Searching for the "Perfect" First Deal in Philly

Hello Bigger Pockets family. Although I've been a BP member for a long time and have connected with and even met many members offline, I am writing this post to mark the beginning of the real adventure that's about to begin.

I moved to Philadelphia in February 2016 to finally transition from working as an agent/realtor for 7 years to an actual investor and start acquiring properties. Well as we all know, life happens. So after 3 years of "due diligence" and especially losing out on some really good off-market deals in the past 6 months, I finally found a property and a deal that works.

I think I should repeat that:

I finally found a DEAL that WORKS.

I didn't say the "perfect deal".

And therein lies the first jewel of knowledge I can share; there will never be the "perfect" first deal nor will there ever be a "perfect deal"...period. There will never be the "perfect moment". We've all heard the Wayne Gretzky quote...right? So as my coach Rob Dial says "Ready, FIRE, Aim!"

Last fall, after parting ways with another small, family-owned property management company in Philadelphia, I sat back and had to refocus. Did I want to go back and work in some real estate "related" job for a base salary? Did I want to go back and focus on being a realtor...again? Should I just act like a wholesaler, hit sellers with low offers and a one paragraph agreement of sale? Could Uber pay the bills while I figure shit out? 

I came back to my one thing: I have never acquired a property and completed a rehab project. For all the years of experience and transactions I have been a party to, I have acted as an agent for someone else. I managed properties in Philadelphia and learned an incredible amount in the past three years. But those properties were all in someone else's portfolio.

My move to Philadelphia has been a transformative one. I left New York after 7 years as a real estate agent. As interesting as it may sound, I was suffering the same misery as anyone who was doing a job they hated. My time here in Philly allowed me to realize that as much as I love helping people, I am not a good "salesperson". I am definitely more of a project-oriented entrepreneur. So regardless of the visions I had for a wide ranging business, I had to focus on completing the FIRST project. 

So in September I went into acquisitions mode. I made myself my only buyer client. It was time to eat shit. I accepted I was in start-up business. Between my property management fees, driving uber and some wholesale deals here and there, I could pay my rent, cell, wifi and insurance while I looked for a property. 

Fast forward a few months. Everything appears overpriced. I don't have money for marketing. Door knocking in the winter is brutal. Fuck cold calling, been doing it for over 20 years. I'm good at it, like I'm good at changing a tire by myself...meaning I hate it. Wholesalers are mostly full of shit or too scared to make a deal happen. MLS listings are pipe dream prices for those sellers. Agents in Philly aren't used to seeing an offer letter, and want an agreement of sale. Spending $100k on rehab is scary, especially when the guy took 2 weeks to send his estimate. "Start small, this project is too big for your first deal." Hard money guy says they only lend to experienced investors, but he doesn't know zoning codes. One estimate is $75k, another $20k...wtf? Guys give you "labor only" estimates and can't tell you how much a pallet of drywall will cost. Contractors on Instagram don't reply to DMs. "This one looks good but...."  No counter offer. No call back from the architect. Or the 4 contractors who came to look at the property. Property in contract. Property sold. I drive by a few weeks later and work has already started. 🤬 

Excuses? Yes I'll admit most of those flashbacks can be called excuses. Failures? Definitely. But I was failing in doing things I haven't done before, failing forward as they say. I learned more in losing 3 particular deals than I did in the past 9 years of my career. Engaging with lenders, contractors, insurers, architects, engineers, agents, wholesalers as the investor made the conversations different. It becomes a confidence game. Are you confident in your numbers? Are you confident that exterior wall is safe? Are you confident in giving a contractor $15k Friday and hoping he shows up on Monday to start work? Do you trust your gut?

So here I am. In contract to purchase my first investment property and writing my first Bigger Pockets blog post. My response to "why" I am writing this blog is simply to share my experiences and all that can be learned from them. A local investor who is also new to the game shared some priceless information and contacts with me. When I thanked him he said he was simply paying it forward. That call inspired me to finally start paying it back and forward to the Bigger Pockets community and anyone within earshot who is interested in real estate and especially in the city of Philadelphia. 

I intend to use social media as a journal to document as much as I can along this journey. My goal is to share as much as I can in real time as well as try to answer real time questions. So feel free to connect with me here or directly via email or text. I've been a solopreneur for years but moving to Philly forced me to seek out and create my community. I am happy and grateful to be a part of the Bigger Pockets family. So I look forward to getting to know more of you and being able to share more interesting real estate investor war stories!