Real Estate Rookie

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(00:00) Intro

(01:00) $30K Sewage Repairs!

(07:34) HUGE Eviction Costs

(20:14) Property Management Woes

(27:53) Advice for New Investors

(30:53) Post Your Question!

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Buying His First Rental at 19 by Doing What Most Newbies Are Afraid to Do Oct 02, 2024

Show notes

How hard is it to buy a rental property in 2024? With all the buzz around high interest rates and soaring home prices, you’d think that investing in today’s market is a lost cause. But if a nineteen-year-old can take down his first real estate deal with very little education or experience, there’s no reason why you can’t invest, too!

Welcome back to the Real Estate Rookie podcast! After learning about FIRE (financial independence, retire early), Elijah Berg realized that wealthy people had something in common. They weren’t just investing in stocks; they also owned real estate! Determined to follow in their footsteps, Elijah started saving for a down payment and built his buy box. Next, he found an investor-friendly agent and lender to help him find and fund his property. Eventually, he found a diamond in the rough—a duplex in an A-class neighborhood.

Tune in as Elijah walks you through his first deal and shares some personal finance tips that helped him prepare for his first investment. In this episode, you’re going to learn why time in the market is still more important than timing the market, and why new investors shouldn’t allow fear of the unknown to stop them from investing in 2024!

In This Episode We Cover:

How Bryan snowballed $20,000 into eleven properties (in under four years)

Building your real estate portfolio faster by moving to a low-cost-of-living area

How to get your spouse on board with your real estate investing dream

Using a HELOC (home equity line of credit) to fund more real estate deals

How to pivot to another investing strategy when things don’t go to plan

Why you always need an exit strategy whenever you buy a new property

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Buy the Book “Long-Distance Real Estate Investing”

Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area

Real Estate Rookie - Episode #452: The Rookie’s Cheat Sheet for Market Research (Find Where to Invest in 2024)

Connect with Bryan

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Snowballing $20K Into 11 Rental Properties in Under 4 Years Sep 30, 2024

Show notes

Snowballing a $20,000 investment into eleven rental properties…in under four years?! Most investors are happy to add ONE property to their real estate portfolio every year or so, but this rookie wants to get a head start on his ultimate goal—creating enough cash flow to retire him and his wife!

Welcome back to the Real Estate Rookie podcast! After years of job hopping, Bryan Field wondered whether settling into a traditional nine-to-five job would ever be in the cards for him. As fate would have it, Bryan stumbled on BiggerPockets at a crossroads in his life, and real estate investing quickly became his new obsession. The only problem? His hometown of San Diego, California was well outside his price range. So, he and his wife took a leap of faith and moved to Arizona, which is where he found his first rental property!

In just a few short years, Bryan has had the FULL investing experience—changing investing strategies mid-deal and investing in markets all over the country. Along the way, he has moved to low-cost-of-living areas to save money, rolled home equity into more deals, and found rare off-market properties (seller-financed)!

In This Episode We Cover:

How Bryan snowballed $20,000 into eleven properties (in under four years)

Building your real estate portfolio faster by moving to a low-cost-of-living area

How to get your spouse on board with your real estate investing dream

Using a HELOC (home equity line of credit) to fund more real estate deals

How to pivot to another investing strategy when things don’t go to plan

Why you always need an exit strategy whenever you buy a new property

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Buy the Book “Long-Distance Real Estate Investing”

Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area

Real Estate Rookie - Episode #452: The Rookie’s Cheat Sheet for Market Research (Find Where to Invest in 2024)

Connect with Bryan

Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-464

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The “Lazy” Landlord’s Guide to Finding (And Keeping) Tenants & Raising Rents Sep 27, 2024

Show notes

Finding, screening, and placing new tenants for your rental property is not only difficult—it’s expensive! Want to attract the best tenants in town and ensure that they stick around for the long haul? You won’t want to miss this episode!

Welcome back to the Real Estate Rookie podcast! As the self-proclaimed “lazy investor,” Dion McNeeley wants to have long-term tenants and as little turnover as possible. Today, he’s going to share the tips, tricks, and tactics he uses to keep tenants around for not just months or years but decades. The best part? He’s not doing anything the average investor can’t do. By implementing these same strategies, you can find high-quality residents and reduce turnover!

Of course, not every investor can devote twenty hours to their real estate business each week. Fortunately, Dion offers some portfolio-saving advice that will allow you to become a more hands-off investor. You’ll hear about a strategy that will have tenants asking YOU to raise rent, as well as a crucial document that could protect your investment when inheriting tenants. Finally, you’ll learn why retention isn’t always the best option and when to let a tenant go.

