All Forum Posts by: Joe Villeneuve

Quote from @Colby Easterling:

Quote from @Joe Villeneuve:

First lesson, which maybe should have been obvious (is now).
Garbage in, garbage out.

Second lesson.
Learn before you buy,...anything.  Getting your "feet wet", isn't a learning move, at least not a good one.  If you don't know how deep the water is, you may get more than just your "feet wet".

Third Lesson.
Cheap and discount are not the same thing.  See Lesson #1.

I didn’t realize this was public until I posted it. That property was still showing that I owned it so I just wanted to close it out as a reminder to myself. It’s a failure and it didn’t hurt my drive. I took a pause and finished my bachelors and stabilized my family since then. Now I’m going to start back with a little bit more planning. Thanks for your time! I don’t know how to make this post not public 🤷‍♂️. 

This is a discussion board.  It's public.  Where and why would have thought it wasn't.  If you thought it was private, then private to who?

First lesson, which maybe should have been obvious (is now).
Garbage in, garbage out.

Second lesson.
Learn before you buy,...anything.  Getting your "feet wet", isn't a learning move, at least not a good one.  If you don't know how deep the water is, you may get more than just your "feet wet".

Third Lesson.
Cheap and discount are not the same thing.  See Lesson #1.

How did you arrive at what you refer to as a plan (it isn't) of buying one rental a year?

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Brandon Turner's advice is old, outdated, and for the most part not relative to today's market. Cash flow is mainly a mechanism of leverage in the deal. Back when he got into REI, a retarded bloated monkey could "cash flow".

Kudos to him for doing it, but his rules and his dogmatic approach is also the same thing that made Open Door Capital a horrible venture because they skip over being pragmatic. That time has passed us, there's a different way to invest. 

Strictly cash flow is missing the forest for the trees. 

Not talking about "strictly cashflow".  One without the other, is a bad deal.  Regardless of the market.

Agree.  It depends on if you want to make money or lose it.  Rental properties are rentals to NOT lose money.  All cash costs, and negative CF is a loss, must be recovered before you can make a profit.  Equity is actually a cost of the property.  It's not profit until you access it in some form of cash.

I've seen investors loss properties with equity (a few with a lot of equity) because they can't sell at a price high enough to gain that equity, or because they can't refinance it due to the negative CF,...which would increase with a new mortgage.

Why?  Why not just buy it then list it as R2O?

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

@Joe Villeneuve Lol....

I would suggest that when you have a potential client/mentor/customer cornered and only have 30 seconds....just keep it short and sweet. Do not tell them everything about you, even if you have the time. Tease them with incomplete details and leave them wanting more. That will give them a reason to call you and ask for more. Be mysterious...

I probably shouldn't mention this, but I usually tell my students this, so 
I might just as well mention it here.  Have a fake phone call.
I hear a lot of heads being scratched out there (I never knew what that sounded like,...until now).
No, seriously.  Most people don't like to be sold to, so be subtle.  Let them sell you to them.  I've done this, successfully I might add, too many times to count.
Whenever you hear anyone, anywhere, talking about REI, especially if they are having problems, or want to sell/buy/rent, pick up your phone, and give your sales pitch to the person on the phone.  Your conversation should be based on answering the problems you overheard, and/or satisfying their wants/needs.  Make sure you have dead air (the person on the other end talks too), and make it real.  You don't have to finish all your sentences.  Like Bruce said, leave them wanting more.

What kind of elevators are you looking to buy?

This is an excellent post. Should be read, and understood by all. REI is about collecting dollar$, not properties. If you want to collect properties, there's a much cheaper way. Take pictures of all the properties you like, regardless if they will make you money, and regardless of the cost. Transfer these pics to your computer. Then set them up as your screensaver.

Approach them now about doing it, provide them the proper forms, and instructions on how to do it.  It takes little time to do it, so I always just filled out the form()s) ahead of time for them, and then just brought it to them to sign.