All Forum Posts by: Elizabeth S.

Welcome! I buy and hold in Fort Wayne :)

Hey Chris! Welcome to BP! You're in the right place, if you read the posts here and the blogs you'll find lots of people who are profiting from real estate.

You mention that you want to find people using their own money to invest, I think what you're probably really looking for is validation that real estate is a profitable venture and that you're not going to be one of the horror stories and lose all of your money. Does that sound right?

If you're just researching, keep checking out the stuff on here. Everyone has their own story and of course you don't know us but lots of us have phone numbers list, just pick up the phone and call and see how you feel when you personally connect to people who are in real estate. Also, have you checked out your local investor clubs? They will be a great source of knowledge and connection for you.

I bought my first two properties when I was 23, my mom said it was a good idea and walked me through the process. It was SCARY! I had no idea what I was doing but I trust my mom and went with it. I wasn't making very much money on the first two properties, I was getting my feet wet and understanding slowly what it took. I've bought 2 a year for the last 4 years and the money and the profit is a lot different now.

Passive income will change your life. My husband quit his job after 10 years in the industry to follow his dream, we've paid off over $50,0000 in debt and now as we move into another part of our lives we'll use our passive income for me to stay home and be with our family.

Good luck!

haha, we have a garage like this. It's actually a late 1800 carriage house so it's a little bigger than a two car garage and it's PACKED. Weird stuff that I probably won't be able to find unless I remember it's there. This summer the plan is to organize it. It really helps having an extra space though other wise my own garage and basement would be full of rental stuff.

Good luck! I've done a few hundred hand written notes, it was torture!! It did generate calls though so hopefully you're able to quickly see results that make it worth it.

What's holding you back from hiring a property manager? They could coordinate with your maintenance man if there are any problems and would know all of the proper channels in a worst case scenario (eviction, finding and screening new tenants, large insurance claim, etc). Those are some of the things you could worry about and a PM would give you that peace of mind.

I agree, don't spend money on learning the business except for lunches. You can learn so much from those who are in the business. It's going to take cash to get started though so to some extent you're on hold but there is a lot of information to learn in between. Good luck!

Honestly, I don't. I get around it mentally by not relying on it as sole stream of income and by keeping a good chunk of emergency money. I don't really like numbers though either. While crunching numbers is great, I focus on buying with plenty of margin and finding a nice balance with extra money to do regular repairs and pay myself.

This is a commonly discussed tactic here. If you can buy at the right numbers to make it worth it for you than sure!

I'm not familiar with your type of loan but my first house was a government backed loan and because of that we had to fix things on the property before we could close because the loan couldn't be closed with these issues. Weird things like a gutter down spout wasn't attached properly, there was a whole in the ceiling and a couple if other things. So I wouldn't be surprised!

I'm guessing its considered part of the back yard. While inconvenient for you, you knew that when you rented it. Maybe you can work something out with the other tenant?