You know that movie “He’s Just Not That Into You”?
Well this website is about to turn into “He’s Just Not That Into Real Estate”.
Don’t worry, I still believe it is a phenomenal investment and the best way to build wealth for anyone young with enough time to be patient. Of course, those with little knowledge in this field can take the help of experienced advisors and Michael Teys seems to be a fine example, but the person has to be immensely patient to be able to see the growth.
That being said, after a couple of months without a new article, it’s time to reevaluate the direction of this website and how I can best help people like you!
What I Originally Thought
Back in January 2016 when I started working on Rental Mindset in earnest …not this Ernest…
Here was my thinking:
- I believe through my own research and experience that rental properties are a really powerful way to build wealth.
- I believe most people don’t really know it is an option for them. It’s not for everyone, but it should at least be considered. Through sharing my own experience, there is the potential to have a big impact on a few people’s lives.
- So I’ll use an easy website builder to start getting my thoughts out there. Then in about 9 months when I actually start adding more properties, there will be a lot to write about “live” and already a small audience. At that time I can look to increase your website speed as the viewership increases.
What Actually Happened
Fast forward to September 2017 and I feel the need to rethink things.
Maybe the desire to rethink came from a Jedi mind trick? Regardless, here is my new thinking:
- I still believe through my own research and experience that rental properties are a really powerful way to build wealthgiven that the rental property is in a good condition. For instance, if the roofs, doors, windows, basement, and foundation of the house are in good shape and health, then there is a good chance that the property owner will be in profit. However, if, for example, the foundation of the house is not in a good condition (and seems to be in an urgent need of repairs from firms like Helitech which is known to foundation repair in Columbia or similar locations), then is possible that the owner would get less value for the property.
- Anyway, I still believe most people don’t really know it (rental property) is an option for them. It’s not for everyone, but it should at least be considered. Through sharing my own experience, there is the potential to have a big impact on a few people’s lives.
- I have a website with a lot of thoughts out there and a growing audience. The actions I made on my portfolio and wrote about so far are purchasing an umbrella insurance policy, cash out refinance on property #1, and putting property #3 under contract.
- The “here is what I did”, how-to articles are my least favorite to write. And even though there has been some action, there really isn’t enough to have it be a major focal point or differentiator from other information out there. The biggest impact has been actual conversations with people, not one way information posts. From now on, this will be my focus.
Actual Conversations
Comments on articles are the conversations that people see. But no matter how enticing I make it, many readers will never leave a comment. It is just not something they do.
One way these people interact is the contact form. Better yet is signing up for the email list and replying directly to me (that way I know they are in the club and not a first time visitor).
I’ve been surprised by my real life friends wanting to discuss real estate investing now as well. They knew I had a couple rental properties, and even before this website could have asked my about them, but didn’t. If I can positively impact my friend’s financial lives, that is a huge win (although I am a little concerned that market timing has the potential for them to have a bad experience and not stick with it).
There have also been conversations with people I previously didn’t know over the phone, email, Skype, and in person. I’ve found many of these to be high impact as well.
What’s This All Mean?
There are going to be several changes to Rental Mindset moving forward:
- More “Why” and big thinking articles (broadening into general finance and self-improvement, not just rental property investing), less “How To” and “Here’s What Happened”
- Cover the “Here’s What Happened” with a short monthly update
- Get my face and personality out there more so people can decide “yes, this is someone I’d be interested in talking to” or not
- Get people on the email list to be “in the club” and connect directly with those people (over email, phone, video chat)
- When one-on-one becomes too much, figure out groups, webinars, masterminds, etc.
Here’s How You Can Help
Would you be interested in being a part of a community?
Interfacing with actual people on a regular basis around a set focus, that’s how you can steadily advance your goals.
Let me know the type of people you think would be most valuable to connect with – investors in a similar position or people who are a few steps ahead of you. I’ll start working that into the long-term plans for Rental Mindset.
Not a comment person? Shoot an email to Brian @ the website name.
Let’s get to know each other a bit better and I’ll do my best to help you move your goals forward, whether property #1 or way beyond.
It sounds like a good plan. I follow your posts and am subscribed. I’m also an investor, but with a slightly different approach. Currently I am only investing locally. Luckily, I can do that.
