All Forum Posts by: Michael K Gallagher

@Dwayne Johnson Not sure if you are still looking for recommendations or not...but I just started "fix this next" by Mike Michalowicz and it is a game changer! It's not specifically an REI book but it certainly applies to any business in general.

@Mike Dymski Absolutely fantastic congrats! I assume you are looking for something more productive then...."buy a porche!!" I think it depends on what you are passionate about, or what you want to do. Obviously many people on BP will say dump all that into some cash flowing property...which I'm a huge fan of and you really can't go wrong there. But if you don't enjoy REI that much then maybe it doesn't do it for you. Or if you like the RE side of things but don't want to be as active, I have several friends making great returns in their SD Roth IRA's. They basically max out those after tax contributions every year and lend it out to flippers and such to get some big returns. As we've heard on the BPB podcast their are plenty of small business out there that need taken over...perhaps there is a local business you love and would love to see do even better under your tenure.

  So I guess I'm saying make sure whatever you do with it aligns with either you and your passions...or with your goals.  but don't be afraid to stretch outside your comfort zone...especially now where your downside is very low.  

@Ronnie Allison The One Thing by Garry Keller is a major one for me...really helped me in my day to day.  

@Matt Jones fantastic questions, I'd have to say the biggest lesson I learned is that at the end of the day we are our own biggest limitation.  This experience has taught me that at the end of the day all I need to do is be disciplined and go after what I want, and that my effort, or lack there of, and discipline is all that stands in my way.  Stupid and cliche I know, but this entire situation has brought that out of me.  It's been somewhat of the "weed out" class for productivity for me.  

@Brady Salcido 

I am located in central Ohio, so I'm a bit biased to that area, I am a big fan of the area for a couple of reasons. 1) There are major employers in the area that continue to expand. These include Abott labs, Honda, Facebook, Amazon, JP Morgan Chase, Nationwide, Root Insurance.....The list goes on. 2) Logistically you can get to, I think its 80ish% (don't quote me on that number), of the continental US within a 12 hour drive of Columbus, so it will remain a logistical hub. 3) Then there is also Ohio State or "THE" Ohio State as all the natives like to correct you...so that is an economic driver for sure.

From a REI point of view I really like that the cost of either a Single Family home in the burbs, or a duplex 5 mins outside downtown is attainable, even for a "normal person" with a day job. As an example our current duplex was 100% flipped, like gutted to the studs and re-done flipped, about 2700sf total, and we paid $318K for it. I also like that there are a couple "trendy" areas, that are leading the charge in bringing people (like my wife and I) out of the burbs and back into the city. The city is also offering 10year, 100% tax abatement on most areas immediately outside of downtown (with a couple exceptions).

I don't know areas like Cincinnati, or Cleveland as well, but again generally you will just find that your dollar is going to go a lot farther. I have heard good things about Indiana, and Kentucky as well.

But if you have any questions, or just need some general guidance of where to start/look in the area, or really anything at all, don't hesitate to reach out. There are a couple of us on here that are on the ground and in the forums all the time that are big fans of the area, so even if it isn't me someone will chime in with some good opinions/info.

@Deniqua Antoine fantastic questions!  Honestly wish I read rich dad poor dad when I was in High-school or when I was 20.  I also really aggressively paid down my student loans when I was out of school, so either 1) not have gone to college and just got into real-estate or 2) Instead of paying down my loans put that into savings and purchase an income property to pay my loans.  I was putting something like 15K a year into my loans when I first got out of school.  

@Ryan A. Congrats on jumping in and welcome! I totally relate to the stress of not wanting to be over-leveraged.  What I've found is that if you start small and bite off a couple little chunks and let yourself get comfortable you'll feel better and better about adding properties.  I think a great option for you guys starting out is a house hack!  either a duplex, or even triplex or up to a quad.  This 1, allows you to get some rental income form the other units, 2, allows you to dip you toe into property management slowly and gradually, and 3, gives you some street credit with the banks to get further loans down the road.  

With regards to your "extra" 7500 a month. If it were me, I'd find a really nice well rehabbed duplex, that you don't have to worry about making a bunch of repairs on. Now these won't probably have the best looking short term returns because you will have paid a premium in most cases because it's already rehabbed. But that premium is worth the ease of operation if you aren't having to replace a roof for 15 years, or put in a new HVAC system or electric panel. But move into that Duplex ( or tri or quad whatever is the best option for you) put down the 20% so you don't have to mess around with PMI or anything, and then just take that 7500 extra a month after you have your reserves built up and dump that into an extra principal payment on that duplex. Get that thing paid off and cash-flowing like crazy and then either rinse and repeat, or at that point find a nice "forever" home for yourself and your family and let the cashflow from the duplex pay for that mortgage.

I think you'll find after you get into it and do it yourself, you'll know what questions to ask and what you are looking for and will feel more comfortable looking out of state. I'd keep that in the back of your mind because taking costal money and putting it into midwest REI is a killer way to grow your portfolio...just to give you an idea theres a property I'm looking at, on the MLS for 98K, already been nicely rehabbed, so with about $25K all in you could buy a cute little Single family, rent it out for 1200/mnth all day long, and after all expenses, clear about $450 bucks a month. My long rambling point is get comfortable locally, and then start looking elsewhere where your money will go further, if you want to grow.

@Remington Lyman We are in South of Main, or as I'm trying to get it to catch on...SOMA...haha, we are on Lilley ave. I'm pretty sure we are not far from @Zeke Liston duplex on E Mound.