All Forum Posts by: Rodney Robinson

Very impressive journey. Thanks for sharing your lessons and best practices @Anton Ivanov. It sounds like you have learned a great deal on your ride.I am inspired to do the same. Great hustle and dedication.

Hello BP,

I am very excited to share that my wife and I are closing on our first rental property. We are in our late 20's and have been wanting to do this for years; I have been studying investing, off and on, since 2013 when I found Bigger Pockets and we decided that now is the time to take the next step. I will give a few details below and look forward to hearing back.

3/2 SFR

Purchase Price: 115k
LTV: 85%
Rehab costs: <$5k

Expected Rent: $1250
Mortgage (+insurance/taxes) $840

Remainder of cash flow will be set aside for expenses and reinvestment. I am not yet a Pro member but ran the numbers on the calculator, which is an awesome resource! Accounting for expenses, I expect monthly cash flow to be at least $200. After we secure a tenant, I will ensure to provide an update with the actual cash flow. An additional bonus is the property appraised at $124, a nearly 8% increase over my purchase price.

This property is in average condition that needs attention mainly cosmetically. We are going to spend the first month of ownership cleaning the property up and addressing any key areas to minimize operating expenses throughout the lease term. 

The goal is to obtain a qualified and decent renter within a month and a half of closing. After securing the tenant, we will celebrate completion of our first positively cash-flowing property. We will assess our learning, any areas of improvements as well as celebrate the things that we did well in order to be prepared for the next purchase.

This first deal will not make us wealthy, but it was very important to us to take the first step. I am very excited to get started and grow as a real estate investor. I can share any more details if interested, but will leave it to this summary.

Thanks BP for being such a great resource.

Rodney

@Ben Leybovich thanks for sharing. I must be late to this thread. Great success story. 

@Ben Leybovich Beautiful find. It sounds like there will be plenty of upside!

@Josh Bauerle this is an incredible success story. Great job making the deal work, managing the cash flow to cover expenses, and strategizing your refinance. Now you have 10 Single families and money in your pocket! Inspirational story. I hope to have similar successes.

@Ricardo Gomez thanks for the kind words. It is as they say: "The first deal is the hardest." Lots of back and forth, a little doubt, but at the end, I know that this is the thing for us. 

@Joseph Sanchez Great numbers. Looks like a good find. Is it realistic to do the 72k worth of rehab in 1 month? Please let us know what you end up deciding. I am excited to see how this works out for you.

Hello Bigger Pockets,

I have been a member of this great site since 2013, but have been off and on as I progressed over the years in growing my family, relocating three times and growing in my career. It has been six years, and in 2019, after living in 3 cities, having 4 children under 5 years old (including our 5 month twins), my wife and I decided to get very serious about Real Estate investing because we realized that there will never be the ideal time.

I was listening to Brandon Turner on one of the podcasts speak about the importance of goal setting. It was around this time that the subject of setting big goals and creating a road map for your vision became paramount and personal to me. I knew that I am designed to accomplish big things in life, but when writing my goals down, I realized how short I was selling myself. I couldn't even write the goals without feeling a bit of resistance or awareness of the many obstacles. I decided that I had to change, and I challenged myself to "only thinking big" for three months. I created a 10-year road map that broke down a long-term vision into annual increments. The "next step" for me was to obtain my first SFR within 6 months. That plan was made a month and a half ago and my great wife was totally on board. Today, we are well ahead of schedule and are closing on our first 3/2 in 11 days! Thanks BiggerPockets for facilitating Bigger Thinking!

I look forward to connecting with you and sharing the journey as well as learning about many of yours!

Rodney

@Amie D. Good point on the rental price points. Another consideration is that to charge too low can create a similar set of problems. The $900 renter may not have the same life situation and appreciation for a rental as a $1200 renter. My neighbors are the second set renters that pay $900 monthly and they have struggled to keep their lives in order; meanwhile the house is getting in worst shape each year. Of course, there are plenty of great renters at lower price points.

It sounds like terrible PM:

1. Time to rent
2. Poor screening process
3. Did not have sense of urgency to address your concerns
4. Did not have sense of urgency to share serious matters with you

I agree that it is time to move on. Also, if you do not have a feeling, perhaps it is prudent to ask more questions to the PM about their screening process and what measures are taken in order to increase the likelihood of a high-quality tenant.

Sorry to hear this, but thanks for sharing. I hope it works out.

Rodney