All Forum Posts by: Salvatore Lentini

@Amanda Black - that was an ignorant comment that investor made.  Sure it's easy to say starting with small properties is slower than bigger ones but following that theory you should just buy $100M commercial property because you'll make more money.  There's success on paper and then there's success in reality.  It makes sense to start small and grow.  When you make mistakes on small investments the impact on you is small.  If you were to start with a big investment and make a mistake the impact would be big.  And in the beginning you are likely to make mistakes so why would you want to invest in something big?  Don't listen to Mr. Negative Know It All.  The best thing you can do is to get started.  Just have an Escape Plan for your money...meaning, how will you get the money you invest in property #1 back in your bank account?  Because unless you have an insanely high paying job, it's going to take you a long time to save up for property #2.

@Dino Dziljaj - Welcome!  The good news is, the midwest is where a lot of investors on the east and west coasts are interested in investing.  Also, while you downplay your 50K, it is more than enough to get you off to a great start.  I started with zero dollars (actually I was in debt) and 10 years later I'm now buying $5M+ properties.  BP is a great way to get going.  Keep in mind though, the biggest hurdle is actually getting started with your first investment property.  Many, many, many aspiring investors remain just that.  Don't get caught in analysis paralysis and keep moving forward.

@Monika Ruszaj

1) REI groups are a fantastic way to get started. On National REIA site they have resources and REI groups. There's a Chicago Creative Investors Organization on there. You can also search on MeetUp.com. I started going to a REI group near me many years ago. After a few years I started volunteering for them (helping set up, greeting new members etc) and that's when my investing career took off. 10 years ago I bought my 1st investment property (a $60,000 rowhome rehab) and now my last few properties have been $5M+

2) Personally I don't like that option.  If anything it may turn you off to real estate investing because your whole job is dealing with the headaches with none of the upside (cashflow, tax benefits, appreciation and wealth).  I don't have a problem dealing with the headaches of real estate investing because of the lifestyle it has afforded me.

3) Mentors are a great idea in theory but hard to find.  More common if you want to go that route is coaching or online courses as successful investors' time is valuable and they generally don't give it away for free.  Going at it on your own and learning through trial and error is very possible it just takes many more hours.  So some people choose the coaching/online course route as a way to expedite the time to achieve success or at the very least, force themselves to get started because Analysis Paralysis is a very real affliction!

Feel free to DM.  Happy to help answer any further specific questions.  It's funny, at breakfast this morning my wife and I were talking with our kids about what they think they'll do after college and all 3 said "not sure but we're definitely investing in real estate."  Felt good because I've never once encouraged it.  They've just witnessed what it's like to have a dad that does it.  I've been able to be there for every school and athletic event.  I've coached their soccer teams and was the director of the running program in their elementary school for all of them K-6.  I was in charge of 200 kids and 20 volunteers (including my wife) and some of our best memories are from all of those things above, doing them as a family.  All because of the flexible lifestyle and income real estate has provided.

So whatever first step you choose... the most important thing is to get started :)

@Jeff Hines - go with a direct lender and spread that $150K over multiple properties.  If you can find properties where you can add value (adding units, increasing rents) then you can increase the value of the property, refi and get your money out.  When I coach I always preach "You need to have an Escape Plan for your money."  Because you can't buy more until you get your money back out, save up more money or get money from someone else.  Well you can but it makes it more difficult when you have zero cash to work with (ask me how I know!).  That's how I started out 9 years ago.

@Nick Askew - cities in general got hammered during covid.  People moved to suburb and rural areas.  The thinking was, why would they pay high rents to live in the cities with none of the perks (great restaurants, nightlife, museums, art galleries etc) because they were all shut down.  They didn't need to live close to work because offices were shut down.  So they chose to move to lower cost of living areas because why not?  Cheaper, you get the same salary and everything you'd want to go to was shut down.  Prior to covid there were tons of multi family being built in Philly.  My guess is there's just an over supply at the moment.  I would imagine it's going to change over the next couple years as people have started migrating back to cities.  Some people realized that suburban or rural living just isn't for them.

House hacking is a great way to get into real estate investing.  Just make sure you buy it right and the numbers make sense if and when you want to move out or refi.

In this free workshop you'll get:

The 3 secrets to getting started in real estate and why you actually need to know what they are and which is best for you to be successful. A behind the scenes look exposing the hidden world of investing. How to find deals before others. 4 key investing tools. No BS guru stuff.

My life is night and day from when I got started in real estate and I want to help you get started today.

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@Sino U. - I did one flip in Philadelphia and never again.  Not landlord or rehabber friendly.  I'm closing in on 200 rentals in Philly suburbs (Bucks, Montgomery and Berks).  I've done a bunch of flips as well.  I'm a big fan of the suburbs.  They've treated me very well over the past 10 years.  Happy to answer any questions on getting started.

Having trouble getting started?  You've read books, watched videos and you've been lurking on BP but can't seem to get that 1st investment property.  I was in your shoes.  It took me 9 years to get started but then once I did, 9 years later I'm closing in on 200 rentals and I have financial freedom.  The internet is great.  You can find just about anything you look for.  Problem is, it's too much.  It's overwhelming.  Sometimes you just want to ask a question.  That one burning question that if you got an answer to might lead to another question...but at least you'd be moving forward.  Now's that time.  What's the 1 question holding you back right now?  Let me have it.  I did this a couple years ago and was inundated with questions but I'm ready this time. 

What's holding you back?  What's something you've heard about but doesn't make sense to you?  There are no bad questions :)

@Account Closed - with that kind of money you don't need to be down in the weeds.  Down here is for the scrappy folks looking to get to $5.3M.  Once you're there, let your money work for you...because it can make money 24/7 while you have time constraints.

@Grant Stuard - if you're using only your money it's pretty hard to grow quickly unless you are already wealthy.  Reason being, real estate, transactionally, is a pretty slow business.  Even a flip which is "fast" takes about 6 months (searching, finding, financing, rehabbing, listing, selling).  Rentals are longer so your money gets tied up even longer.  The whole time it's tied up in another property it can't be used for the next property.  I always teach my students to have an "Escape Plan for Your Money".  With a rental, that Escape Plan is through a refi.  If you have a money partner, private lender or hard money lender, you need an Escape Plan for their money (eventually) but it doesn't prevent you from buying another rental because you can get another money partner, private lender or hard money lender.  Or if you don't feel comfortable with that you can alternate.  Buy a rental with other people's money and when you're halfway complete, get the next property under contract and use YOUR money.  Then when you're partway done with that one the money will have escaped from the previous property (through a refi) and you can get another one with the same "other peoples money".  And you can do this with or without giving away equity.  As you start doing more deals per year it gains momentum.  I did 8 single family rentals in year 1.  In year 2 I bought two 4 units, a 6 unit and a 14 unit - so 24 additional units.  And it accelerated form there.  7 years after that my recent acquisitions have all been over $5M each and I'm into multi family, retail and office.  So in summary, you have the experience so don't be afraid to use money besides your own to scale.