All Forum Posts by: David Christoffel

@Scott Trench

@Mindy Jensen

Excellent material!  Personal finance is so often overlooked, and that act alone can kill progress.  PF is the basis of a solid financial plan and cements the critical foundation of a strong real estate investing business.  Feed the fire!

Oh...and I will be picking up my copy of "Set for Life" right after I post this :)

@Matt J.

Insightful question Matt!  These are always great questions as they produce subtle clues to understanding successful financial practices.  Anyone can choose to adopt or leave them, whatever works for their system.  This string reminds me of @Account Closed's BP podcast #151 "Finding Your Freedom Number", super good on understanding financial freedom and when it's right for an individual.  I didn't take much from the turnkey investing information, but the financial freedom details are great soak up.  

Sound like you have a great plan Matt, keep pushing out there, you'll get it some day!  I'm right in the race with ya!

P.S. The arrowhead is a great place to play!  I'm up there once a month in search of new adventures (mostly in the BWCA)

Phenomenal podcast! I was on the podcast bright and early, Thursday's can't come soon enough these days! @Jay Hinrichs brought great experience to the table, something any aspiring real estate investor can't go without. I really enjoyed how Jay talked about not only his highs, but his lows, and how he recovered from them. Big players fight battles just as small players do, it's an ever evoluting game. Great job @Joshua Dorkin and @Brandon Turner bringing in a real star!

Hi @Albert Olivarria

Initially, I looked at that added contractual statement ("as is, where is") as a catch-all for what the FHA appraiser doesn't catch. In my experience, FHA appraisers have guidelines with gray areas, meaning a hazard could be covered up, not fixed.

For example, I was looking at a property with a second story deck. This deck was in bad shape as it was ripping from the face of the house. In my opinion, the deck needed to be replaced and the rotten wood on the face of the house needed to be striped. The FHA appraiser came in and said the deck needed to be fixed in order to comply with HUD safety standards. So the owner had a contractor "re-secure" the deck to the house. The FHA officer came back after the deck was "fixed" and signed off on it. When we went take one last look at the property before acquisition, we noticed the deck still exhibited the same safety concerns as before. All in all, sometimes you have the best eye for your investment properties.

Be weary, do your research...good luck!

Hi @Ian Dalebroux!

Real estate is a fun, exciting, and ever changing game.  Flipping and rental properties are two different investments, but can be leveraged for gain when done together.  Some things to consider:

-  Flipping is effective when bought right, but more effective with a good contractor.  Get a good contractor, number one.

-  Do a large amount of networking.  Go to where the experts are and start asking questions.

-  Learn your market, understanding location and property valuation in your market is key.

-  Become a salesman.  Sell yourself and your cause, and you will receive more into your funnel.

A good path for you, being a college student in EC, and having intimate accessibility to the downtown/college market, is to buy a less expensive (older) property, live in it and rent out the other bedrooms/units.  You will learn the rental game as well as the fixing side of real estate investing.  There are opportunities, you simply need to gain enough knowledge to know what deals will work for you.  But don't sit on your intuition, take action.

@Brandon Urmanski 

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it!  Looks like I just missed the last meeting.  I will try to get to the next one in the coming month.

Howdy Kristen, and welcome to BP! I'm a local investor in the Eau Claire market, so I'm relatively familiar with the Midwest in general. If you'd like any help running the numbers and comparing it against deals I've seen, send me a message and we can chat. I haven't heard of the REIA in Rothschild before, could you send me more info on that? I would like to attend if the opportunity exists. Thanks! Dave

Hi @Benjamin Haberman!  I think it's great to see young, motivated, experienced investors educating the youth of the next generation.  The next-gen youth need to be taught how to be proactive about money, personal finances, and careful spending as it is most vital to their success in life.  It's a skill set most average schools lack in their curriculum, and very few people take the time to address that. You want them to be better than average.

A suggestion would be to spend a considerable amount of your session, probably in the beginning, talking about why personal finance and money should matter to them.  If they don't understand the fundamentals of capital generation and  spending less than they earn (most of them probably haven't even earned yet), they won't grasp the importance of your role as a real estate investor in their community, not to mention the number calculations behind a deal.  Give them case study examples of people who are financially successful and tell them how those individuals got there, it could be someone they all might know from the community, or famous celebrity, or political figure.  I believe a high school student is more inclined to listen to story about someone who used real estate as a vehicle for financial success and how they live their lives rather than a verbal breakdown of the math that goes into making a successful deal.  I think one of the true points to convey to high school students is that money will own your life if you let it.  Don't work for the dollar, make the dollar work for you.  

Hope this helps!

Howdy @Chris Marcic! BP has the magic, you just need to pay attention and soak it all in! Good luck to ya fella

Welcome @Justin Edwards!  I've heard about/seen a couple wholesalers operating in Wisconsin territory, but not as many as compared to more dense states.  Most are in the Milwaukee area.  Seems to me there's a gap here, maybe it's worth your time to fill it!  Just some thoughts:)