All Forum Posts by: Benjamin Sulka
Benjamin Sulka has started 53 posts and replied 809 times.
Post: Recently Graduated College and need some direction to get started
- Cleveland, OH
- Posts 811
- Votes 578
Quote from @Jack Budd:
Hi everyone, my name is Jack and I am looking to join the world of real estate investing. I am located in Whittier, CA, a few miles east of LA. I recently graduated college (BA in Business Admin. with a Finance concentration) and am eager to get started in real estate. I have always had a desire to work in real estate and can't see myself enjoying work that is not in real estate. My real estate interests mostly center around flipping and buy and hold investment properties. I have no school debt and about 20k invested in the stock market. I really want to get started in real estate but am having a difficult time knowing the best way to get started. I was thinking about getting in contact with an investor in my area and offering to help out with any tasks they have for free in exchange for first-hand experience. If anyone has any advice for me I would love to hear it. Also if anyone is in the LA area and wants to connect please don't hesitate to reach out to me :).
Jack,
Congrats on graduating, brother! I just graduated in May of 2023 as well. Real life begins.
It's awesome that you don't have any debt. Good for you!!
Definitely get involved in your local market as much as you possibly can. Networking and building genuine relationships is huge. Do whatever you can to help the people that you want to get involved with.
Continue educating yourself every step of the way like you have been and pull the trigger when it makes sense. Getting a mentor and educating yourself will help you limit making the same mistakes that others have. And when you feel like you're ready, pull the trigger on your first deal! Everyone has a different path.
Post: Mortgage Pre-Approval for a House Hack
- Cleveland, OH
- Posts 811
- Votes 578
Owen,
Definitely work with people that are investor friendly whether they be agents or lenders. These people will better understand the bigger picture and help you scale to meet your goals.
Good luck!
Quote from @Sarah B.:
@Benjamin Sulka
Thank you! I very much appreciate this starting point.
No problem!! Hoping that all goes well for you.
Quote from @Michael Smythe:
@Sarah B. try @James Wise
Encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.
To avoid going through the same poor experience, keep reading.
Even if someone give you a referral, don’t make the mistake of assuming that PMC will meet your expectations, just because they met the expectations of the referral source.
We also can’t believe how many owners hire the first PMC they speak with!
Then they complain their expectations aren’t being met!
In our experience, the #1 mistake owners make when selecting a Property Management Company (PMC) is ASSUMING instead of CONFIRMING.
It's often a case of not doing enough research, as they don't know what they don't know!
Owners mistakenly ASSUME all PMCs offer the exact SAME SERVICES and PERFORM those services EXACTLY THE SAME WAY, so price is the only differentiator – and they often select the first PMC they call!
So, the first question they usually ask a PMC is about fees - instead of asking about services and HOW those services are executed.
EXAMPLE: PMC states they will handle tenant screening – what does that specifically mean? What documents do they require, what credit scores do they allow, how do they verify previous rental history, etc.? You’d be shocked by how little actual screening many PMC’s do!
This also leads owners to ASSUME simpler is better when it comes to management contracts.
The reality is the opposite - if it's not in writing then the PMC doesn't have to provide the service or can charge extra for it!
We have a 14-page management contract that we've added our real experiences to over the years, with the intent of protecting both us AND the landlord. Beyond the Monthly Management, Placement & Maintenance fees, all other fees in our contract are IF EVENT -> THEN fees.
We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:
We recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.
EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!
P.S. If you just hire the cheapest or first PMC you speak with and it turns into a bad experience, please don’t assume ALL PMC’s are bad and start trashing PMC’s in general. Take ownership of your mistake and learn to do the proper due diligence recommended above😊
Such a great post.
Quote from @Account Closed:
Quote from @Benjamin Sulka:
Quote from @Account Closed:
Money or not, honestly, where do you think you are seeing deals laying around these days?
What market are you in?
Looking in the suburbs of metro Detroit (excluding lousy areas, which is a lot of them) and Los Angeles- which is a fantasy land at this point.
Gotcha! I can't speak to those areas but there are definitely people still doing deals in here. Things are definitely more difficult though.
Quote from @Huiya Xiao:
Lots of sound advice already provided. I'll just plug in a great strategy that I read (regretfully didn't really do myself). That's from the great book lots of investors recommended, including David Greene (BP Podcoast# 169), The Richest Man in Babylon. The strategy is putting 10% of your income to pay down the debt, and saving 10% of your income to invest. With this simple framework, I think you'll be able to work towards your goals step by step. I second @Jake Andronico that you're asking important questions just fresh out of college, and best luck with your journey!
Huiya,
That is a great principal to follow. I keep track of all of my finances so I'm going to do further analysis to see what I can do to cut back even further.
Quote from @Account Closed:
Money or not, honestly, where do you think you are seeing deals laying around these days?
What market are you in?
Quote from @Jake Andronico:
Your maturity and intelligence shows in this post. Good for you for not jumping in blind and asking questions along the way. Also I've seen first hand a couple get into a property together without being married, and it's been an absolute nightmare.
Co-signing is how I got started, and I'm forever grateful for my parents for doing so.
But I agree w/ @Bryce Jamison that getting out of debt is very important (will help your conscience and DTI) and borrowing a significant amount from others is how a lot of failure stories start.
Chipping away at the debt and getting married seems like the most logical path. Then continuing to educate and network along the way will keep your finger on the pulse and continue to develop and build relationships.
I've been listening to Dave Ramsey a lot lately and while I don't agree with everything, he has a lot of phenomenal principles that are not sexy but are logical and proven.
I 100% agree. That's the most logical path and it's the one I'm going to take. It has taken hours upon hours of thought and conversation with my significant other. I want to invest WITH her and doing that before getting married is not a good idea. We are going to get married regardless and I always thought I wouldn't get married until I was older but I'm with the person I want to be with forever so it doesn't matter when we get married. Paying down debts and getting married is priority number 1. Priority number 2 is to be involved in any way that I can, network and help local investors. Priority number 3 is to pull the trigger as soon as I'm ready and find something that fits my criteria after I'm married and have a lower debt to income. Everyone's path is so much different.
Quote from @Jad Boudiab:
@Benjamin Sulka there's a work-around. Get a DSCR loan, it's based on your credit and the property's rental income. We do these all day.
I wouldn't sell the car..
Jad,
I've heard of these and I will absolutely look further into it.
I'm at the point right now where I need to keep networking, adding value to other people's businesses as much as I can, and paying down as much of my consumer debt as possible.