In This Episode We Cover:

How to ensure that your best tenants stay at your rental property long-term

How to get tenants to ask for a rent increase with the “binder strategy”

The agreement you MUST have in place when inheriting tenants

How to properly vet tenants before offering them a lease renewal

Retention versus turnover (and when it’s time to let a tenant go)

What you should know before raising rents on Section 8 tenants

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

BiggerPockets Lease Agreements by State

BiggerPockets Glossary

Canva

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Buy the Book “The Self-Managing Landlord”

Real Estate Rookie - Episode 369: Financial Freedom in 10 Years and $200K Cash Flow with a Small Portfolio w/Dion McNeeley

Connect with Dion

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7 Properties in 10 Years by Turning 1 Home’s Equity Into an Entire Portfolio Sep 25, 2024

Show notes

This assistant principal slowly and steadily used home equity to invest, helping him acquire seven properties in just over ten years. These properties have now seen sizable appreciation, and he has hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity, all thanks to taking it slow and making the right moves on the right rental properties. This might be one of the most repeatable paths to wealth out there, and you can copy it to a tee to build wealth, too!

James Likis got his start where many rookie investors do—house hacking. Except it started WAY before he was an adult. James remembers his family house hacking as a kid, which prompted him to buy, not rent, as soon as he started looking for his own place to live. After house hacking for years, he saw his equity grow and later used this one property to buy his dream home, which would help him build even MORE equity.

James has used this equity-recycling strategy to buy over a million dollars worth of real estate, and it all started from ONE house hack. You can do it, too, and like James, you may begin searching for even more affordable housing markets where your dollar can stretch further. Today, he’s sharing how he used his home equity to grow his real estate portfolio, why he decided to invest out of state, and a specific home renovation loan he used to turn his second property into a fully-renovated, high-appreciating family home!

In This Episode We Cover:

Why you DON’T need to rush to build a successful rental property portfolio

Using home equity to invest and cash-out refinances vs. HELOCs

The easiest way to start investing in real estate that rookies should try

Home renovation loans and what you MUST know before using an FHA 203(k) loan

Why focusing on investing for appreciation (not JUST cash flow) will make you wealthy

Long-distance real estate investing and buying in more affordable housing markets

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Invest Out-of-State with “Long-Distance Real Estate Investing”

Home Equity: What It Is, How To Calculate, & How To Use It

Connect with James

Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-462

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How to Hire a Virtual Assistant for Real Estate Investing for Just $5/Hour w/Valentina Brega Sep 23, 2024

Show notes

Want to work less, make more, and do it all by spending as little as five dollars per hour? Great! You’ll need to know how to hire a virtual assistant for real estate investing. Doing so can free up hours (or even days) of your time per week, letting someone else, who might have even more experience than you, help grow your business/real estate portfolio while YOU focus on the things YOU do best. Not only that, virtual assistants are often cheaper, faster, and better at tasks you've considered only for full-time employees.

We use virtual assistants daily in our real estate businesses and wouldn’t accomplish half as much as we do without them. These crucial team members are so integral to growing your real estate portfolio that we decided we needed an entire episode dedicated to them. So, we brought a former virtual assistant, now leader of HireTrainVA.com, Valentina Brega, to the show to share her advice on vetting, hiring, and training a top-tier (but surprisingly affordable) virtual assistant.

Valentina stresses (and we agree) that EVERY rookie real estate investor NEEDS a virtual assistant to scale faster. She'll teach you when the right time to hire one is, exactly how much they cost, what type of work you should delegate out to a virtual assistant, where to find a virtual assistant, and the virtual assistant-vetting checklist you can use to find one who will help take your business to new heights!

In This Episode We Cover:

How to get the highest return on investment (ROI) from renovations and amenities

Converting your short-term rental into a medium-term or long-term rental

How to choose the best investing strategy for your market (and when to pivot!)

The best exit strategies for a BRRRR (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat)

When to use a home equity line of credit (HELOC) versus a cash-out refinance

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Do More as a Rookie with “The Self-Managing Landlord”

Hire a Virtual Assistant for These 21 Tasks (& Supercharge Your Productivity!)

Connect with Valentina

Be a Real Estate Rookie Guest!

Work with Valentina’s Team!

Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-461

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Boost Your Rental Returns with These High-ROI Renovations (Rookie Reply) Sep 20, 2024

Show notes

Do you want extra cash flow? Higher appreciation? More bookings? A few high-ROI renovations or new amenities could pay off in a HUGE way. But which projects will give you the best bang for your buck? Stay tuned because we’re sharing some of our favorite additions in this episode!

