All Forum Posts by: Abel Curiel

Welcome to BP Adam! I'm confident you'll find some great material on this site. There are informative books, blogs, podcasts to answer pretty much any question you could have. And for anything in between, you have your fellow BP members who are active on these forums who you can always turn to. Best of luck to you! - Abel

Thats great insight @Chris Mason I would continue to educate myself if I were you. Develop some relationships with members from your market (via BP and REI meet-ups) and send them questions and analyses to see where you stand in your preparedness.

As far as licensure, it all depends on what your goals are and how you intend on obtaining deals. If you're going the off-market route via direct-mail/yellow letter marketing, you may not need a license. On the other hand, having your license can allow you to save on commissions for your deals and earn commissions on deals that you help put together for other investors or retail buyers. Again, it all depends on your goals and plans.

I hope this helps and welcome to BP!

-Abel

Hey Jeff,

I like @Chris Eaker's approach. In your situation, the tenant is paying below market rent and takes care of the property thus eliminating some of the maintenance you would have to spend on every now and again. I'm sure those savings on maintenance don't equal to $200-300/month that you're missing out on from market-level rents but there are other things and expenses to consider.

I'm in NY and the laws here are tenant friendly, so you should consider what the process would be like to free up that unit. Raising rents by a significant amount might make them stop making payments all together. Also, you would have to account for legal fees to have them vacate the property..

The rental income from the other unit comes in handy in this situation because you would only have to use reserves for legal proceedings. However, this will put a dent in your cash flow and reserves and in the end of the process you'll still have to cough up another 10K (maybe more if the tenants leave the unit in worse condition than its in now) for rehab.

I am in favor of a new lease and small rent increases each year for the tenants. Preserving the seemingly good relationship between you and the long-term tenant could have a positive affect on your property and overall business for years to come. You can then use that 10K you planned on using for rehab on marketing or a down payment for your next property.

I hope this helped.

Best of luck to you!

- Abel

Hello Matt Gehrls , I think we all need to find that motivating factor in order to push us forward when moving forward seems difficult or even impossible. I read some of the responses from the other members and I'll have to agree with them when they say that a book won't answer this question for you. I do, however, believe that a book or other useful information can guide you into finding that motivation. It could be your family, your overall quality of life, or any number of factors that motivate us. I would like to suggest one of the BP Podcasts because it helped me with time management, structure, development of systems/processes, and helps me define my motivation each day. There is also a book written by the guest from the podcast, Hal Elrod. The Podcast is podcast #157. If you haven't already listened to it, I hope you enjoy it and I hope it helps you on this journey. Best of luck to you! -Abel

Congratulations! I love the house-hacking approach and it seems to have you off to a great start so far. Best of luck to you and I look forward to reading about your NEXT success story! -Abel

Hello Christina, I read your profile and saw that you have/had your RE license. If you decide to reconsider using your license it can be a helpful tool when seeking mentorship. It could allow you to take a more active role in helping out investors in your area. Also, I would suggest contacting some local brokers/agents who invest in real estate themselves. In addition to this, finding and attending local REIA meetings is a great way to network and meet people. I hope this helps and I wish you the best of luck! -Abel

Welcome Steven! You're in the right place. Plenty of like-minded individuals on BP with an array of skill sets and experience. Staying active on the forums is a great way to network. I'm confident BP will accelerate all your plans and goals as you move forward! I wish you continued success! -Abel

I would basically interview different brokerages. Find out if their mission aligns with yours. Do you want to be an IC or an employee off the brokerage? In some states, including mine, being an IC or an employee brings on different responsibilities and expectations. Once you have that figured out, learn about the brokerage. You can learn what they're about by asking a few questions: - Do you have routine meetings/trainings for licensees? - Do you have required office hours? - Do you share your listings on the MLS or keep them in house? And so on... I hope this helps. Best of luck to you! -Abel

I bought a home in 2010 and had no idea what I was doing. About a year ago my partner, @Tommy Mejia and I started getting serious about REI. I've since learned a ton about my market and a little about your market since thats where my partner now resides. We've kind of just been helping each other learn the ins and outs of the industry over the past year and have gone from knowing little or nothing to formulating detailed plans about what approach/niche to take on.

I don't want to get too detailed on here but we can definitely keep in contact. My info is on my profile.

The real start to all this was Tommy, and a colleague at work who is an REI, introducing me to "Rich Dad Poor Dad" written by Robert Kiyosaki. If you haven't picked that up, I highly recommend it along with a ton of books from right here on BP.

As I mentioned, @Tommy Mejia lives in your area and could give you some details on the next REI meeting. Its a great place to learn from like-minded entrepreneurs while networking.

Now that you know how I got started, how about you?

Great story Brian! With all the road blocks, periodic stumbles, and rejection associated with this business, it can often be tough for us to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Im happy to see you never lost sight of that and kept pushing forward. Definitely an awesome success story to share! I wish you many more success stories (hopefully with less obstacles!) -Abel