All Forum Posts by: L.D. Stauffer

12/10/2016 Can people change? Typically yes. Do they? Usually no. I've been doing small business (somewhat successfully) over the past 6 or so years and currently employ in excess of 60 people when considering full-time, part-time, virtual assistance and contractors (not to be confused with GC's). I'm no foreigner when it comes to hiring, firing, screening and interviewing but when it comes to construction workers, handymen and laborers, i'm like a fish out of water. Over the past week and a half I've hired 5 people and let go of 3. The first man, a contractor showed up ready to go, but on demo day lacked a hammer, a drill and reciprocating saw. Though promised he had all the other necessary tools for the next phase of the project. Since I wasn't born yesterday, those shenanigans didn't go any further. The second guy "who had all of his own tools" showed up to pressure wash the house with a tiny plug-in washer. The first day was questionable but on the second day he spent 6 hours and $20 worth of materials to caulk 10 feet of cracked cement while using "my tools" then had the nerve to stick me with $100 bill for a hard days worth of work. He has not been back. Third guy, somewhat competent was 10 minutes late on the first day, 30 minutes late on the second day and on the third day was a no-show all together. However he left his tools so I knew he'd be back. After 4 days of nothing, guess who showed up all amped and ready to roll? "Mr. no-show himself." Sadly I had to let him know he'd been replaced. That leaves me with the 2 current guys. An older semi retired journeyman contractor who thus far does great work and my $8.00 an hour felon who spent 30 minutes in the bathroom the other day and came out as high as a kite! I like both of these guys, however drugs at work... more than a huge red flag. But I'm getting behind schedule and am stuck to adhere to the phrase "beggars can't be choosers." I'm planning on finishing my rehab by the 20th of this month (Dec 20th) so I can hand it over to property management and spend Christmas with my family---knock on wood, or my head. Then I'll be back to start on the next one. I have met with a really good General Contractor who should be good for future projects. Obviously my micromanagement method on this first house will not cut it for future growth and scalability. However this is my MBA intro into real estate and I've got to get my hands dirty. -L.D. Stauffer

11/29/2016 Well it's been barely over a week since arriving in Indianapolis and today I closed my first deal! 2034 e Legrande ave Indianapolis, IN 46203 For $17,500 I know that nobody really reads these posts but in my magical world, somebody wants to drop off a big bag of money, or plate of chocolate chip cookies:) to the above address. Either or will be fine with me Leading up to today has been a series of emotional roller coasters. From good days to downright depressing ones. The Sun still hasn't decided to show, so just as the first day, I'm still completely lost. On a good note, I didn't spend too many nights shivering in the backseat of my Civic. The wife of a local investor actually took pity and put me up in one of their unoccupied units. If I was a normal person, I'd pony up the dough for a hotel instead of raking leaves and scrubbing out toilets for room and board. But the fact is, I still suffer from the deranged allusion that somebody could snap their finger and I'd find myself again on welfare. I know it's not healthy to think this way but my wife's working on me. I still have some rough edges that need polishing. Networking has been interesting to say the least. Probably mostly because of my overpowering, yet shaky voiced salesperson approach. It causes some investors to run in the opposite direction and others to kindly decline from "EVER" meeting me in person! I guess I can't judge them too harshly, sometimes I can be a little off-putting, even for myself:) Plus 1 week definitely isn't long enough to cultivate good working relationships, but if I'm not looking at properties or trying to figure out the streets, I'm twiddling my thumbs and my brain is going like 50 miles a second! Too soon is never soon enough! But there have been some really nice people that have taken their time to personally meet with and coach me in the right direction. •Harvey Levin (Harvey property management group) who spent 4 hours with me over dinner and many phone calls there after telling me that "being positive is a good thing but knock it off and look at the actual facts!" Sometimes I definitely need reality checks:) •William Hull who met with me at his closed office on Black Friday for at least an hour. •Jaren from the Brett Snodgrass team. Jaren took me out to breakfast and then (probably uncomfortable for him at first) let me tag along all afternoon as he drilled out locks and broke into all their recently purchased properties to do reports and take pictures. He answered a million questions and actually helped me get my first deal, the property I closed on today. All in all, it's turned out to be a great week! After closing I threw an ad on Craigslist for a Contractor/Handyman and my phone has been literally blowing up all day! I actually had to take it down just so I could write this post. Finding a contractor is going to be easier than I actually thought. Next step, rehab! -L.D. Stauffer