Welcome back to another Rookie Reply! Are you using the wrong investing strategy? Maybe short-term rental regulations are cutting into your revenue, or your long-term rental isn’t cash-flowing. We’ll discuss how to choose the best strategy for your market, when to pivot, and how to flex between multiple strategies for the highest return. Finally, we’ll dive into the BRRRR method (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat) and compare several exit strategies for tapping into your home equity—from cash-out refinancing to DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) loans!

Looking to invest? Need answers? Ask your question on the BiggerPockets Forums!

In This Episode We Cover:

How to get the highest return on investment (ROI) from renovations and amenities

Converting your short-term rental into a medium-term or long-term rental

How to choose the best investing strategy for your market (and when to pivot!)

The best exit strategies for a BRRRR (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat)

When to use a home equity line of credit (HELOC) versus a cash-out refinance

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Ask Your Question on the BiggerPockets Forums

Buy “The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs”

Find Investor-Friendly Lenders

11 Ways to Increase the Value of Your Home or Investment Property in 2024

(00:00) Intro

(00:46) High-ROI Renovations

(11:19) Converting Short-Term Rentals

(18:18) BRRRR Exit Strategies

(27:56) Post Your Question!

Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-460

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Passive Investing 101: A Passive Path to Profit, Appreciation, & Tax Benefits Sep 18, 2024

Show notes

Visit PassivePockets, your resource for passive investing with syndications.

Do you want to get into real estate without managing rentals and dealing with tenants? Passive real estate investing could be the answer. In this episode, we’ll explore an investing strategy that allows you to enjoy all of the profits, appreciation, and tax benefits of real estate investing without the headaches of ownership!

Welcome back to the Real Estate Rookie podcast! Today, we’re joined by Jim Pfeifer, host of the new PassivePockets podcast. Like many investors, Jim used to self-manage his rentals, collect rent, and handle typical landlord duties—only to find that he wasn’t very good at it. Even after hiring a property manager, his problems didn’t go away. So, after he’d had enough, he gave up active investing altogether and poured all of his capital into real estate syndications instead. Now, he doesn’t have to worry about clogged toilets or evictions. He just sits back and collects a check!

In this episode, you’re going to learn everything you need to know about syndication investing and why it’s the perfect way to diversify your real estate portfolio. Jim will show you how to find and vet a syndicator, leverage your retirement accounts, respond to “capital calls,” and more!

In This Episode We Cover:

The pros and cons of passive investing versus active investing

Why it’s MUCH easier to diversify your portfolio with passive investments

Capital calls explained (and what to do when an operator requests funds)

How passive investing returns compare to active investing returns

Why the tax benefits are often better with passive real estate investments

The number one thing you must do when vetting a syndicator

How to find more syndication opportunities for non-accredited investors

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Buy the Book “The Hands-Off Investor”

Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area

What Is Passive Real Estate Investing and Is It Right for You?

Connect with Jim

(00:00) Intro

(02:18) Passive Investing 101

(06:40) Pros and Cons of Passive Investing

(09:32) What Are Capital Calls?

(18:00) Passive Investing Returns

(21:48) How to Get Started

(28:10) Raising Capital to Invest

(32:42) Find Your Community!

(34:14) Connect with Jim!

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The Secret to Scaling Your Real Estate Portfolio That Most Investors Miss w/Kathy & Rich Fettke Sep 16, 2024

Show notes

One rental property could give you a little cash flow, but if you want to reach financial freedom, quit your nine-to-five, and even retire early, you’ll need to scale your real estate portfolio. This might seem like a daunting task, but in today’s episode, we’ll show you how to go from a novice investor to a wealth-building entrepreneur!

Welcome back to the Real Estate Rookie podcast! Off the back of their latest book, Scaling Smart, Kathy and Rich Fettke join the show to share their best secrets for building a sustainable real estate business. Successful investors manage their portfolios like full-fledged businesses, so whether you’re still searching for your first deal or struggling to scale up, we’ll show you all of the systems, processes, teams, and tools you should implement now to prepare for the future.

In this episode, you’ll learn the crucial difference between growing and scaling your portfolio, as well as the number one mistake rookies make when attempting to scale. You’ll also hear about some creative ways to fund more deals, and, finally, the keys to a recession-proof investing strategy!

In This Episode We Cover:

Building a real estate portfolio that supports your long-term investing goals

The number one mistake rookies make when scaling (and how to avoid it!)

The difference between growing and scaling your real estate business

Key systems, processes, and teams to implement in your business today

How to set up your business to survive an economic downturn

When to make the FIRST hire for your business (and who it should be!)

Creative strategies to help you fund more real estate deals

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Emergency Preparedness Plan

On the Market

Buy the Book “Good to Great”

Buy Kathy & Rich’s New Book “Scaling Smart”

Find Investor-Friendly Lenders