks!

    @Derrick W. Actually that does bring up a good point!  I want to look into a larger apartment next. At least 12 units. After that, Vacation rentals ( or personal getaways hehe). I always want to own a hotel of some sort. Not just a mom/pop kinda deal but something with restaurants, a bar/nightclub, even a casino. Congrats on your success as well!

  • Real Estate Agent · Hamilton, NJ · Member since 2013 · 464 posts · 311 votes
    9y

    Congrats on your accomplishments @David Zheng!  Seems like you have a nice mixture of property types..  Which property type do you see performs the best?  Best of luck for your future and like you said, the sky is the limit!

  • Investor · Malakoff, TX · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y
    Congratulations @David Zheng How have you dealt with the DTI ratio constraints common with many conventional lenders? It sounds like you have well surpassed that with your portfolio.
  • Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Christopher Giannino

    Condos are by far the easiest to maintain even if I do have to pay a hefty HOA
    SFH's are cashflowing the best but have plenty of headaches especially with neighbors
    MF are a mix between maintaining between the condos and SFH but have performed the best when I need to pull money out or cashout refi.

  • Real Estate Agent · Hamilton, NJ · Member since 2013 · 464 posts · 311 votes
    9y

    @David Zheng knowing what you do now, would you say that starting with a condo was a great way to start your REI career or would you have started differently?

  • Real Estate Investor · Palm Beach County, FL · Member since 2017 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    Keep grinding and keep growing buddy congrats I plan to follow in your footsteps!

  • Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @David Zheng thanks for sharing your story. Can you elaborate on how you got and used the business loan? 

    @Ashley Tyson this is some good inspiration. 

  • Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2017 · 791 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @David Zheng - congrats David! That's awesome!

  • Investor · Fort Pierce, FL · Member since 2016 · 47 posts · 16 votes
    9y

    Time to get @David Zheng on the podcast.

    Congrats!

  • Investor · Brooklyn, NY · Member since 2015 · 20 posts · 7 votes
    9y

    Congrats @David Zheng. These stories keeps the rest of us even more motivated. Are you primarily investing in your home location of St. Louis?

  • Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2016 · 16 posts · 23 votes
    9y

    Great work @David Zheng. Very impressive. 

  • Peter TverdovBusiness Member
    Developer · New Brunswick, NJ · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    What are your cash reserves for your portfolio? 

  • Alpharetta, GA · Member since 2015 · 44 posts · 23 votes
    9y

    David, that is great, and I've enjoyed your posts on BP and learned from them, but I am a little confused because in another post today you said you "managed to grow to 15 units and over 50 tenants since 2016" yet reading your list of 10 properties above it seems to add up to 15 doors.  When you say "50 tenants" I think of "50 doors" so I'm guessing you have a little bit different definition?

  • Real Estate Agent · Chantilly, VA · Member since 2016 · 245 posts · 61 votes
    9y
    Congratulations! Keep pushing. Some of us are right behind. Thank you
  • Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Christopher Giannino I think starting off on a small condo was good for me. It allowed me to focus on learning the financing side of things and less so on construction, etc. Plus it was in an unwarranted complex meaning it made me thing a little harder in order to get a loan. 

    Maintenance was light and allowed me to focus on my next moves 

  • Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Joe Fairless

    When is my interview with you going live :P

    The business loan was primary for my multi-units. They based my qualifications more on my experience and ability to attract high paying rents rather than my DTI, W2 income, etc

    Although with more unfavorable terms (5.5%, 25 year amort, ballon payments, etc) They closed fast and were easy to understand

  • Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Peter Tverdov When you are moving as fast as I did, you tend to not have much of a cash reserve. Currently I am 100% occupied and have good cashflow so starting now, everything is being socked away into a reserve fund. Prior to that, I was just reinvesting everything and using my 401k as a reserve fund (somewhat dangerous but no risk no reward right?)

  • Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Stephen Flynt

    so there's 50 bedrooms between the 15 units. Like 2bed1bath, 5bed2.5bath, would count towards those 7 tenants even if its only 2 units.

  • Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @David Zheng June 5th!

  • Peter TverdovBusiness Member
    Developer · New Brunswick, NJ · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @David Zheng:

    @Peter Tverdov When you are moving as fast as I did, you tend to not have much of a cash reserve. Currently I am 100% occupied and have good cashflow so starting now, everything is being socked away into a reserve fund. Prior to that, I was just reinvesting everything and using my 401k as a reserve fund (somewhat dangerous but no risk no reward right?)

    I am pretty risk adverse (especially on here). I would highly recommend you have 6 months of PITI per property (that's what the banks require...and for a reason). I am seeing more and more people leveraged out of their arse with zero reserves...or better yet they think a HELOC or a CC is a real reserve and that it can't be frozen. I love your enthusiasm and drive but don't get caught up thinking nothing bad ever happens. Recessions WILL come. Unemployment WILL rise. Vacancies WILL come, etc. What's your LTV of your portfolio?

  • Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Peter Tverdov Thanks for the warnings and I totally get where you are coming from. I am definitely on the road to having at least 6 months of PITI for each place. As my cashflow has it right now, I will need to save all my income for about 5 months to reach that. currently I'm about 35% LTV across the properties. I never counted on HELOCs or Refis to begin with just like I barely account for appreciation when I value a property. That stuff isnt enough in my control to rely on it.

  • Peter TverdovBusiness Member
    Developer · New Brunswick, NJ · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    I am guessing you mean 65% LTV but either number is very solid. Bump up those reserves and keep them there and you are rocking IMO.

  • Investor · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2016 · 970 posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    @Peter Tverdov Oops! you are correct haha...wishful thinking on my part ;)

    Thanks for the advice again, its always good to be cautious in this business.

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