Hey Jay! I think what you're doing is awesome! For charity, for beginner real estate investors or just regular shmucks like myself. Attached is the travel log i've been posting here on BP of my last fifteen days of being in real estate. It's purpose is to hopefully give you a little perspective into the inner workings of my sometimes crazy ADHD brain and also let you see that I'm a serious newbie and will make things happen: NOVEMBER 10th 2016, I'm 33 years old (born in 1983) and never went to junior high or high school. I have a 3rd grade education. At age 29 I found myself supporting a wife, an ex wife (child support) and 2 kids on food stamps and working for minimum wage. That's when I had the, "I'VE HAD IT MOMENT!!!" I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. Fast forward 5 years... after reading many business books and working like no one else, I'm now retired with two successful million dollar companies that I personally started from the ground up. One in healthcare and the other in ecommerce. I've learned that there is no obstacle that can't be overcome with the right amount of grit and willpower. After being able to retire last year, I've spent the last 6 months in South America backpacking with my wife and our 3 little kids, ages 1, 3 and 4. However my wife recently decided that life on the road was not for us and made us come back to the U.S.. Now that I'm home I'm ready for my next adventure. Real Estate. I've spent the last 2 months devouring 10 hours daily every podcast and book I can find on my new found obsession. Other than house hacking and living in the basement of our now paid for home, I know next to nothing about real estate. But as I mentioned before, with grit and willpower anything can be conquered. I'll be moving from Salt Lake City, Ut. to Indianapolis Indiana with 500k personal cash plus a 10k or so monthly risidule to purchase "buy and hold" properties. My master plan is to build up a 75 unit (100% paid for) property portfolio within the next two years. So that's me. I'm hoping to meet and network with individuals here on BP that can learn from me and in return I can humbly learn from them. I have grit and talent that I can share but other than that, I'm a green real estate investor through and through and am in dire need of a real estate "friend/mentor" looking for a fun, crazy and wild ride. We all have things we can learn from each other and I'm a humble student that always takes action. I would love to connect with someone in either Salt Lake or Indianapolis as I'll be heading out there within the next couple months to start and I don't know anyone.  NOVEMBER 11th 2016, Well things are actually happening a lot quicker than I could have imagined:) I had a meeting this morning with a business partner and tried coming up with a "head out to Indianapolis timeline." I'm shooting for next Friday (Nov 18th 2016). Other than those who posted on this thread, I don't know a soul or really anything about Indianapolis, where I'm going to stay or how to accomplish what I'm setting out to do. All I know is that every time I have a goal and set out to do it, good things happen. So all your comments, pointers, past and future advice is much needed and greatly appreciated. NOVEMBER 21st 2016, After 4 days and 3 nights, a snow storm, 3 bags of Doritos and sleeping half way in the trunk of my 2 door, 2001 Honda Civic, I've arrived to Indianapolis! I'm not going to lie and say everything is handy dandy. To be honest, I'm feeling quite overwhelmed. I woke up this morning shivering in the cold. My car's back seats fold down for a makeshift sleeping area and somehow, I managed to sleep slide my 5' 10" frame into the Civic's trunk. Sliding out and bonking my head, I looked at my phone. It was 6AM (4AM Utah time) and the temperature was 21 fahrenheit. Fantastic! The Midwest humidity chills to the bone. There's no mountains here to recalculate my mental map so I was feeling completely lost. I asked Siri to give me directions to the nearest church (wanting to meet some locals) and she told me "head south." SOUTH! Where in the hell is south!? Trying to make out the sun at 6AM to come up with directions, is like trying to punch a square peg through a round hole... it ain't gonna happen. I blasted my heater and made several U turns before getting it right. At the church house I met a lot of really nice people. Everyone was glad to help. But all they really did was overload my ADHD brain with a hundred different street names, townships, school districts, neighborhoods, land marks and so forth. The fact that I'm not familiar with Indianapolis reminded me of my first week in Brazil trying to ask where to find McDonalds... we're all humans but I don't know if I'm hearing português or some type of midwestern dialect. It's all very confusing to me. All in all, a very overwhelming day. But I have to remind myself, "Rome wasn't built overnight." Today (NOVEMBER 26th 2016), Well, Jay, there you have it. Very new, very green but I'm pushing through. I actually found my first deal the day before Thanksgiving. A 2 bed, 1 bath for 17.5k. Comparable comps have it at around 35k with rents at $700. It shouldn't take me more than 5k to have it beautiful and rent ready. So I'm happy about that. Hopefully I didn't get too far off track but once again, like I said what you're doing is awesome and I would love to be a part of it. I would definitely like the opportunity to reform your house and help out with charity in the process. I came from the receiving end of charity and have been struggling to give back as it hasn't been very long that I've gotten to the point of abundance. It's a big shift for me and I've been racking my brain on how to switch my gears from fear and want, to abundance and giving. I think this would be a fun step in the right direction! Thx and happy holidays! -L.D. Stauffer

