All Forum Posts by: Dustin Ruff

Frugal lifestyles and saving money. That's what I assumed. I feel like this needs to be made more clear in some of the posts and podcasts. So let me explain my personal story that gave way to the post. As a single father since 19, who's always worked 50-60hrs/wk, it's been very realistic that paycheck to paycheck living is not as easy to escape as some might think. My son is a sophomore in college now and I've finally been able to start saving money while paying his tuition. I've been a renter forever. No family to borrow from and finding an investor willing to season my bank account with no deal in tow is not realistic. No IRA to pull from so it's straight savings. Hustle, sacrifice and patience. I've been reading a couple real estate/business books a week and been listening to all the BP podcasts (and a couple others) to and from work from the beginning. I've made some great contacts with some folks and plan on getting my RE license this winter. Barring anything crazy happening I should have enough saved by next summer to acquire my first place or at least invest with others. I'm 38 and my plan is 60 units by 50. Ideally all within a small radius to have a direct effect on property values that translate into bigger school budgets.

You spent a year in Iraq and saved up. That's what I'm saying. Wow that's amazing. I feel like folks gloss over that fact too much. The word hustle gets thrown around too much. Sacrifice and patience need to be included in that hustle statement as well.

There are so many positive stories about people starting their investment careers on here and online that aren't painting a completely accurate picture. Most people are living paycheck to paycheck. The statistics on people even having a savings account, let alone 10-20k to put into real estate, are abysmal at best. Most people don't have a parent that can lend them the money either. And if there is a relative or friend with that money willing to take that kind of risk you need to be able to sit on that money long enough so the bank doesn't question it and then be able to find the right deal for it after that. The stories of college kids buying houses is great, but let's not pretend you made that money working in the student book store. And if so how?! My point is there's a big piece missing from these "rags to riches" stories. I think it'd be much more helpful to share how folks honestly and actually got to a point where they could make that first decision. Did your parents help? Was college free? Did you work three jobs and save for 2 years? Were your job earnings large to start with? How did you actually get there?

I haven't gotten savvy enough yet with the forum boards to notice (or look) for the other threads. I'll check them out. But I'm not sure if another housing crash isn't feasible in the foreseeable future. Maybe I am a pessimist 😳😊

@Account Closed Any city really.  Or country or region.   Just curious on everyone's predictions.  Also, how they got to their prediction.  

Looking at housing trends over decades you would expect a down cycle every +/- 7yrs. With the last up cycle lasting the longest period of time around 10yrs. We're approaching year 8 right now so it's inevitable that the down swing is coming. I'm an optimist and I think we've barely reached the median so I see another record breaking stretch. I think it'll top out around 2022. When do you see it coming?

I think what I'm narrowing it down to is buying a duplex and living in it to start with. None of which will happen until 2018. I'd love to get into something as soon as possible but I'm in a position that allows me to be patient until I find the right deal. It does seem like everything gets swooped up really quickly and over asking price. Except north. I currently live in north and am not afraid of this neighborhood by any means, which most folks are still writing off as too scary. Which might be an opening for me. Ideally I'd like to buy the duplex I'm in but I don't think there's enough room for improvements without raising rent on my neighbor and I by 400 each.

I'm planning on buying my first place next year. I have a lot to learn yet and am seriously considering getting my real estate license to gain more knowledge and access to all parts of the deal. Thoughts?

What's going on BP!!  I've finally pulled myself out of debt and into a solid credit score with my son going into his sophomore year at Augsburg.  I was ready to buy a house in the city but quickly realized that there's a whole lot more I should do than just settle with having a house.   Stumbled onto BP a couple months ago and have been watching skeptically from the wings.  I quickly found this to be an incredible resource, and have been consuming every bit of info I can get my hands on.  Looking forward to learning from you all and hopefully creating some successful opportunities as well.