All Forum Posts by: Derek Diamond

@Kristian Conway

Hey Kristian!  Welcome to the B/P community.  I see you posted this a while ago but I thought I would reach out anyway.  

Right out of College I was a stock broker and I hated it.  I liked crunching the  numbers but did not like being stuck in an office.  I chose happiness and quit when my boss offered me a partnership( I knew if I accepted I would be there for life).  I moved to Colorado and became a river guide.  My overall happiness went though the roof.  I was making way less money but truly happy.  I still liked finance so I started to dabble in real estate.  I now own and invest with my own portfolio and I ended up getting my real estate license.  I would say if you are not happy change it up and follow what you are passionate about.  Always easier said than done, I understand that.

@Aymen Mandil

Don't be scared of not knowing. Cover your bases with good numbers but don't be afraid to jump in! It won't work exactly the way you want but you will learn on the way.  

It is truly laughable how little I knew when I bought my first place.  

@Silvanus B.

Hey Silvanus!  Good Question and one I personally had a difficult time answering for myself.  I reached out to a few "producers" and never heard back.  I had coffee with 2 or so and then the relationship fizzled.  I then set my keywords for what I was looking and searched the forums for mentorship and found some people that shared their success on the public forums.  

At this time when I was looking for someone to help/mentor me I had a duplex that was in such trouble I was seriously considering selling for a major loss and just walking away.  That is when I found a local mastermind group that was just being put together.  I went to the first meeting and stayed part of that group for over 2 years until I moved.  The group helped me turn my dueplex around into a cash flowing property.  And then I was able to buy my other properties (you can see them in my profile).

I still consider myself new and when I have a chance to talk real estate with someone who is way more advanced I listen and just ask questions.  They may not be willing to mentor me but I can always learn one or two things per conversation.

Tips for you starting out

1- learn from books. My earliest mentors were the knowledge from books recommended on this site.

2. join or start a mastermind group- find some others starting out and you will be amazed at the collective knowledge and support.

3. Go to your local meet ups. Even if you can't contribute yet you will hear/meet/learn a bunch.  People who are very successful like to share how they got there.

4. Podcasts - similar reasoning from the books

5. What I told Eva... do menial tasks for an investor that they don't want to do. It's human nature if someone does something for you then you feel obligated to do something nice in return.  You stuff envelopes and they give you knowledge. 

I hope that helps a bit. If you have more specific questions feel free to DM me.

@Aymen Mandil

It will change your debt/income ratio but like most things in life that is not the only factor.  What is a deal killer to one lender might not matter to the next.  I bought my second property without a job and limited rental income (that was not close to 5 years of ownership, closer to 1 year) so you can probably guess I got a bunch of "No's" before I found a lender that would help me take the deal down. So I feel like I know a bit of what you are going though.  And with your solid rental income it might not be a problem at all.  I was just something I dealt with so I wanted to share.  In my state rental income can not be used unless you have 2 years or rental income. This is what I have been told time and time again.  The funny thing is, just days ago my go to lender stated that he could get me into a deal with a signed lease ( no history or anything) so things change.

Your plan about paying it back and repeating the process is a great plan.  Stick with your plan and don't let one or two lenders saying no change it.  Now if 15 say no maybe then revisit the plan.

@Bastian Kneuse

Great questions and something I also struggle with.  I have put notifications in my calendar to reach out to people but I feel that is not really scalable.  I have meet up for coffee, like you said great for my neighborhood but I do invest out of state and I have had a bunch of contacts slip away.  I will follow this to see if anyone else has a better way. Thanks, Bastian!

@Danae Aballi

Welcome to B/P!

I just use a basic savings account.  Not sure if it's the best way to go but I don't have to worry about to much risk and I have full access to the money why I need it.

Hey @Devin P.

Welcome to B/P, it is a great place to learn.  Both strategies can be a great way to go depending on how much risk you want.  If you do a cash deal risk is extremely low and it will cashflow right away.  But you will not be using the power of leverage.  It could get you  a very strong base to build off.

Using leverage at 20% is still relatively safe and this would allow you to have a large cash reserve.  Once you get going you could really amp up fast with multiple deals a year.

BRRRR is a great starting strategy. Good luck and welcome to the party!

Hey@Aymen Mandil

Welcome to the community! It sounds like you are off to a great start. I have used the HELOC strategy before and I personally like it. Mine had a variable rate so I made sure to pay it off and lock up a fixed 30 year mortgage.

When you use it, that debt to income will change making it a little more difficult to get another loan. Loan on your first house, the HELOC and the new loan. You will jump from 1 to 3.

If you pull out the money will the $400 a month in cashflow go away and/or will you end up owning money?

I would say all and all it is a great plan.  Good luck and welcome to the party!

@JoJo Tucker I have not read that book. Thanks for the suggestion!

@Jose Rivera

Welcome to B/P.  When I was starting my search for my first out of state investment I stated with the 30,000 mile view.  I looked at what states are landlord friendly.  Then I took the 5 I liked and looked at the cities that were growing jobs that I liked (tech, healthcare, etc).  Then I found an investment friendly and very knowledgable real estate agent in that town or city.  He helped me find an impressive management team(these can be done in either order).  Then I narrowed down to a part of town that I could get the returns I wanted that the agent knew and the management team worked in and finally bought a place.