All Forum Posts by: Wendell Fong

I thought about this question for a while.  My kids are older than you so if they asked me what do do the answer would be different because they have a lot of support.  

If I were on my own with no help at 17, I would start off with something hard on the body but easy on my mind so I could learn a lot in my spare time.    ie. I would most likely start off in a construction company as a drywaller or carpenter's apprentice.  After 2years I would ask to be moved to a plumber or electrician's apprentice. (my preference would be plumber) At 21 after 4 years that is when I would make my first purchase.  

You would have W2's,  (T4's in Canada) a stable income to get a mortgage and should have a few dollars saved up for that down payment.  Not sure how it is in the USA, but minor's cannot execute a contract so you would need to be 21.  In Canada that is 19.   I would try for a duplex and house hack.  I would be looking for a problem home with "plumbing issues."  I would use my knowledge and free time to fix the plumbing issues /drywall.     As a property manager,  I see these issues all the time.   Leaking pipes, causing water stains in the ceiling/wall etc. 

Well that is my 2c for how to start.

I have been to a few REAG meetings. If you set something up... I'm In!

Will be 54 this year.  

1997 1 rental

2001 2 rentals.  Running a business. was not focused on RE at all.

2010 purchased a Warehouse and office to expand my company.

2013 purchased 6 SFH in Michigan

2014 sold business, retired, Kept the warehouse and office and rent it out.   Commercial is Way easier, but is a lot of eggs in one basket. 

2014 entered a JV 5 investors total was 97 units. ended in disaster 3 years later (good candidate for what was my biggest disaster and what I learned)

2017 decided to go back to work and get the skills so that if i needed to take over a property I could.

2018 got licensed and started work as a HOA community manager, built my trades list of 100+ contractors and have seen and fixed most problems.

2019 joined another JV 20 units.

2020  got my licence as a rental manager.. looking for work in that area or commercial mortgages, or development etc. anything to improve my skill set.

planning on purchasing my next 9-20 units apartment in late 2020-2021 with myself as the General Partner.  Lots will depend on Covid ..

Retired from 48-51.  Got bored, got a job in RE and paid to manage property for other people! Currently 53 and will change jobs soon to keep learning.   It is funny how the biggest deal here is to read and learn for free.    My friend who used to do lots of extra work had a saying..  I act for free.  (2-5 minutes of on screen time) They pay me to wait around!    My new saying is that I work for free and they pay me to learn about RE.

Don't rush things.. you have been working on this for two years?!?  I think you are on an very good path to success.   Where do you expect to be in 2 more years from now... 4 years from now?   I think the next level is commercial properties.  For residential it is 5+ units and a corporation to hold all the assets.  Then your company will be borrowing on the income it generates. 

I had a goal to replace my work income with rental income.  It took about 10y to complete.  I retired for 3y then I decided to set a new goal of 100k/month of net income!  I have a long way to go, but my plan goes 20 years into the future.  I went back to work in a related field, to get more skills and to really go all in. I listened to one of those motivational video/audiotapes that says the worst thing you can do is to set your goal too low and achieve it.   They recommend shooting for the stars and if you land on the moon, that's not bad. 

If you want to see what life, Property Management, rehabbing and life is like in Detroit I highly recommend the Shea Show.   

Shea Woods is one of my Property Managers in Detroit.  He is an absolute stand up guy and one of the hardest working guys out there.   He has been posting videos of his works for almost 10 years now.  If you want to see videos of evictions, or RE life in Detroit, the Shea Show is a great place to start. 

I purchased a number of SFH in Detroit back around 2011-2013 when Detroit was at its absolute lowest. The city was bankrupt and the Mayor was going to jail for corruption. Having an empty home stripped for copper and its water tanks stolen was not uncommon. My first few years owning property in Detroit were a near disaster. My first two PM companies were disasters. I still have a few with #3 and Woods Property Management is my #4. He did a lot to turn my fortunes in Detroit around.

If you have 12 units and the average rental lasts 24 months, then on average, every 2 months, you will have a tenant moving out.   That is the time to do repairs and upgrades to get the the unit rent ready again.   If the average tenant stayed 2y in your property (3 units) , then a tenant would be moving out every 8 months.   Before you try to raise the rent without doing any upgrades, do some research on your own for comparable units to see if your units were under or at market value for the condition and amenities.  ie. pretend you are a renter and go  see some units available to rent in the same area etc.   

Why would you evict a paying tenant?  Tenants that pay on time are gold.  Use the normal turnover in your tenants to up the rates and get them to pay the utilities when a new tenant signs the lease.   How many units are in your multi family and are they all individually metered?  

Do you live in Edmonton?  Edmonton is one of the markets that I am interested in, but I want to see some sort of drop on in pricing on Multi Family before pulling the trigger. 

What country do you live in and how much did you pay for the property.  Ie.  What you owe is not relevant.  What you paid (purchase price of the property) is all important.  if you paid 185K and you sell it for 185k your capital gains are zero.