All Forum Posts by: Anthony Gayden

@Chad Carson

I'm not going to use real estate to retire early. I will use real estate to build wealth and income. I have no intention of retiring.

Osvaldo Legrand I have used TSP loans to fund my investing in the past. The returns on the TSP are fine if you want an average retirement. I decided a while ago that the average retirement did not seem satisfying and that I wanted more.

Daniel Alva Many people own 1-4 unit properties out of state, myself included. You have to budget correctly for expenses and property management. This works better if the properties cash flow well.

@Austin Rose

It's good that you have set goals for yourself, but why not go bigger?

Also good luck in getting on with a police department. I have worked in law enforcement for years at multiple agencies. This career can be very tough on your personal life and it is often thankless. I applied at over a dozen agencies before getting my first position as a part-time Deputy Sheriff. After that I worked as a state corrections officer making $11/hour on the midnight shift. Back then I had no clue just how far I would go. I kept pushing even when things looked hopeless and now work for a large 3 letter federal agency and get to travel the world.

My first landlord when I moved from Tucson to Omaha was a retired Omaha police officer who also was a real estate investor and owned a portfolio of homes in the city.

Originally posted by @Andrew Syrios:

Don't worry about going super fast, especially at first. Just do one, then get it refinanced, then go onto the next one. As you grow bigger, things start accelerating and you're able to buy more faster. The biggest problem in real estate I see is people afraid to jump in. The second (other than maybe underestimated rehab costs) is people who get delusions of grandeur and want to grow too quickly.

 Says the one who owns literally hundreds of houses.

I will say that I have seen a few more options available to expand rapidly now that I own a few properties. Lenders are more willing to work with you.

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

@Adam Bordes

Wait a minute, so you're handling the financial side and holding down the job, while she's doing and directing the construction work? That's backwards from how it usually works in small operations, especially to start with.

There's an awful lot of cultural baggage that goes along with doing the renovation work. It's traditionally man's work, and although I agree the work doesn't know the difference, the culture that we all grew up in certainly does. Who can your wife talk to about this? Where does she go where there are other women like her doing this? 

It's also really difficult learning how to manage whole-house renovations well. For me, it's just as mentally exhausting in its own way as studying for advanced college classes or writing major papers, and I finished summa cum laude and went on to grad school in the Ivy League. This is one of the basic forms of project management, once you start calling it what it is, its easy to see why those skills do not come easily.

There was a moment last year when I found myself desperately pawing through the snow for a bit that jumped out of an impact driver, chanted like a dirge to myself, "This is my life...this is my life..." I remember three years ago I was doing a shower wall in a cold basement and troweling too-stiff tile mortar on the wall, an utter despair of the soul welling up in me, wondering how my life had come to this from what I imagined it would be when I was in college, when my parents celebrated every academic achievement with enormous pride.

And I'm a big guy with a long history in DIY, an extensive family history in renovation. I even come from an immigrant culture that does this work as a matter of course. Imagine how hard this is for your wife, coming from a background where "Someday My Prince Will Come" was an omnipresent part of her childhood, where being pretty was prized a million times higher than being capable.

I'm not saying your wife is shallow. I'm most definitely not saying women can't do as good or better than men at the construction side of this business. But I am saying that there is a lot of cultural baggage that goes along with her success.

Just scale back those HUGE financial goals and budget to buy your wife something nice next year instead, something to show for all this crap. One of the things we do is keep my wife in a late-model SUV. It's our single real extravagance in our budget apart from our vacations, which was one of the primary goals that got us into real estate. And it works.

 How about a flipping show on HGTV where the man is in charge of the design, and the woman is the General Contractor?

@Sidney Aulds

What I am really looking for are strong value ad opportunities. I want to force appreciation and make wealth out of thin air.

Originally posted by @Muinda Gueston:

I put my home on the market 15 days ago, hired a real estate attorney, and recently paid 500 for MLS. Been listed on MLS for 5 days and I haven't received any calls from agents to have a buyer tour. What am I missing?

I recently sold my first home FSBO so I hope some of my advice is helpful to you. I did not list on the MLS.

I listed the home on Zillow, Trulia, and I had 4 craigslist ads. I also paid for Facebook ads and I listed the home in several Omaha area Buy-Sell-Trade groups on Facebook. I also listed the home here on BiggerPockets in the Marketplace.

I cleaned everything up and mowed the lawn to make it look neat and tidy, even though it needed a little work. I put signs in the yard declaring it was for sale. I took pictures of the house to show it in the best light possible.

Rather than showing it as I received calls, I arranged for an open house on the weekend and told everyone who was interested to come to the open house. I also called, emailed, and told every single person I know that might be interested about the house.

Leading up to the open house I fielded between 50-75 text messages, phone calls, and emails. I also had a couple of people make offers sight unseen. I told everyone that we would accept offers on the day of the open house and that they should come and see the house first. The day of the open house I had probably around 100 people come to see it, and we received multiple offers over asking price. I took 25 copies of a universal Nebraska purchase contract so that people could give us official written offers at the open house. I was interested in closing the deal, so before anyone left, I straight forward asked them "Do you want to put in an offer now?"

Obviously, I believe strongly in using advertising. You should be at least as dedicated as a realtor in selling your home. Post it for sale everywhere, tell everyone, and don't hesitate to spend money doing it. Have an open house. Don't wait on agents to bring you a buyer, go out and find buyers yourself.

@Brian Garrett

You will have to do a few deals with a realtor before getting to the point where they bring you deals and pocket listings.

After I bought my first investment property, I had a realtor bring me my second deal, which was a pocket listing. They could see that I was serious.

I no longer am primarily looking for deals on the MLS. There is too much competition over too few deals. Not only that but other investors who do far more deals than me are getting those pocket listings.

Originally posted by @Connor O'Brien:

In Massachusetts is it necessary to provide my tenants with my phone number, or could I just give them my email and mailing address? I’ve tried searching for the answer, and I know I have to provide them with a mailing address where they can send payments, but other than that I couldn’t find a definitive answer.

I would prefer to have all contact with my tenants be through email, that way I have documentation of all conversations.

 You don't have to give them your personal phone number. However I would highly recommend that you give them a phone number to contact you.

Have you ever heard of Google Voice? They give you an alternative phone number to mask your personal one from your tenants. They will be able to call or text you via that number. If you do not want to answer the calls you can turn on Do Not Disturb, and it will send all calls direct to voicemail. You can put a custom voicemail message separate from your personal voicemail. You can call using that number through the app.

This would give you privacy and the ability to still attend to your business needs.