How I Got Started in Real Estate Pt.1

Well, my real estate investing journey started in late 2005 early 2006. At the time I was working at the Automobile Club of Southern California (AAA) as an insurance agent, a direct sales agent is what the title was. But once I found real estate I was a part of the newly retired crowd at the age of 38. Now, as most of you remember this is when the market was HOT…… I mean SIZZLIN HOT! Especially in California. Everyone was qualified to purchase a house. Soooooo this is where I got in as a homeowner. I even made money when I purchased the property, either $15,000 or $30,000 I don’t really remember the amount.

Now my business associate helped through this time and also convinced me that now (2005-2006) was the time to purchase investment property as well. Sooooooo this is where I got in as an investor with a duplex in a little town called Adelanto, Ca. All I can say is very dusty and low-income. You see before purchasing my home and investment property I was a birddog and was learning how to find and value properties. Adelanto was touted as the one of the up and coming cities of the High Desert. New logistics Airport, new homes being built, in-migration it had it all. But it was built on a lot of Hype and would soon come crashing down.

Now when I purchased my little duplex I made money again. I was rollin. I had my house, an investment property and money in the bank. Friends and associates wanted to buy properties wherever we were buying. Someone purchased a house that was next to my duplex and I eventually ended up owning that property as well. I didn’t make money on the purchase of this property but I learned a buying strategy called “subject to existing financing” or “subject to” I thought it was better than sliced bread. I was really rollin now. Money in the bank (from rents), my own house, and two investment properties. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was getting it. Now, I was looking for another investment property because I had to keep feeding this monster that I gave birth to. But there was a problem. I couldn’t get ANY bank to finance my next purchase. The well had began to run dry.

I was in trouble because my cash was dwindling and I was just really learning how to manage properties and how to build a portfolio (sort of). In the time span of about 3 years I was a homeowner, birddog, property manager, rehabber and private money lender (yep, I lent out at one time approx. $45,000). I never got that money back or the property. I will continue with my story in Part 2.