All Forum Posts by: Tj Troup

@Nick Rutkowski

This is what gets me out of bed!! Im with you, I want to be free to do whag I want, and go where I want, and to be in charge of my future. When you create a career for yourself, this is what you can have if you put the work in. I'm not this free yet though! Haha. More work to do

Thank you! But I have yet to turn it into more deals and investing. SO I have some work to do! Haha

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $127,650
Cash invested: $5,000

This is my current residence that I am working on myself to create sweat equity. Not as fast of a process, but I was working with limited capital initially so an FHA on a cheap home was a good starting point for me. I am hoping to leverage this property to invest in some cash flowing properties in the near future.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Being that I work in residential construction full time, I have built up a passion for taking ugly things and broken things and making them something to her appreciated and admired. I knew if I could find a property for the right price, I could add equity fairly easily with my skill set.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I found this property super basically on Zillow. But this house was the lowest price in this neighborhood but a very solid house construction wise. I negotiated over one other interested buyer by offering full listing price if they would cover closing, because I was capped at the money I had access to put down on the house.

How did you finance this deal?

I financed with FHA loan, 3.5% down payment.

How did you add value to the deal?

I have done real hardwood throughout, painted, and am currently remodeling the master bedroom. I plan to then do the master bath, and finish the basement. The basement will add about 950 sqft plus another bedroom/bath.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The biggest challenge with this house is doing all of the work myself, and investing my own cash into the rehab. Fortunately I save on labor because of my professsion. Recently we have ramped back up with the Reno because I have increased my income substantially in the past year.

So I am in the process of buying my first rental. it's a mid grade rental. I do my own work so I am trying to decide what things I can invest into this house to create more rent profit. I am not sure which items are worth it and which could just be a waste of money. all help and advice is appreciated:)

I am currently working in construction and making a transition into leasing for my company. It seems daily I am thinking of the Ideas for my future company I want to build selling, renting, and flipping real estate. I am only 19, (20 in April) and am recovering from a move to Pittsburgh for this job I have now. My hardest situation I find myself is in is having a lack of knowledge, experience, and financial stability to make any moves toward my goals. I am just taking it day by day and trying to soak in as much as I can from the people around me. My dilemma lies in the fact that I lack these specific things but have all of the energy in the world. So where/how does one my age with big plans learn patience? Success in this business doesnt happen over night. Help me get some sleep at night!

I would actually like to become my own GC on top of being an investor. I have seen people be very successful this way. With my prior and current construction knowledge along with my job in the field I can do a lot of the necessary work involved with flipping as long as the house isn't too deep in repair needs with my first house or two especially. I have an Idea of the type of work I can handle. Finding a property requiring that work is the hard part.. I am learning every day with my current job as far as building trades goes. Now I just need to start learning and building my investing knowledge while I save. Feeling out the best way to approach that! Any suggestions?

Thank you both for the replies! I am not sure exactly how I go about getting into a real estate job specifically? I am more of a hands on person and would like to do alot of my own work starting out to save money and learn. Not to mention I am making good money with the job I have now and it supplies a steady pay to allow me to save. I have alot of saving and credit building to do before I can actually look into making my first investment. Is any college required to get my foot in the door with real estate? Thanks!

Thank you! That's cool that you have family close many don't even know where DuBois is. Actually I haven't met any local investors at all. What is the best way to track down and meet investors in my area? To be honest I have always been a little nervous about that just because not many people in the professional world, even the field I currently work in a lot of the time, don't give a 19 year old much of the time of day simply because I am young. What I never understood is that I am here now in front of you telling you I want to hear your knowledge and do the best I can at getting ahead of people my age and STILL people have been very pretentious to me in past cases.

Appreciate the insight! How exactly did you get your start in realty? is it hard?

So because I am only 19 and very inexperienced I have been doing a ton of searching through local listings to see what types of houses are available in my local market. I have come to realize that I really need some key points and physical factors to base my decision off of. What price range should I shoot for? What are location factors that make or break a flip? How much work should I really plan on doing with my first flip? What makes a good first house to flip? Especially with very little startup capital I am looking for a lower down Payment with lighter work necessary to flip when I am starting out. I am capable of heavier work too but I have already come to find with the first flip you don't want to jump into too much work and get stuck. I am in no position to buy a house right now but am just trying to get a head start on all of my research just so I can set somewhat of a goal of what I am looking for. I am ready to really get to where I know where I want to start as a young ambitious kid without being TOO ambitious. Help?!