December 2017, I bought my first investment property in Pittsburgh, PA. After my wife and I looked at about 30 properties in 2.5 days, we settled on a nice SFR near downtown – listed at $212,000 and we paid $200,000 for it. As fate would have it, my realtor loved the house so much she rented it back from me the month after we closed and almost 2.5 years later, she's still there and she's about to sign on for another year.

After that, it didn't take long for me to get the bug. In March 2018 I bought another SFR in Greenville, SC (if you want a hot market - look no further than this one). In my infinite wisdom (or lack thereof at the time), I overpaid for this house and spent more than it appraised for (please don't ever do that and learn from my mistake). Regardless, I was able to rent it out in about 45 days and we've had the same tenants in there this entire time – cash flowing nicely with little maintenance and upkeep.

Then it took off. I won’t bore you with all of the details (if you want them, feel free to reach out, I’m an open book and always willing to help) but we now have a real estate portfolio of 37 (and growing) cash-flowing assets (to the tune of ~$25,000/month in net revenue), spread out across 13 states, worth over $8,000,000 in total value. ALL of which has been OOS (out of state) investing. I’ve invested quite a bit of my own money, both now and when I got started, but when I realized the power of OPM (other people’s money) it took me to the next level. I have partners across multiple entities with different classes of assets, scattered amongst a number of markets. All of this while working a separate full-time job.

Our purchasing strategy has been a mixed bag, as well. We've successfully used the BRRRR method on a number of occasions, we've flipped some homes and we've purchased rent-ready properties on 30-year notes. We've never once purchased a house with cash – we've leveraged every purchase we've made to date. We've established ourselves with our *lender to the point we have maximum exposure limits as well as a fix & flip LOC to help with the BRRRR and flip aspects of our business.

And I’m not here to pretend like this has all been rainbows and sunshine, either. We’ve made our fair share of mistakes along the way, we’ve had some investments that have straight up flopped and we’ve had some, let’s call them, difficult tenants. But that’s to be expected. Not every investment we made has been successful, just like every investment you make won’t be successful. Learn from those mistakes and make sure you never make the same mistake twice.

I tell you all of this not to brag, but to help new investors get off the sidelines and go get their first deal. I know how it feels to overanalyze and feel like you’re spinning your wheels – it’s very easy to get caught up in the details and not pull the trigger. There’s always a million reasons not to do something. Find the one reason to do something.

I’d love to hear your comments/questions and I’m always willing to help when and where I can - please let me know what you think and if/how I can help you gets started!

*A HUGE shout out to our lender, Finance of America. Couldn’t do what we do without them. If you want their info please send me a direct message and I’ll be happy to forward.