After 4 days and 3 nights, a snow storm, 3 bags of Doritos and sleeping half way in the trunk of my 2 door, 2001 Honda Civic, I've arrived to Indianapolis!

I'm not going to lie and say everything is handy dandy. To be honest, I'm feeling quite overwhelmed. I woke up this morning shivering in the cold. My car's back seats fold down for a makeshift sleeping area and somehow, I managed to sleep slide my 5' 10" frame into the Civic's trunk. Sliding out and bonking my head, I looked at my phone. It was 6AM (4AM Utah time) and the temperature was 21 fahrenheit! The Midwest humidity chills to the bone. There's no mountains here to recalculate my mental map so I was feeling completely lost. I asked Siri to give me directions to the nearest church (wanting to meet some locals) and she told me "head south." Where in the HELL is south!? Trying to make out the sun at 6AM and come up with directions, is like trying to punch a square peg through a round hole... it ain't gonna happen. I blasted my heater and made several U turns before getting it right.

At the church house I met a lot of really nice people. Everyone was glad to help. But all they really did was overload my ADHD brain with a hundred different street names, townships, school districts, neighborhoods, land marks and so forth. The fact that I'm not familiar with Indianapolis reminded me of my first week in Brazil trying to ask where to find McDonalds... we're all humans but I don't know if I'm hearing português or some type of midwestern dialect. It's all very confusing to me.

All in all, a very overwhelming day. But I have to remind myself, "Rome wasn't built overnight."

-L.D. Stauffer

I will definitely look up Brett's info. Thanks Edward

Wow! Quick responses, kinds words and good links. Thank you all kindly. 

I had a meeting this morning with a business partner before checking on this thread. And tried coming up with a "head out to Indianapolis timeline." I'm shooting for next Friday (Nov 18th 2016). Other than those who posted on this thread, I don't know a soul or really anything about Indianapolis, where I'm going to stay or how to accomplish what I'm setting out to do. All I know is that every time I have a goal and set out to do it, good things happen. So all your comments, pointers, past and future advice is much needed and greatly appreciated. -L.D. Stauffer 

I'm 33 years old (born in 1983) and never went to junior high or high school. I have a 3rd grade education. At age 29 I found myself supporting a wife, an ex wife (child support) and 2 kids on food stamps and working for minimum wage. That's when I had the, "I'VE HAD IT MOMENT!!!" I was sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Fast forward 5 years... after reading many business books and working like no one else, I'm now retired with two successful million dollar companies that I personally started from the ground up. One in healthcare and the other in ecommerce. I've learned that there is no obstacle that can't be overcome with the right amount of grit and willpower.

After being able to retire last year, I've spent the last 6 months in South America backpacking with my wife and our 3 little kids, ages 1, 3 and 4. But abruptly my wife decided that life on the road was not for us and made us come back to the U.S..

Now that I'm home I'm ready for my next adventure. Real Estate. I've spent the last 2 months devouring 10 hours daily every podcast and book I can on my new found obsession. Other than house hacking and living in the basement of our now paid for home, I know next to nothing about real estate. But as I mentioned before, with grit and willpower anything can be conquered. I'll be moving from Salt Lake City, Ut. to Indianapolis Indiana with 500k personal cash plus a 10k or so monthly risidule to purchase "buy and hold" properties. My master plan is to build up a 75 unit (100% paid for) property portfolio within the next two years.

So that's me. I'm hoping to meet and network with individuals here on BP that can learn from me and in return I can humbly learn from them. I have grit and talent that I can share but other than that, I'm a green real estate investor through and through and am in dire need of a real estate "friend/mentor" looking for a fun, crazy and wild ride. We all have things we can learn from each other and I'm a humble student that always takes action. I would love to connect with someone in either Salt Lake or Indianapolis as I'll be heading out there within the next couple months to start and I don't know anyone.