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in Real Estate Investing · August 25, 2020

Why we won’t be doing any more DIY renovations

Ryan and I decided to DIY the rehab of our Big Horn rental. It sounded like a cool thing to do considering that with COVID, there was no much else to do. Whoopsie! Little did I know how soon that excitement would wear off!

We still outsourced some big-ticket items like exterior painting and drywall repair, but we took over doing flooring, interior painting, cabinets, among others. 

We started with the demolition and that was quite therapeutic!  Everything after that was a fun learning experience until 3 weeks after. 

I had a big work project deadline approaching, our rental properties in Florida were having issues and the accounting firm was getting an increased workload.

We were working 14 to 16 hour days and 7 days a week. After 3 weeks, that takes a toll on you (mostly me). We weren’t used to doing physical labor. I mean, we sit on a desk for most of our day, so we were exhausted and every inch of my body was in pain. 

The worst part was putting the floors (Week 4). At first, I was excited to learn the craft, then I was quickly over it! It took two weekends and 2-3 hours at night during the week to get it done.

Our numbers supported the cost of hiring out most of the work, but we wanted to keep the debt low. Never again! After floors and baseboards were done, we decided to outsource the remainder of the work. Now I can focus on my other income-generating activities while this gets completed.

If we didn’t have demanding jobs, the accounting firm and self-managed the Florida properties, this might not have been as overwhelming.  

The lesson we learned is that it doesn’t always make sense to DIY. We also decided that at this point we prefer to be hands-off investors. We can say we tried it and didn’t like it. 

I can’t say that it was all for nothing. We learned A LOT and I think that this was something we NEEDED to try. I now have more confidence in my ability to communicate with contractors about the work that needs to be done as well as estimate how long and how much.

There are things that you just need to try to find out if they work for you. Maybe if we didn’t have so much going on, this would have been different. Nonetheless, our strategy moving forward is to have enough credit available to support the whole renovation.  

Also, we have decided that we are NOT self-managing in Georgia. 

If you are thinking of DYIng your rehab project. Give it a try! You never know if you like it unless you try it. I’d probably say start small if you are not experienced!

You will never know if it’s for you until you try it. It just didn’t work out for us given our specific situation. 

We will continue DIY projects at home though!

What are your thoughts? Would you DIY your rental property renovations?

This post may contain affiliate links. I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this blog.

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New Blog Post 🚨 In this week’s blog post I am New Blog Post 🚨 In this week’s blog post I am going over why we bought a short-term rental, our experience so far. Plus what we did prior, during and after purchasing our first short-term rental in March 2022, a Cabin in Blue Ridge, GA.

Check it out at www.beyondjustnumbers.com or link in bio @beyondjustnumbers
I can’t stress this enough. Some investors are l I can’t stress this enough. Some investors are looking to make money from day one, but that’s not always the case. It wasn’t for us and I’ve talked to a lot of rookie investors who have told me “Thank God I have my personal finance situation together.” 

This is just my opinion. Do you agree? Let me know in the comments!

Want to join a free community of like-minded individuals? Join our REI Coffee Chat Community where we talk real estate investing, personal finance and financial freedom, and much more! Link in bio @beyondjustnumbers

Want to learn more about investing in real estate? Read my blog www.beyondjustnumbers.com

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I used to think that investing in real estate was I used to think that investing in real estate was for the rich. I became in love with real estate while working for a real estate investment company that owned hundreds of units. This was back in 2011 and I was 20 years old at the time. I had less than 5 years permanently living the US, so I had no idea about anything. I grew up in Colombia and the only talk of money we ever had was the lack of it. 

The investors I worked for were a wealthy family, so naturally, I thought… Real Estate requires wealth. I don’t have wealth. Therefore, I cannot invest. 

I figured… well shit, I need become wealthy so I can invest in real estate. Eventually, after educating myself I realized how wrong I had it. You can build wealth BY INVESTING in real estate.

Took me a couple of years to figure it all out. Hence, why I didn’t start investing until 2019. I wish I had figured out earlier, but it is what it is. In just 3 years of investing in real estate, I was able to accumulate more wealth than I ever thought possible. 

Just to give you an idea…Did you know you could invest in real estate with as little at 3.5% of the purchase price? For a $150,000, that’s only $5,750. Buy a duplex that needs a little bit of work, fix it up, rent one side and live in the other. This will reduce your monthly expenses significantly, save the money and do it all over again.*

Of course it’s not that simple, but it’s also not that difficult. There are some particular steps and considerations which is  why I recommend doing further reading on the subject. 

Book Recommendation:
✅“The House Hacking Strategy” by Craig Curelop and ✅“Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down” by Brandon Turner. 

#realestate #realestateinvesting
🚨 New Blog Post! Continuing the “Getting Star 🚨 New Blog Post! Continuing the “Getting Started in Real Estate Series” 

You’ve found a property either on your own or through a realtor, you’ve run your numbers, you’ve got a lender and now you are ready to make an offer. What’s next?

In this post I want to discuss a few items:

✅Key components of a real estate contract
✅How do you make a compelling offer to ensure you get the property you want
✅The main contract contingencies and how they work
✅Communicating with your realtor

I also provide real examples of what we have done personally. 

Check it out at www.beyondjustnumbers.com

Let me know what you think!
If I listed all of the hats, I’d never end 😂. If I listed all of the hats, I’d never end 😂. Anyone else? Show me the multiple hats you wear and tag me. Let’s have fun with some reels.

Trying to get good at the real game like @investinginyourwealth. How did I do?
The fact that you are not where you want to be doe The fact that you are not where you want to be doesn’t mean you won’t get there. Greatness takes time. Focus on what you control.

And remember, it’s okay to pivot.

#mindset #realestate #firemovement #realestateinvesting #realestateinvestor #rentalpropertyinvestor #rentalproperty #cashflow #motivation #financialfreedom #financialindependence #financialindependenceretireearly
We see a lot of advice around hiring a real estate We see a lot of advice around hiring a real estate friendly CPA. However, when you look up  CPAs that specialize in real estate, they can be pricey.  However, that doesn’t mean that other CPAs or tax professionals aren’t good. They might not be particularly aware of certain items, but they can research and collaborate with theirs peers. Perhaps it may require you to do a little of work to compensate. Things you can do:
✅ listen to The Real Estate CPA podcast or join the Facebook group
✅follow social media accounts of the pricey Real Estate CPA and take notes of what they are saying
✅attend free educational events 
✅read BiggerPocket book on Real Estate taxes 
✅if you know anyone working with a really good Real Estate CPA firm, ask them what they are doing

Then use that to go your CPA or tax professional and be like “Hey, is this something we can do for me?” They’ll probably say, “Let me look into it”. 

If they are good, they are going to research it and/or ask their CPA peer group. (CPAs and tax preparers also have Facebook groups where they collaborate with each other).

Here is a piece of advice, if they tell you “No, we can’t use this loophole or no, you don’t qualify to use this strategy” —> Ask WHY and “How can I qualify in the future?.” This way you confirm they did their homework and aren’t just being lazy. Don’t just take no for an answer. You can then get a second opinion by asking a question in a forum or to your peers.

So don’t panic if you don’t have a real estate CPA or tax professional. 

Next video I’ll be answering the question… “Can I skip the tax professional altogether and do my own taxes?”

#realestate
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