Have you visited biggerpockets.com? I would say it is probably the best resource for real estate investing out there, as it covers all aspects and allows you to follow and connect with others. It also allows members to blog on the site, which could give you more visbility.
Keepit up!
Thanks for reading. Local investing is great too – I wish I could do that where I live, it just doesn’t make sense. Much better ratios elsewhere for me, plus it encourages it to be passive: http://www.financiallyalert.com/3-reasons-never-seeing-your-rental-property-is-actually-superior/
Where do you live? Do you have the time to be more hands-on?
Yup, I’ve been to BiggerPockets, it is a great resource. I haven’t really gotten into the forums / social side of things yet though. Thanks for the tip!
I live in South Louisiana.
Luckily, I am able to be more hands-on in the process, but I am working towards being less so. I do some parts of the rehab & basic maintenance, outsource the detailed & critical stuff to professionals, and between my wife and I, handle the management. For now. I am using the experience to develop processes for execution and then optimize them for efficiency. The gives me the option to hire someone to handle the management and provide them with a ops manual to guide them…no experience necessary, a la “E-Myth Revisited”.
We just completed renovations on our second rental and are about to sign a lease with our first tenant for the property. Once things settle down with that and our other rental (also about to place a tenant), then we will maybe look at acquiring another property.
I also work a full time job, so it is challenging, at times, but still fun!
Yes – that sounds like a great spot to cash flow!
That’s a great book, glad to hear you are applying it to your rental properties. The thing that would worry me with hands-on work is I would be hesitant to keep adding to my portfolio. I’d start to see the hands-on property management, repairs, etc. as part of it, when really to be an investor you don’t have to do any of those.
My goal is to transition to living off of my rental income, so even though I am hands-on now, I won’t continue to be. As you point out, it doesn’t scale.
I want to get to the point where I can just create patents and do cool stuff! #EngineerDreams!
That’s great! How close are you to the transition? What type of stuff are you going to patent?
Just relying on rentals, anywhere from 3-9 more doors, depending on the cash flow per door should get me to a point where I could not have to rely on a W2 job. Somewhere between 4-6 years from now should get me there. I also have other investments working that potentially could help accelerate that timeline.
I have not really set a defined topic for IP. I currently have two awarded and three or four pending in the oil & gas industry through work, but that is just due to what I have focused on.
Cool stuff. Keep me updated on how it goes!
Earlier this week I came to the website. I had figured that Gmail put the email updates in the promotions tab and I was missing all the articles. Then I saw that there weren’t any new articles in awhile and I thought, “Eh, probably just enjoying some newlywed time.”
I imagine it can be tough to write about real estate on a regular basis. It’s slow moving, where you might have a transaction every couple of years.
Personally, the idea of investing and managing a profitable property in a far away place is interesting to me. I found it fascinating how such evaluations can be made without a presence in the area. You make it work, so if you do plan on doing a couple more “How To”s in the future, I would interested in that.
I like the idea of building a community. That’s the reason I started my blog back in 2006. I found that the community comes and goes with people’s different interest levels. There are some Facebook groups that work for some communities and Bigger Pockets seems to do a good job. Personally, I’m not a member of either because I’m not a fan of Facebook and I prefer the closer interaction like on this website vs. a forum.
It was a busy summer! Plenty of vacation days meant I was always scrambling to keep up with my day job.
There are plenty of areas of real estate to write about, but you are correct – for me the transactions are few and far between. I would rather broaden my focus than attempt to force it (which never turns out well).
I’m glad to hear you like the website interaction as it is more personal. Ideally I think I can connect people outside of the comments as well, since even that is too public for some.
I’ve always had this idea that the people investing in real state are int for themselves, they are looking for as many tips and insights as possible without revealing too much of theirown. But that’s only my two cents.
Perhaps. But I would say it isn’t malicious. There isn’t one overarching general piece of advice. It is much more nuanced. You really have to get into the specifics of a situation in order to give tips or insights, otherwise you might be giving bad advice!
Darryl, if you want to dispel that myth, visit the Bigger Pockets community. While there are some who are “just in it for themselves”, there are a lot more who willingly share info and experiences for people to learn from.
As Brian said, it is hard for someone to make recommendations for someone without knowing their situation or goals, I guess the key is to educate yourself and apply what is relevant to your situation.