All Forum Posts by: Mike Paolucci
Mike Paolucci has started 5 posts and replied 323 times.
Post: Question on learning path and selecting a niche, finding mentors, building a team
- Realtor
- Columbus, Oh
- Posts 329
- Votes 470
Quote from @Jonathan J.:
I'm starting out my learning path and I've read the Ultimate Beginners Guide and have been listening to the BP Podcast starting from the old episodes. I've just finished reading for the second time in my life Rich Dad, Poor Dad (first time was as a younger adult, and now as a more seasoned adult :) ). I've just started reading "The Book on Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Turner, so I'm excited to get learning on that.
Question for the community, how did you all start your education journey that lead to your first investments (books, youtube, bigger pockets, etc)? I'm also curious how you chose your niche and strategy, like Single Family Homes, Multi-Family etc. Also, how did you choose your target market, was it your own geographic area or something else that lead you to another area?
Did you have mentors and how did you find them? I'm located in the SF Bay Area in San Jose, so if there's anyone I can buy a coffee in exchange for some of your time, I'd be more than happy to connect.
Lastly, I don't think I'll be ready to start seriously looking for a first investment for a few months, so the question is, when is the right time to start talking to people like real estate agents, brokers, lenders etc.? Is it when you're ready to buy, or when you already have a potential deal or is it before, just to introduce yourself? How did you all build your network/team?
For myself, I think my ultimate goal is to have an alternate cash flow to offset my dependence on a day job, which would allow me to choose a job I enjoy rather than have to find a job based on salary and ultimately allow me to travel with family more and enjoy life rather than stress about money.
Thanks in advance and hope to connect and gain wisdom!
Best thing you can do is what you're doing. Ask lots of questions and absorb all the material possible. I would also recommend attending some local meet ups and talking to seasoned investors / agents (investment friendly/focused specifically) since they're the crowd you'd like to learn from. Take lots of notes too. I've never met an investor that didn't want to help, share stores and experiences about the mistakes they've made. Most will want you to avoid the same mistakes and make your REI journey a lot easier.
I agree with what Zach said, learn by doing. I've found that is the best way to gain experience. When it comes to a mentor, again, Zach is right. Add value to them and they'll teach you a lot that will translate for years to come.
Keep analyzing deals and get good at running your numbers. "If it doesn't make money, it doesn't make sense" is a phrase I've learned and have stuck to. Analyze as many deals as as you can and get good at running your numbers.
Also think about investing out of state. If the numbers locally don't really work that well for you, it's a pretty good way to get your feet wet and use each property as a learning experience.
Happy to answer any questions you might have.
Post: Totally new to Real Estate Investing.
- Realtor
- Columbus, Oh
- Posts 329
- Votes 470
Hey Tony. Congrats on taking the first steps. Highly suggest attending local meet ups and picking everyone's brain at those events. You can pick up a lot of great, useful knowledge to help you start as well as learn from other people's mistakes.
Happy to share some experiences I've had as someone who started off by investing out of state.
Post: When to identify your target market
- Realtor
- Columbus, Oh
- Posts 329
- Votes 470
Wouldn't really focus on finding a market if you're not ready to buy.
Your time would be better spent doing research and figuring out what niche you want to focus on (single family / small multi-family / house hacking...etc) and what your budget is going to be.
Post: New Real Estate Investor in the Bay Area
- Realtor
- Columbus, Oh
- Posts 329
- Votes 470
Hey Jeffrey, congrats on taking the first steps in your investing journey. I was born and raised in San Francisco and started investing in 2021 out of state.
Make sure you attend some local investor meet ups. Those are great ways to get first hand info from investors. As lots of questions and take lots of notes. They'll give you some great information on things to look out for both in property and tenant selection.
Take your time researching and then once you're comfortable, start trying to identify a market you'd like to invest in. I chose out of state because it was cheaper entry points with positive cashflow from day one. The cashflow won't be life changing right off the bat but it's key to start your investing journey not running a negative (in my opinion.)
Happy to connect and answer any questions you might have.
Post: New to real estate ready to learn!
- Realtor
- Columbus, Oh
- Posts 329
- Votes 470
Hey Matt. Glad to see another SF native getting into the game. Attending local meet ups are a great way to gather more information from people with first hand experience.
Also think about out of state investing. Lots of good deals out there in other states that will be cheaper to buy with much better landlord laws than California (one of the big reasons why I chose to invest out of state).
Post: New but not new.
- Realtor
- Columbus, Oh
- Posts 329
- Votes 470
Hey Abel. You're on the right track! I would suggest spending about a year or so on BP as well as listening to podcasts / reading books on everything ranging from financing to taxes. Local meet ups are an awesome way to network and pick investor's brains on how they got started and mistakes/hurdles they've encountered.
With your background in the trades, you're already ahead of the game for majority of people looking to get into REI.
When you're ready, start trying to narrow down what market you want to target. I'm born and raised in San Francisco and ultimately chose to invest out of state in Ohio. Chose to do that because it was more affordable to buy properties and easier to scale over time.
Let me know if you have any questions. Happy to help out and good luck!
Post: Looking to kick off my first rental property in CA
- Realtor
- Columbus, Oh
- Posts 329
- Votes 470
Quote from @Rahul Ram:
Residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, I am currently exploring the prospect of acquiring a long-term single-family home (SFH) rental property in California or a location within convenient driving distance of the Bay Area—particularly eyeing regions like Sacramento or the Central Valley. The motivation behind this endeavor is to mitigate the overexposure of my investment portfolio to index funds and the stock market, seeking to establish a diversified foundation with the inclusion of real estate assets.
Given that this marks my initial venture into real estate investment, I am eager to dip my toes in the proverbial waters and assess whether I possess the aptitude for this venture. As I navigate through this decision-making process, a question has surfaced: Is my perception correct in thinking that California leans more towards appreciation-heavy investments rather than prioritizing cash flow? I am keen on gaining insights from seasoned individuals on this forum who have weathered similar phases in their investment journey. Your experiences and advice would be immensely valuable as I navigate through this exciting but unfamiliar terrain.
Hi Rahul. I was born and raised in San Francisco and ran into the same issue trying to find investment properties when I started. I ultimately chose to explore markets out of state and settled on Columbus, OH. I've had a pretty good experience so far and have gotten a good combination of both positive cashflow and appreciation. Entry prices are a lot cheaper and the numbers still work, even with interest rates where they're currently at.
California is also not the most friendly state towards landlords. I have a friend who owns a triplex in the bay area and his tenants stopped paying rent all together and he hasn't had much help from the courts in getting the tenant to pay. I also did some property management in North Beach, SF and it was just as difficult due to the tenant friendly laws/courts.
Happy to connect and answer any questions you might have.
Post: Single family Rental homes/ apartments investing
- Realtor
- Columbus, Oh
- Posts 329
- Votes 470
Hey Justin, congrats on taking the first steps on your Real Estate Investing journey. I'd recommend attending and networking at some local investor meet ups. Those are great places to pick people's brains and see how they operate. Also listen to the BP podcasts and keep doing research before you really dive in.
Post: Real Estate Investing
- Realtor
- Columbus, Oh
- Posts 329
- Votes 470
I would start by attending local meet ups and networking with other investors/agents/lenders there. Those are great ways to see what other people are doing, where they're investing and get a lot of your questions answered.
Post: does anyone feel like theres no deals?
- Realtor
- Columbus, Oh
- Posts 329
- Votes 470
@Alex Clark if you're open to out of state investing, check out the Ohio markets (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, etc.)
Happy to connect and answer any questions.