All Forum Posts by: Travis Beehler

Hi Mariana,

I started by cashing out my 401k.  Now, I will warn you, that if you go down this road, you educate the living crap out of yourself, so you know what you're getting into.  You can also look for private lenders (friends/family), or do a partnership.

Hope that helps!

 Also, just out of curiosity, have you thought about investing in other cities?  With the internet being what it is today, you can easily invest elsewhere.

 Oh absolutely.  Especially when you see other investments get you that kind of return without the headache of real estate ownership.  I remember signing that check for my first rental of just $22k and thinking "Damn, this is a lot of money and it's not really real".  I got more and more comfortable as I signed checks for $40k each on my next two deals too.  It gets easier, but that first one is nerve wracking! :)

Hey guys!

Is there anyone out there who can tell me the difference between a portfolio lender and a commercial lender who'll finance a single family home?

Most portfolio lenders I've seen ask for your standard 25% down, which is what I have my commercial lender asking me for at the moment.

So, if both require 75% LTV, then what's the point going with a portfolio lender vs. commercial?

Thanks in advance!

 Oh I agree, it's awful to cash flow here.  Appreciation, yes, but not cash flow. :)

Nope, have zero ties to St. Louis.  I found the city through a Google search, and a few phone calls and some news articles.

Hell, I have zero idea what my banker, property manager, and maintenance people even LOOK like.  :)  We've done everything through email and phone. :)

So how far along are you in your endeavors?

 Thanks buddy!  I appreciate it! :)

I can help in the motivation part!

In 2008, I got divorced.  I was making $2,600 a month as an IT Admin for a non profit (net), and my house payment was $1,750 a month.  I had 10k worth of debt, and 10k in the bank.

In early 2009, I took a look at my 401k, and found I had 30k in it.  I decided that wasn't enough and that I would make something of it.

I turned to real estate investing.  EVERYONE said I would lose my ***.  Everyone said I didn't know what I was doing (even though I educated myself every night for 6 months straight to make sure this was viable).

So, I cashed out my 401k, and bought my first rental.  $110k purchase price, making $250 a month.

All going fairly well.  Waiting to pick up the next one.

Prices in my area skyrocket, meaning I'll need at LEAST 30k to buy another rental.

So, I look around and find nothing.

I find Bigger Pockets.

They do an interview with a guy (I don't have it handy which episode), and he has something like 1,000 units or something like that.  Brandon asks the guy how he can do something like that, including checking up on the property, and he replies that he's bought and sold property without ever setting foot into the place.  Pictures, inspection reports, video, and a property manager is all he needed.  He's done it all through the internet.

Excellent point I think.

So, I look around for the best price to rent ratio, and Detroit is #1 of course.  So I go with #2 St. Louis.

I talk to 4 banks before I find one who will do a commercial loan on residential property of properties less than $50k.  I do a cash out refi of my existing rental and buy 2 properties with the proceeds.

Then the Ferguson shooting happens and riots start.

Crap!

I'm glued to the TV for info, and find out my rentals are literally 2 miles from all this nonsense.

But, the numbers hold up and everything dies down.

Fast forward a year, I'm making $800 a month net off of two rentals there and $125 a month rent here.

Deck needs a few boards replaced on my first rental and it needs resealed.  There goes a full year's worth of profits.  Time to sell.

I sell my first rental and focus on St. Louis.  By this time, I've got a rock star property manager and all is going well.

Bank says they are being bought out and can no longer give me loans because I don't live in St. Louis.

CRAP!

So I talk to 8 MORE banks until I find one that will fit my needs.

New bank is totally on board with my plans, and my property manager finds me a 4 house deal for $160k.  I take the proceeds from the sale, plus a few bucks of my own, and buy all of them.  Gross rents on all 4 is $3,500 a month, netting me around $1,800 a month profit.

Now, I got my bonus check from work (new job by this point) and that's going to be used for the down payment of my 7th rental (we close in a week and a half).

From 2011 to 2014, I was netting $250 a month in rent income from 1 property.  Fast forward to today, I'm pulling in a tad under $2,500 a month with 7 rentals.

I've been told "no", "you can't", "you don't know what you're doing" more times than I can remember.  I've been discouraged dozens of times, but NEVER entertained the idea of giving up.  The math was there, and I had goals I wanted to reach.  Now that I've FINALLY gotten things off the ground, guess who wants to suddenly want to invest with me and pat me on the back?

Yep, it's those same people who said I'd fail.

Funny how that is.

 Hi Xu,

You're better off searching around here.  While I do have a lot of experience, there's articles on here that are WAY more in depth that I could be.  Good luck!

 Thanks Steve!

Yeah, I think that once I hit say 100 units, it'd be time to reevaluate my time/profit ratios. :)  If I've got a solid property manager (which I do now), and he's handling the vast majority of stuff, and I'm only having to work a few hours a day/week, I'll keep going.  However, if I'm working 8 hour days just on real estate, but I'm making tons of cash, I think I'd likely dial it down a bit once certain things were done like my retirement house paid off, no debt, and say $500k in the bank. :)

 Thanks Jerry!

I agree.  Having reserves is crucial.  I would also add, that having good credit is equally crucial.  You might have $10k in your account, but if you're hit with a $20k repair, it's nice to be able to put that on a Visa if you absolutely, positively HAVE to do that. :)  I'd make that a last resort though. :)