All Forum Posts by: Timothy Miller

Real Estate has been and always will be competitive, especially when you are chasing the most desirable properties. Some of the best investors are the ones that are able to adapt to the current market conditions. Be patient and continue learning, in time you will be able to be the person who is beating out the rookie investors for the desirable properties. Best of luck on your REI journey!

Wanted to potentially bump this up and see if there are any differences in responses since 2020. I recently started working on a property with a lot of nicotine stains and I find myself going over the same spot 3-4 times because it keeps oozing through after I clean it. My wife and I are planning to use this property to live in and really want to make sure it is a good and clean environment to live in. 

It seems like a lot of people have said that the walls need to be cleaned really really well and then at least one coat of an oil based Kilz is more or less the consensus. Like I mentioned, would like to see if any products or methods have changed on this topic since then. 

Thanks for the insight here and great success story! I'm considering doing something like this in the future so I appreciate you sharing some of your experience and strategy! 

Congrats! All the best on your real estate journey. I'm sure big things are in order. 

It's never too late to get started! You will become more knowledgeable bit by bit. It takes time but know you have a great BiggerPockets community here to help and learn from. 

Quote from @Felix Boecker:

Quote from @Timothy Miller:

Pretty early on the journey so far but here's how it is for me.

1) One of the biggest struggles is definitely going from a consistent paycheck to variability in income is difficult. It is significantly harder to budget and plan for the future not knowing where my finances will be.

2) Many of my extended family members actually own their own businesses and have been on a similar journey as well. They have said time and time again it is better to be your own boss and take control of your future rather than someone else determine it for you. 

3) I think one of the biggest fears for me is wasted time. I have long term goals and I don't know how my current situation will impact those goals. I might be learning a lot along the way but will the value of my new skills and knowledge make up for potentially lost time? 

The budgeting piece is definitely more challenging, especially in the beginning when the income stream is inconsistent. What are you concerned about with lost time? Is one of your goals to have more time freedom?

I would say it's twofold. One part of it is with the inconsistency and admittedly less pay early on. My long term goals mainly revolve around real estate and being financially free. I am a more recent college graduate and so building up capital is something that I am striving for right now and as such I feel like starting investing later is, in a way, some lost time. The other part is knowing that over the next few years it will likely be a lot of late nights and weekends to really grow which means sacrificing time with friends, family, etc. 

Pretty early on the journey so far but here's how it is for me.

1) One of the biggest struggles is definitely going from a consistent paycheck to variability in income is difficult. It is significantly harder to budget and plan for the future not knowing where my finances will be.

2) Many of my extended family members actually own their own businesses and have been on a similar journey as well. They have said time and time again it is better to be your own boss and take control of your future rather than someone else determine it for you. 

3) I think one of the biggest fears for me is wasted time. I have long term goals and I don't know how my current situation will impact those goals. I might be learning a lot along the way but will the value of my new skills and knowledge make up for potentially lost time? 

I actually really love this analogy. There seems to be a perception that going all in on something, like real estate, sometimes means throwing up the blinders and jumping in 110%. This can become problematic very quickly, especially for someone with little experience. 

Like AJ said, if you don't have a strong support team in place it can quickly be an overwhelming task. Do your due diligence, surround yourself with supportive and knowledgeable people and embrace the challenge. 

Real estate provides a unique opportunity to financial freedom that many 9-5 jobs do not. I am not there yet but many of my family members are. I know there may be headaches that arrive along the way but the consensus of the Real estate community is overwhelmingly positive. 

It can be difficult to get started because of the perceived risks and barrier to entry. The more and more knowledge I have acquired that more it just makes sense to pursue. 

What are some of your favorite areas of the country to buy and hold for the long term? 

Would love to see where people are bullish but also hear where people are bearish for the future.