Real Estate Rookie

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Latest Episodes:

60: Rookie Reply: How Do I Analyze Short-Term Rentals? Mar 13, 2021

Show notes

We’re asked a lot on how to analyze short-term rentals. Since short-term rentals have different expenses, rent estimates, and occupancy rates, running a short-term rental analysis may seem tricky at times. Both Ashley and Tony own short-term rentals and know the often overlooked costs of running a profitable getaway.

If you’re still looking for the best way to analyze your short-term rental prospect, Ashley and Tony may offer some much needed guidance!

Here are some suggestions:

Understand your average nightly rate, occupancy rate, and annual expenses
Use tools like AirDNA and Mashvisor
Use Tony’s short-term gross revenue formula
Try out the BiggerPockets Airbnb Calculator
Know the permitting laws and fees of the area you’re looking into
Add regular business expenses to your calculations (accountants, insurance, taxes, etc.)
And more!

If you want Ashley and Tony to answer a real estate question, you can post in the Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group! Or, call us at the Rookie Request Line (1-888-5-ROOKIE).

Links from the Show

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/rookie60

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

59: Rookie First-Time Home Buyer Questions Answered by Scott and Mindy Mar 10, 2021

Show notes

Starting out as a rookie investor means you most likely have a lot of questions that need to be answered before you dive in and buy your first home! Whether it’s a primary residence, a house hack, or an investment property, you’ll need to know about loans, agents, inspections, and more. With us today is Scott Trench and Mindy Jensen, co-hosts of the BiggerPockets Money Podcast and authors of the new book First-Time Home Buyer.

We’ve rounded up some of the most popular questions asked on the Real Estate Rookie Facebook group and asked the experts their opinions on them. Questions include:

Should I use an agent-referred lender or a mortgage broker?
Is more or less of a down payment better?
Does my agent need to find off-market deals?
How do I shop for loans?
Would you buy an as-is property as your first deal?
And more!

Scott and Mindy have definitive answers to each of the above questions and sprinkle in a bit of their own experience, so you don’t make the mistakes they did. If you’re about to purchase a house, getting into the planning phase, or just starting to learn about real estate investing, make sure you get a copy of First-Time Home Buyer!

In This Episode We Cover

How to find a lender and how to compare the ones you find
How loan applications affect your credit score
Getting inspections on your home and using them for price reductions
Buying an as-is property and what that means for your budget
Running your numbers 3 different ways
Keeping a healthy safety reserve, regardless of if your home is a primary residence or an investment
And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/rookie59

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

58: Rookie Reply: Doing The Work Yourself vs. Hiring Out Mar 06, 2021

Show notes

This week’s question is a very common one that has frequently come from novice and experienced real estate investors alike. If you own rentals, you may be thinking about this as well. When do you do the work yourself vs. hire it out? The answer depends on different factors, such as where your rentals are located in relation to you, how solid of a team you have, whether or not you have experience doing the work, and more.

Tony and Ashley both have different experiences when it comes to swinging hammers and laying down floors. One thing they agree on: you want to be in a place where you can hand off the work if needed.

Here are some suggestions to make the decision easier:

Create systems that allow you to step away if possible
Have a great team in place so you always have work to outsource
Make a checklist whenever you do a new task
Look at your goals and hire out accordingly
Read Who Not How, The E-Myth, and Traction
And more in the episode...

If you want Ashley and Tony to answer a real estate question, you can post in the Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group! Or, call us at the Rookie Request Line (1-888-5-ROOKIE).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

57: Virtual Assistants, Roach Infestations, and Turnkey Companies with Maria Acosta Mar 03, 2021

Show notes

Everybody knows someone who has attended some kind of course, workshop, or “guru” consulting. Maria Acosta attended one after watching HGTV, and ended up buying her first rental property from someone at the conference. What she thought she was getting was a turnkey duplex that had professional management and was rented out on both sides. What she actually got was a trashed duplex without tenants and a roach infestation.

Bad luck right? Thankfully, Maria isn’t a quitter, and all that did was inspire her to be more diligent with her future deals. Now, that same property has healthy cash flow each month (and no roaches). Maria has gone on to do a few flips, a couple wholesale deals, and owns 8 units throughout the United States. She’s learned some impactful lessons along the way, like how to fire and hire a property manager, what to look for in a pre-foreclosure property, and how to get a subject to deal under contract.

