All Forum Posts by: Ricky Jefferson

Hello all, thank you kindly for the response.

10 single family homes.

I'm thinking about hiring an Account Manager to do my Bookkeeping. What should i pay for setup and monthly rate?

This is a follow-up to my original post - I have been eagerly anticipating my next commission check to start my investment journey. Well that day has come and I already had an offer on the table before receiving the money. Fortunately I have enough to make the down payment but my credit isn’t the strongest so I will have to find a Private lender of Hard Money lender to make the deal. I’m searching out all my options now. I’m buying properties in Mississippi and it looks like all of the lenders require a minimum of 150,000. I joined a local Credit Union so perhaps that will be my saving grace. if anyone have any suggestions on how to get this financed please let me know.

Bigger Pockets has been extremely motivating and once I get this ball rolling again I'm certain I will achieve my goals of acquiring 25 SFH's in the next two years and then moving to Multi Units. Increaseing my net worth to over 2 million in 5 years….that's the plan.

Cheers!

Hey Bigger Pockets Nation!

I introduced myself last month as a returning investor who lost everything and is now ready to get back into the game. I have to admit I was gun shy and I wasted many years sitting on the sideline until I discovered Bigger Pockets.

The timing worked out because I was expecting a large Commission check which was the perfect opportunity for me to go out and start investing in property again. My focus will be Mississippi to start because I grew up in Mississippi ( although i live in LA) and I have family in that area who can help me manage my properties. I took a two week trip and looked about 30 properties and I made an offer on two properties. My emotions were all over the place but after listening to several podcast about i was encouraged to make an offer on homes that I thought would pay off with a 1% or 2% return.

I set up an appointment with the real estate agent to do a walk-through and I’m happy to have found a real estate agent I can trust - someone who is humble enough to work with me even though I may have silly questions or redundant questions. After doing a walk though i decided that the items that needed to be repaired are not going to be deal breakers. 

Now comes the offer… I heard a podcast on Bigger Pockets that my offer should make them cringe. The house was listed at $80,000, I made an offer for $48,000 and sure enough they responded with an unexpected counter of $55,000 along with my contingencies. I responded to their counter with $50,000, 50-50 on closing costs and a one year warranty protection plan .To my surprise again the seller agreed to everything and I signed the final papers today to close the deal.

I'm now submitting my financials to a mortgage broker and I will also take advice from someone I heard on Bigger Pockets. I don’t want to put 20% down so I will be pursuing a Piggyback Loan which is 80% financed, 10% down and 10% line of credit. (I don’t know if this work) I asked the Loan agent to work with me and to be as creative as possible because I want to make the deal happen. Once this deal closes I will make an offer on my second property ( and stick with this agent). I will also send pictures and other details from the inspection on how things eventually turned out. I hope my process will help someone else because I was nervous about this deal but everything I learned from pockets gave me the confidence to not stop. i will appreciate any advice on the next step.

Andrew, did you pull the trigger on the  3 unit building in Northern Maine? 

If so, I would love hear more about that. Do you have contacts in thew area? Where is that comfort level coming from because I would like to look in Arizona as well as Mississippi.

Hey Bryan(B)!! We have to connect!

Lets keep in touch on this journey - and Susan I'm too very familiar with this substance they call Mississippi or  Yazoo Clay...lol. Thank you for the response.

Excellent advice on all parts! Although I know better it’s certainly refreshing to get advice from like minded people. I’ve been listening to every Podcast and I think I need to put my financial package together and start making a list of banks to pursue while I wait.

Just to provide a little more Intel on my background.

When I was in college my counselor told me I would earn a Million dollars in Real Estate someday. Not knowing what she saw in me or what she meant I keep the premonition in my head till this day. I moved to California after college at the University of Alabama in 1989.I looked for a job just to survive and as soon as I got settled I signed up for a Real Estate class at UCLA to prepare for my exam. I passed the exam and joined century 21. A couple years later I lost my passion for selling properties…the money wasn’t coming quick enough and I just didn’t enjoy the experience. Therefore I acquired my Property management certificate thinking that was the tickets but that never got off the ground. Several years passed and I eventually started making good money as a rep in Broadcasting. In 2005 I bought my first property. I experienced a world wind of emotions before pulling the trigger but once it was done I bought my second, third and so on. I eventually acquired 11 properties in two years, however I didn’t have a clue about what I was doing. Never thought to learn more about it. My brother helped me manage the properties in Mississippi but he was painfully relaxed about everything. In 2009/2010 I ended up selling all of the units except one. I still owned that unit today and it’s been a great source of income. Now I’m back on my feet after being milked dry financially over the years and I’m learning to do this the right way.

I’ve found my passion and being a real Estate investor is what she meant.:)

Great Work! im looking to purchase 3 properties this year and your story is very motivating. i especially love the spreadsheet. Where can i find that on BP?

Hello all, I'm new to Bigger Pockets and I'm super pumped about getting more aggressive in the Real Estate investing world. I listen to three podcast a day lol… I live in California and grew up in Mississippi. I bought several SFH's in Mississippi back in 2005 but I lost most of those homes after the crash. However I had one home that I new was a great investment and I managed to hold on to the house after three mods. I still own the home and it's the rent is bringing me a nice return. My mortgage is 399 and my rent is 650 per month... I've been waiting to get back into investing because my goal was to build a full service real estate investing company that I can run with my kids. I'm now 50 years old but I'm ready to start looking at investing again. I'm ready to start now but every house I see on the MLS sells quickly. I'm waiting to fly out to Mississippi before making an offer on anything but I'm wondering if I should just do it. I found a great agent who does FaceTime with me and has become my eyes and ears. I'm getting a big commission check in August so I'm afraid if I see something I want have the money in time to put as a down payment. I'm just feeling anxious about the whole thing perhaps I should just be patient. Any thoughts.