All Forum Posts by: Carlos M.

@Alicia Marks

Currently my wife and I own 128 doors , which is 15.1 million in assets, $112,228 monthly gross rental income. We own 100% of it as in we have zero investors. It’s just us and the banks. We jokingly call our business “against all odds”. We say that because we had our daughter when we were 17 years old, we both had only a high school education. My wife did get a degree as an adult. My first two real jobs out of high school was being a janitor. So it wasn’t easy to get here..

Next goals… instead of grossing $100k monthly, I want to net $100k monthly in rental income. What excites me about that is knowing The amount of great people we will need on our team to make that become a reality.

@Kay M.

Yes, 14 years ago we started with a 60k heloc. We will be at a 128 doors next week. Best decision we ever made.

I would personally only sell this to buy more rentals. I challenge you to envision where you would be today if you had 10 or 20 of these homes that appreciated the way this one did. Are we at a perceived peak in real estate? Boy it sure does feel like it, but I promise you in 10 years you will be kicking yourself if you sell out and don't redeploy that equity into income producing real estate. 

I know it seems like it will take for ever for the income from the rentals to replace your income, and it will. But it will be SOOOOOO worth it. In 15 years My wife and I amassed a portfolio that grosses in a month what we earned in a W-2 year which was over 6 figures. The cash flow is just the icing on the cake, the real prize is the equity that it creates. As you mentioned above, One house has created enough equity that it now houses the majority of your net worth. That is the beauty of real estate my friend. Our portfolio generates over 1 million in equity annually. Imagine what that would do for your kids? What would that allow you to do for your Wife? What would your personal residence look like with those numbers?    could you change the direction of your family tree forever?

@Saurabh Kukreja

The market dictates what your unit can rent for. You can’t set the rents based on what will work for you. You need to find a deal that works with what the market will allow. I’m not sure what appliances the tenants are responsible for in your unit , fridge , dishwasher, laundry ?? But again, the market will dictate what is acceptable or standard in regards to appliances. I stopped asking tenants to provide any appliances. In our personal experience, the tenants damage the walls and floors past the point of any savings I would have realized. Most tenants don’t have a way to move appliances either. If your phone isn’t ringing off the hook with possible applicants , and the unit didn’t rent in two days something is drastically wrong.

@John Underwood

I tell them I am a real Estate investor. I am proud as hell of what my wife and I have over come, and accomplished. I don’t see the need to hide it. Their response is usually positive punctuated by the occasional “ I won’t want to deal with clogged toilets , or tenants”. I just say I don’t blame you and keep moving. On the flip side I have made some great connections and deals by being honest. My last deal

Was a fully owner financed deal for 25 units. That deal was made possible by introducing myself to some random guy in a parking lot, striking up a conversation, and being honest and clear about what I do for a living. He just so happened to own about a 100 units and wanted out of the business. We are actively working on a deal to buy out the rest of his portfolio. Say hi, ask about them, mention what you do… you have no idea where that conversation can take you.

@Barrett Boone

I applaud you for replacing it prior to leaking. You failed to mention a few important details. Gas or electric and if gas is it a power vented model. Obviously by the age of the water heater it’s gas. Electric would never last that long. You need to find out if it’s a power vented model or the actual cost of the hot water heater and let us know. You don’t need all the fancy features like WiFi capabilities and crap.

@Scott Winter keep asking your LOCAL banks if they require seasoning. I found one very small credit union that did not require it.

@Dustin Cramer you do not need a real estate license to manage your own rentals. How ever you would need to be licensed if you did it for other investors.

I agree with Scott. Its most likely a sign as to what lies in the future. I will add if its a rental under $1,000 I would run the other way. If it was north of $3,000 per month I may chalk it up to them being a professional. 

@Shiloh Lundahl

10k a month is definitely doable. My wife and I have done it. We have been in the game 15 years now. We started out with a $60k home equity loan. Purchased a 5 unit multi/family. Our initial plan was as follows. NEVER spend any profits. All moneys must stay in the business for the first 10 years. We will manage and maintain all the units our selves. Purchase a building every year for the first 5 years using just savings , creative financing for the initial equity. After 5 years refi the first property to pull out all the equity and purchase the largest property possible. That gave us the initial equity for the next 5 years. Then the plan was starting in year 10 to really grow using the brrrr method. So what does it look like now ?? Just under a 100 doors , a small parking lot, about 15 garage rentals. We net just about 3 times your monthly goal and have 5 million in equity. It is in no way passive. But at this time I don’t want it to be. I’m only 45 , and I love being an entrepreneur, I love designing and executing our remodels , I enjoy the acquisition process too. I enjoy dealing with most of our tenants. Of course we have a few that can be overly needy… but that comes with the territory. At any time we can hire a management company and walk away. We do have a full time maintenance employee. That’s our only additional help. Success looks different to everyone, and it’s also a moving target. We are planning on hiring more help in the future so it can be more passive as we are planning longer vacations. Our first long vacation will be touring the US in a motor home for a year. Any way. 10k is doable / easy for those who truly put the work in, are tenacious, understand it’s not all rainbows and unicorns, and practice delayed gratification.