All Forum Posts by: Tony Stephan

Congratulations to you both. REI powerhouses for sure! Done right this is a very rewarding business all the way around and you are a testimony to that. Hats off!!

I love this post.  I couldn't agree more with your crypto & 401k comments.  For the last month I've been exploring the idea of dumping my 401k into an apartment building.  Of course the numbers have to work but when I find it that's the game plan. 

Hello everyone! 

My name is Gary Bennett, I am 22 years old and am eager to get started in real estate. I will keep this post to the point/short and sweet. I am looking for a partner/partners and mentors to help me get my feet wet in real estate, as well as start building successful relationships/connections. I have grown up in "metro" Detroit area (Warren, Chesterfield, Macomb Twp) and for the past 3.5 years worked for a moving company in the same area doing sales and became a sales manager. Between growing up in these areas and my work experience going into 5-10+ different households a day I offer great market insight. I know these areas well, I am able to find correlations as to where people are moving out of/moving into. The demographics of each area, etc. I start my pre-licensing course next week to obtain a real estate license. I have listened to 100s of hours of pod casts/videos on real estate and the many different ways to do it and am excited to learn and grow in this space. 

A little bit about me is I have always been business minded since I was a kid. For as long as I could remember I never wanted to have a regular 9-5 and always had a goal of being wealthy. I graduated high school in 2019 and went on to college and gained two associates in business administrations, and general studies. I ultimately decided to leave because once I had to transfer to a university from my local community college to gain the 4 year degree the thought of going into student loan debt didn't sit right with me. I always wanted to pursue an entrepreneurial route and didn't believe I needed to go $30,000 into debt to get a piece of paper to do so. During the time I was in school I worked full time as a salesman, and currently sales manager for a moving/junk removal company in Macomb, MI. I also have done/tried many different side hustles throughout this period. I played baseball from the time I was 4 years old up until I was 17 years old, I also played basketball for a couple years, and quickly fell in love with golf after I was unable to play baseball anymore. I have an awesome girlfriend of almost 4 years and is a big motivator for me trying to become financially independent so I can provide her and my future family a great life. 

I look forward to connecting, growing, and learning with you all!

John:

As a Detroit native and real estate investor, I will share a word of caution. 

There is a vast difference between Metro Detroit and the City of Detroit.  Many people I know will not invest in the City of Detroit due to the large, incompetent, and arguably corrupt government.  Also, the nature of the neighborhood can change dramatically block by block.  While Michigan law is fairly landlord friendly, some judges, particularly in Detroit, are not.  Be very, very careful. That said, there are plenty of suburbs outside the city that may meet your criteria.

You should also know that real estate in Metro Detroit is cyclical, correlated with the ups and downs of the auto industry.  The best time to buy is during a recession and the best time to sell is when car sales are reaching new peaks.

@Tony & Andrea Stephan: What would you say is the average monthly cash flow, before property management expences per property? $100 a month or $200 a month or $1,000 a month or somewhere in between? A lot of people getting into rentals may have a wildly misunderstood number in mind or no number at all.

 Currently have 27 units and it takes a few hours a week of my time. I spend the rest of my time building new units.

Hey yall, so I'm looking around in Detroit, Michigan and Ohio i'm wondering if these listings where the house is fully remodelled are even worth it? There's a reason someone's selling it right? Most likely an investor who is trying to get rid of it. Or am I wrong?

Hello all!

I'm a new investor in my 20's, getting ready to file my first year of owning a Duplex - renting half and living in the other half. My questions surround how to structure my taxes of course. I've always filed myself, very cut and dry profile...single, no kids, no LLC, W2 wage. A 15 minutes on TurboTax type. With the Duplex now, my understanding is I file as though the rental half is a separate property and cut all expenses in half as a write off to my rental income (property tax, insurance, maintenance, improvements, etc...nothing was done specifically to either unit it was full home external work like garage and railing repairs, painting) as well as depreciating the half of the duplex that is a rental after calculating basis.

It all seems very straightforward to me but I know I'd be naive not to have a second set of eyes with a professional given my lack of experience. However I don't want to get taken to the cleaners for hundreds or thousands for someone to essentially say "yep, looks good."

I'm sure everyone will tell me to still get one, but what in your experience is a reasonable price for a client like myself? Also, open to recommendations if I decide to hire someone. I'm in Metro Detroit, Michigan.

Thank you for your time, cheers!