All Forum Posts by: Joshua D.

@John Warren the commercial lines are secured against some of our rental properties. They have to be first position so that takes a bit of work to pay them off in the first place but then it works slick from there. 

@Spencer Liddic

First off, well done! 

Secondly what are your long term goals? How many is enough? Something I'm trying to figure out. 

And thirdly, Scranton? As in the Office Scranton? I love that show! 

@David Bokman

Well said! Spoken like a true Capitalist. 

My concern is that we could point newbies to many better paths than trying to start a high pressure sales biz.  We as a community of investors could point new people to getting on a budget, saving up 10,000 dollars and the buying a rental property. 

You don't have to be 1 in 100 too do that. You can just be a below average dude and still win over the long term! I prove that every day because I am exceptionally below average. 

Wholesaling is for the a select group of salesmen.  Buy and Hold can work for a majority of folks (still not for everyone) 

I think this message should be shared loud and clear as I do not want people to waste time and money. Education is what BP is all about and I want to do my best to help people out. 

(you got me ranting again)   :) 

@Gayle Eisner

I would stay away from it then if you are outa state.  Numbers can be much better in suburbs or "bedroom communities"  of theses bigger  cities.  But the best way to realize these returns are to live locally or have a partner with vested interest to keep the place going. 

I have heard of people having 4 month long vacancy's in these small towns, while we have hardly ever gone a few weeks and usually never lose rent money. 

But we list as soon as we get a 30 day notice. We schedule cleaning crews to turn it around THE day that the past tenants are out.  

No one will treat your biz like you do. And managing properties is a biz.  Their are some good companies out there but the are usually NOT in the town of 5000 or  less.

This is just my opinion, Hope it helps!

@Andrew Syrios

@Mateusz Prawdzik

@Dan Redd

 It's not that you cannot be successful in wholesaling, that is clearly possible, it just that those who do well in it are 1 in a 100.    

Our local town of 100,000 people has 2 main wholesalers that run the show. While at the same time there are thousands of buy and hold investors who have done well and made money. 

I feel like I hear people all the time that say "I don't have any money so I'm gona start with wholsaling". Lack of capital is not a good reason to enter a biz. Saving money is a lost art and there are too many trying to short cut. 

I would encourage people to just know the challenges of what you are getting into if you are wanting to wholesale.  

@Dan Redd I would encourage people to start with buy and hold.  Save up some cash for a down payment and learn the basics. That's the path I would encourage new folks to take.  It worked for us. 

@Todd Dexheimer

"You can always get a line of credit set up, so if you find the right deal you are ready. Then if you buy something you can change the debt to long term."  

 Well put!!!

@Eric Bilderback

I see what your saying, It is fun to talk in generalities about what might happen. I truly enjoy talking markets and different investing strategies. 

However, at the end of the conversation, buying GREAT deals always wins out for me. You never reduce equity positions when you get great deals. You just transfer it, and watch it grow.  

For ME the right answer is use equity to buy more deals, especially if i can get ARV's that are double of the purchase price. I know the market would have to drop by 50% for me to be underwater and rents would have to do the same. I am comfortable with it as long as I hit those numbers.

And i never use up the equity, I just move it to the next house and double it.  Puts me in a stronger position for the next crash.  

Also I am in Montana, we skipped out on the last few recessions, we hardly got hit here. but we hardly go up in value as well. 

Just more of my rambling...  

Great question! However not one you actually want to get a specific answer on because their are a million variables... 

To help recession proof your investing you want to only buy GREAT deals. Cash flow like a cow, have tons of built in or forced equity, and will be desirable as a place to live no mater what (Location).  

If you are cashing out to buy deals like I described above than you will be in good shape. If however you buy Properties where you had to blur your eyes at the projections to make the numbers look black instead of red, then you might want to hold the phone... like permanently. 

Buy good deals...

The absolute most guaranteed source of "seed money" is from your own savings account. Saving money is a lost art in our culture.  

However we have used debt loads of times and out favorite source as @John Warren mentioned is Equity in our homes. Commercial lines and HELOC's are working great for us.

Best of luck out there!