All Forum Posts by: Darius Kellar

@Rubin Thomas

I am planning to build my empire here in pontiac for the long term. So it has been good. 

Its a market with a stable and good balance of short term appreciation and rents. 

I do want to clear up that buying a property because it is cheap is not necessarily a great reason. What I ultimately learned from buying cheap properties nearly a decade and using the BRRRR strategy; is that I needed a great balance of positive monthly cash flow and short-term market appreciation.

The monthly cash flow from the 2,500 single family property was great but after I combined it with the high short term market appreciation it was well worth it. There were times in the past when I did not have the extra equity to expedite my portfolio. After I understood the relationship between positive monthly cashflow and short term appreciation I was able to take my portfolio to a new level.

I really appreciate all the Bigger Pockets fans! We are in this journey together.

Millionaire Real Investor by Gary  Keller.

Hi Mike,

Welcome.  Your in the right place. 

1. Hi Sam,
   Welcome to BP!
   
2. Become an expert in atleast 1 market. For example, I am an expert in the Pontiac, Michigan market for long term rentals. I know this market extremely well. I started in more in the recovery phase of the recession for Pontiac. 
3. 2. From my personal and direct experience working with newer or experienced investors most seem to run into trouble when they buy too many BRRRR properties to quickly.
4. 3. Theres nothing wrong with starting with multi family. I started with single family homes and have stuck with it. My average tenant typically stays in the property 3 to 4 years. So very little turnover. I can only speak on what I’ve experienced in my short 10 year of investing. I really think you are a lot further ahead than I was when I started.

@Eliott Elias

Well said.

@Scott E.

Good point.  I can provide detail that none of the work that we are doing requires permitting. Nothing is full proof, but I do have the proper paperwork in place.

@Taylor L.

Thanks. I'll check it out.

After starting my real estate journey in 2014 and for many years after, I did not understand the impact of having a consistent person to do tasks. In the past, I would have most of the tasks completed by a large company or a general contractor. Just to have my part time employee handle repetitive things like painting, dry wall, flooring, trash, landscaping, demoing, has been a tremendous help. I am able to have less delay time in between tasks.

I am currently paying my employee 25 an hour for non skilled tasks such as the demo work and trash clean up. For the tasks that require skill for instance painting and installing floors I am paying 30 per hour.

Next year in 2024 I plan to add a second employee part time. The plan would be to BRRRR 2 homes at the same time with the help of my workforce. If anyone has experience on building a small team please share. Maybe you can provide some ideas to me in this area because I am new at building a team.

@Lu Cynda

Since there are 2 different types of appraisals, I would first say get an evaluation of the current value of the property and then use that data to make an informed decision.

I would hate for you to fix up the property without a goal idea of the value.