Maria has been through some tough scenarios that many experienced real estate investors would have never dreamed of. Ever had to track down the brother of a partner of a seller who has no address? Maria has done it. Ever had to get a father who is in a correctional facility in another state to sign a power of attorney for a property? Maria has done it.

She’s hired multiple VAs, set them up on a system and schedule to find off-market deals, and created a small real estate empire that is growing day by day. This is what hustle and grit looks like in a rookie!

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56: Rookie Reply: Tips on Owner Financing Then Refinancing Out Feb 27, 2021

Show notes

This week’s question comes from Cory on the Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group. Cory is asking: Owner financing would buy me some time to get the property rented and cash flowing as well as build some equity before taking it to my bank for conventional financing. Any tips, suggestions, stories on doing this?

Many real estate professionals have an opinion on owner financing (also called seller financing). Some love it, some hate it, and some just haven’t had any experience with it. Ashley has had some great experience not only owner financing a package of properties for sale, but also being the owner who has financed her property when selling it.

Here are some of Ashley’s suggestions:

Show the seller that you’re financially stable with some key documents
Work with the seller to find terms, interest rates, and payment options that work for you both
Ask the seller what they need to make this deal work for them
Draw up a letter of intent and attach an amortization schedule
Get it structured and drawn up legally with your lawyer

If you want Ashley and Tony to answer a real estate question, you can post in the Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group! Or, call us at the Rookie Request Line (1-888-5-ROOKIE).

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

55: Combining House Hacking and Live in Flips with Tyler Madden Feb 24, 2021

Show notes

Talking to Tyler Madden for any more than a minute, you can tell that he’s a smart guy. But would you ever guess a general contractor and real estate investor has degrees in biology and chemistry? Probably not!

Tyler went to school to be a doctor, but after leaving school he found himself in the restaurant industry. He was serving tables, which later turned into bartending, and later managing the restaurants himself. He enjoyed the growth he found in the restaurant industry but realized that there was a cap to the success.

At the same time, Tyler was fixing up his primary residence every so often, learning new tricks of the trade from online. He got so good at fixing up his own house, other people started asking him to take care of projects on their houses. Tyler loved fixing up houses, and decided to get his general contractor license and start up his own business.

Tyler was even inadvertently house hacking and doing a live in flip/rehab on his first primary home without even realizing it. He rented out a room in his house while he was fixing up the property, which helped him cover a lot of costs. When Tyler and his wife decided to move into another house, they kept it as a rental property, and held on to a LOT of equity that he is now using to pursue future deals.

He’s had a fire in a home, a break-in, and at one point had 40 cop cars surrounding him with guns drawn (he shares in the episode). Tyler is an interesting guy, and has a lot of knowledge to share on rehabbing, contracting, cost estimating, and financing!

In This Episode We Cover:

How doing a great remodel can boost up the price of your house significantly
Taking out HELOCs (home equity lines of credit) and keeping them around for future financing options
Starting an LLC so you can take advantage of financing later on
Using high-end finishes vs. using standard finishes for rentals
How to get your spouse on board when they are worried about real estate risk
Making offers on and off market so you can get a deal in an expensive area
And SO much more!

Links from the Show

Check the full show notes here: http://biggerpockets.com/rookie55

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

54: Rookie Reply: The BEST Apps for Real Estate Investors Feb 20, 2021

Show notes

This week’s topic comes from our hosts, Ashley and Tony. They’ve heard many rookies ask the same question: what are the BEST real estate apps to have? Well, Ashley and Tony have rounded up their favorite apps and created a list so you and your partners can invest more successfully and with less headache!

Ashley and Tony break down some of the best apps that they use in their real estate investment careers. Here are some of their suggestions:

Stessa: Manage the accounting and documents of a property
Propstream: An easy way to get lists for off-market deals
Wrike: Project management made easy
Dealcheck: Run your numbers quicker
Google Voice: Keep your tenants and vendors off your personal cell phone with a FREE business number
Everlance: Mileage tracking for business traveling
And More!

If you want Ashley and Tony to answer a real estate question, you can post in the Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group! Or, call us at the Rookie Request Line (1-888-5-ROOKIE)

Links from the Show

Click here to check the full show notes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/rookie54

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

53: Turning 9-to-5 Burnout into 24 Doors (in a Year and a Half!) with Kristie LeSage Feb 17, 2021

Show notes

Kristie LeSage didn’t mind her 9-5 much before she went on a hiking trip to Yosemite. When she turned her phone off for a few days, hung out with friends, and spent time in nature, she realized that she wanted more freedom in her life. After that hiking trip, she returned home to her husband and told him it was time for her to quit. The problem? She didn’t know how she was going to make money when she left her job.

