Quick brag

[Neo]

Used to be a total spendypants. Started reading this blog in 2015 and changed my ways. Bought first rental property in May 2016. Just went under contract today on my seventh property. 6 multis of varying size and one single family. 21 total doors. $125k in annual revenue. The cool part is that the purchases are now partially financed by rental profits instead of going into my savings for the entire down payment. This will accelerate growth even faster. I really like being a landlord and building a business. Wish I had started sooner!

[CowboyAndIndian]

Congratulations. Way to go!

How did you educate yourself on how to buy rentals?

Where did you buy the rentals? Did you buy the rentals in the same area you live in?
No problems if you are uncomfortable answering.

[Neo]

Honestly I just read online about it, talked to a few people who were investors, and then just made the leap. I invest where I live in the Midwest.

[Car Jack]

The fact that you like being a landlord is key.  Too many stories here where people want "passive income" and think doing what you've done means sitting at home, watching TV all day.  You've done well.

[Gretamom]

Congrats!
Totally reminds me of our situation! We bought our first rental (two fourplexes in July 2014 & have since doubled our net worth. We bought another 2 fourplexes in 2016 and we close on 3 more fourplexes this coming Monday. We will then have a total of 28 units! The down payment for our newest deal is coming from the equity in our first property. We also live in the Midwest, which i love! We are close to being able to do our rental business / Property Management full time. We hope to "pull the trigger" this December 2018 or January 2019.

[Neo]

Nice! I too hope to do this full time someday. And I LOVE 4-plexes. 4 units but only 1 roof, 1 boiler, etc. You mentioned using equity to buy your latest properties. Did you do a HELOC? I haven't looked into that yet as a means of accelerating growth. What percentage equity were you able to pull out and what was the rate if you don't mind sharing?

Also you mentioned property management. Are you managing properties besides your own as part of your business plan? I looked into that but I think you have to have a real estate license or even a brokers license where I live.

[Gretamom]

We did not do a HELOC. Our lender allowed us to rewrite the first loan to roll all of the money into a single payment, which we were able to keep at the same amount we were previously paying, but we had to extend our loan from 15 to 20 years. We were able to pull 37% from our first property as a down payment on the latest property. We got the loan for 4.41 % for 36 months, then we will renegotiate after 3 years.

We don't manage any other properties, but we haven't ruled that out for the future! We love 4-plexes too! I think you get more "bang for your buck" so to speak! One property to maintain, etc. and the risk is spread out.   

[acroy]

NICE!!