All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Slaughter

Welcome @Kevin Baird, are you at the war college? We started investing while my husband was active, the demands of military life were a huge motivation for us to design a life that aligned with our interests and values. You can definitely use the frequent moves and VA loan to your advantage and you can get started as soon as your ready and have a team in place. BP is great and feel free to reach out as you get started!

@Fay S., you are an inspiration! Congratulations on all your success and thank you for sharing.

@Stephanie Knox I think it just depends.  If I am doing the traditional buyers agent/conventional mortgage/etc. then no.  But if it's assignable, seller/private financing, syndication, anything out of your typical wheelhouse I think it's helpful, and sometimes necessary, to get an attorney's eyes on it.

@Andre Wilson, I'm glad you took the time to post about this deal and I hope you take the time to evaluate the feedback.  

First thing that comes to mind is that the owner that has tax liens could likely have other liens. 

Second thought is that owner that has tax liens likely hasn't taken care of the property.  If all of these numbers were actually real, how many water heater/hvac/appliance/fixtures/electrical/etc. would need to go wrong before you had no cash flow? Landlord is probably a slum lord, I know you have margins to rehab but make sure you conservatively estimate rehab costs after your inspection.

Third thought, don't spend a dime on inspection or anything else until you get a clear report from the title company.  When I was BRRRRing I was under contract at least 6 times with properties that had liens or title issues.  It just comes with the territory.  Sometimes distressed properties come with distressed owners. Everything from the actual owner being dead to a lady not being able to find her husband.  No explanation, she just couldn't find him.  

Keep us posted.

congrats @Mark Ferguson!!

@David Krulac, you said it best! Culturally we really praise talent, it almost lets us off the hook if we consider our abilities as God given or not.  I couldn't agree with you more.

@Julie Marquez, that's the great thing about it, you can always grow and with each obstacle you overcome you can get more comfortable with being persistent.

Thanks and funny you should mention blogging, I'm working on it! I have really narrowed my focus lately but the blog is a goal. Thanks for the encouragement and I'll have to check out the link in your profile.

@Ingrid J., that is a great point.  Harnessing a passion can definitely feel like it creates a divide between yourself and those who don't share it, even if it is with loved ones/friends.  It's interesting, do you strike a balance with preserving the foundation/norms/values of those relationships or do you sing about your passion from the mountain tops? I don't want to be talking about myself 24/7 anyways, so hopefully listening and sharing other interests is the "balance".

I'll check out that book, thanks for sharing!

Thanks @Melissa Kirchhoff and agreed

This morning I finished reading Grit by Angela Duckworth, PhD. As I read the last couple pages I couldn’t help but think of the question that is asked in nearly every BiggerPockets podcast episode,

“What separates successful real estate investors from those who give up, fail, or never get started?”

I have heard the different answers from different podcast guests and yes, there are several qualities that make up a successful person. However, without grit, giving up, failing, or never getting started is inevitable.

Angela summed it up perfectly on the last couple pages of her book,

“To be gritty is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. To be gritty is to hold fast to an interesting and purposeful goal. To be gritty is to invest, day after week after year in challenging practice. To be gritty is to fall down seven times, and rise eight.”

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she uses the word “invest”. Anything we spend our time on is an investment. However, since we are on BP it’s safe to say that we share the same value of investing in something that could bring so much freedom and opportunity (read: real estate).

Angela goes on to talk about being interviewed by a journalist,

“He said, ‘So it’s obvious you could have talked all day. You really love this subject.’

‘Oh gosh. Is there anything as interesting as the psychology of achievement? Could there be anything more important?’

He chuckled. ‘you know,’ he said, ‘I absolutely love what I do, too. It’s amazing to me how many people I know who’re well into their forties and haven’t really committed to anything. They don’t know what they’re missing.’”

I took Angela’s Grit Scale and my goodness was I crushed (although not surprised) to find out I wasn’t perfectly gritty. Not even close. But there is hope for me and everyone else because we can become more gritty through practice. In the book, grit is described as the intersection of passion and perseverance and the idea that our work becomes more rewarding the longer we stick with it. Hallelujah! Wouldn’t it be terrible if our work became more miserable as we went from newbie to expert?

So for the new investor, stick with it. Find your niche—rentals, flipping, out of state, syndication, multi-family, notes, etc., the opportunities are endless. Know that success without conflict is unrealistic. Failure and rejection are well worn roads on the path to success. You can do greater things than you could ever hope or imagine. When things get weird, and they will, just go to the sage advice of Dory and JUST. KEEP. SWIMMING.