After doing some options trading and making money off of it, she made the decision to leave her job by the end of summer 2019. While she was trading, her husband was getting into the BiggerPockets community, and through some of her husband’s suggestions, Kristie found another way to make money. In August of 2019, they closed on a 4-plex in San Diego. A year and a half later, Kristie and her husband have an impressive 24 doors!

Kristie walks through the benefits and struggles of owning multifamily properties both in and out of state. She also talks about the different types of funding she used in order to get them under contract, including conventional loans, HELOCs (home equity lines of credit), and commercial loans. Even without a W2 or 2 years of 1099 income, Kristie proves it’s possible to start your real estate journey regardless of where you’re at.

In This Episode We Cover:

The advantages of buying rentals in your state or out of state
Why multifamily properties made the most sense for Kristie’s situation
How to leverage an array of financing options to get houses under contract
How to avoid mistakes when vetting tenants (plus what to look out for)
Calculating your DTI (Debt-to-income) ratio before applying for financing
Self-managing multifamily properties even when they’re out of state
How to show a house remotely (and safely)
And SO much more!

Links from the Show

Check the full show notes here: http://biggerpockets.com/rookie53

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

52: Rookie Reply: My Debt-To-Income is Too High to Get Another Property, How Do I Keep Up the Momentum? Feb 13, 2021

Show notes

This week’s question comes from Meghan on the Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group. Meghan is asking: How do I keep up the momentum after closing on two deals, when my debt-to-income ratio is too high to get another loan? I’m too new to bring experience to the table, and without much cash or financing, what do I bring to the partnership?

We’ve heard this A LOT from rookies, and this is one of the main reasons that rookie investors get stuck and stop investing consistently. Ashley and Tony both have some great advice on keeping the ball rolling so your investment portfolio keeps growing!

Here are some suggestions:

You always have some amount of experience that is valuable to a partner
Find strengths in yourself that partners may lack
Share what you’re doing with other investors or in your social circles
Be confident on future deals: you’re bringing partners an opportunity
Look into other types of lending like commercial lending

If you want Ashley and Tony to answer a real estate question, you can post in the Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group! Or, call us at the Rookie Request Line (1-888-5-ROOKIE).

In This Episode We Cover

Debt-to-income (DTI) ratios and how they affect loans
Getting your personal finances together to show investors you’re responsible
What you should say to ANY investor who may be interested on partnering up
Finding a strategy that fits into your lifestyle
And More!

Links from the Show

Check the full show notes here: http://biggerpockets.com/rookie52

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

51: 18 Deals in 2 Years AND a Full Time Job with Kevin Christensen Feb 10, 2021

Show notes

Real estate investors are very busy people, and often, rookie investors become busier than ever as they’re learning the tricks of the trade. Kevin Christensen is no different, he works a full-time job, runs a retail store with 5 locations, and self-manages his long and short-term properties, all while doing some handyman work himself!

As a United States Marine, Kevin was used to the “improvise, adapt, and overcome” mentality, which has served him well in his investing career. Kevin only started actively investing in real estate around 2 years ago, but has so far done 18 deals, won a lawsuit, and hired two full-time contractors for his properties. He runs a very tight ship, and doesn’t let much slip through the cracks.

Kevin’s secret to success is centered around just being himself: work hard, be kind to others, and focus on customer service. As you’ll hear in the episode, Kevin was able to get a $350,000 house reduced to $190,000 simply by listening to the seller’s needs and being courteous throughout the transaction, something that the other wholesalers in his area failed to do.

If you’re interested in subject-to properties, it will serve well to heed Kevin’s advice. He was sued in the middle of a subject-to deal while renting out a house as a short-term rental. Kevin walks through exactly why the sellers were suing, how he protected himself, and how he pulled in $14,000 of revenue in only around 2 months!

You’ll probably hear Kevin on the BiggerPockets Real Estate podcast soon, because even though he’s a rookie in years, he’s a pro in experience!

In This Episode We Cover:

How to be a better wholesaler and listen to what sellers need
Getting your spouse on board for real estate investing
What a subject-to property is and how to facilitate a subject-to transaction
The best property management software (that’s also free!)
The importance of having a W2 income if you’re going to BRRRR, flip, or buy long-term rentals
Why short-term rentals can be serious cash-flowing investments
When to BRRRR and when to flip (depending on your goals and finances)
And SO much more!

Links from the Show

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/rookie51

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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