All Forum Posts by: Paul Choate

Thanks, it is very enlightening to read other investors numbers. Is there a general etiqute when it comes to asking for numbers on deals?

Bankruptcy is the only reason I can stand being an attorney right now. (Love those who have a passion for the law- it's just not for me.)

I wish I had gone to vo-tech:) But it has allowed me to invest in real estate and be on my own. So I can't complain too much. I just want to get out of law as soon as my real estate is able to support me and my family.

I used to have a general practice (family, criminal, civil) but I have limited it since 2008 to consumer debtor bankruptcy cases.

Thank you for that advice. I will check out that book- I thought I had briefly looked at it but I must have missed the point- I tend to binge read.

This is one of the areas that I have had trouble - hiring good help. I do have people working on occasion but I have trouble balancing quality and price.

As to a larger project, I am pretty conservative and have done only cash and seller financing so far. I look forward to seeing some examples of this step from the other investors here. (It is where I would like to go.)

Hello, My name is Paul Choate. I am from Shawnee Oklahoma which is about an hour East of OKC. I am an attorney and started investing in residential real estate in 2006. I currently have 15 units and have hit a bit of a wall. I guess I am a "tweener" in that I want to work on my properties full time but they are not enough to support my family; yet at the same time they are too much work for just nights and weekends. I primarily buy fixers and do most of the work myself. I love reading about real estate and learning from others experiences. I am very interested in learning how others managed the transition between "retiring" from their regular job to doing real estate full time. I am excited to have found people who "get" real estate investing!

I have always used the guideline of 3 months equal to the rent if the property is in good shape. I was given that number during a loan application- I think it is what banks expect to see. Otherwise, major repairs should be something you see coming and save up separately for if you are properly insured. You might have to adjust it higher or lower once you have actual historical data as your expenses and vacancies can very a lot per property.