This is my first post in a few years because frankly I've been on the grind learning how to become a better real estate investor and taking massive action.  I'll try to keep this brief and also share my latest strategies which may help others who are looking to fire their boss! 

Long story short, about 4 years ago I got serious about investing in real estate and quitting my job and hired a local mentor for $5k to teach me how to wholesale.  I was able to wholesale a few houses before I realized that it felt like another job and I really didn't enjoy the work itself.  Fortunately it did teach me how to find good deals and from that was able to buy several rental houses in C class areas.  I also partnered with a friend of mine to buy a couple of small multifamily properties.  I had about 20 rental doors in 1 1/2 years and this is all while maintaining a full-time job.

My approach was basically buy, fix up, raise rents, keep for a couple of years and sell which I did with many of my rental units. With some extra capital in hand from the home sales, I started focusing more on smaller multifamily units (A and B Class areas) but this time without a partner and with a strategy to use for Airbnb.  Last year I acquired a six-plex and four-plex that I bought, remodeled and put on Airbnb.  My current portfolio consists of 10 Short-term rentals and 10 long-term rentals that generate $40k a month in gross rent and about $20k in net profit (roughly half).  

I am using two strategies to buy and hold now which has allowed me to purchase these properties with little to no money out of pocket at the end of the day.  

Strategy #1 - buy at 70% ARV using a hard money lender and then once rehab is complete do a cash out refinance at 80% LTV at 20 years ammo and 5.5% interest. This approach can allow you to get back more money than you spend and you are actually getting paid to buy the property.

Strategy #2 - my hard money lender has a program that lends at 75% ARV and then converts the loan to a long-term note when the rehab is complete. It's a single close loan and avoids having to refinance, order another appraisal, pay closing costs twice, yada yada.

Bottom line unless you have unlimited funds, your strategy HAS to allow you to get your money back or else you will run out and have to wait a LONG time before you can buy another property.

In case you're curious my previous job was working in Consulting making a high six-figure a year salary.  The road to quitting your job is a grind but the combination of getting educated and taking MASSIVE ACTION will allow you to get there.

HAVE FAITH!

Ehab