← Real Estate Rookie
Loading summary
Transcript36 lines
- [00:01]
Ashley Kerr
If we were starting over in 2026, we wouldn't be looking for the perfect market, the perfect strategy, or the perfect deal.
- [00:08]
Tony J. Robinson
We'd be focused on one thing. Making the decisions that actually get a rookie to close on their first deal instead of staying stuck in analysis paralysis.
- [00:22]
Ashley Kerr
This is the Real Estate Rookie Podcast. I'm Ashley Kerr.
- [00:26]
Tony J. Robinson
And I'm Tony J. Robinson. And in today's episode, I'm we're going to focus on five key things that we would do if Ash and I were starting over in our portfolio today. And the goal is that for all the rookies listening, you can take these five things, implement them into your strategy to make sure that you're by the end of this year. Hopefully, one of the folks we can bring on as a guest to the podcast say, hey, I listened to this episode and now I'm the proud owner of my first real estate deal. So, five key things. The first thing that we do is we'd start by asking the right question questions. And what I mean by this is that oftentimes we see rookie investors who just are kind of focused on the wrong thing when they're starting off their journey of real estate investing. And sometimes it could be focused on steps that are maybe too far ahead, like, hey, well, how am I going to buy my second deal? How do I scale? And then, okay, well, you haven't done your first deal. Why are you worrying about scaling today? Or what does the legal structure look like? And I need this holding company based out of the Cayman Islands and all these crazy things, and they're just asking the wrong questions. So the core questions that I would focus on first are, what is my time availability? How much time can I allocate toward my goal of investing in real estate? What is my risk tolerance? How much purchasing power do I have, which is my cash on hand and my ability to get approved for a mortgage? And then what's my motivation? So time availability, risk tolerance, purchasing power, and motivation for time availability. The reason that I start with this is because this is a limiting factor for the type of deals that you should be focused on. Now, I will put a big caveat to this, is that I hear oftentimes people say that the reason they want to invest in real estate is because they want to, at some point in the future, have the ability to have more control over their time. Because right now they feel like they don't have a ton of time, but they want real estate investing to be the thing that gives them more time. But then in the same breath, they Say, well, I don't have time to actually do all the work that's required to be a real estate investor. And if you hear that being said out loud, you can see how that's just like this closed loop where you're going to be stuck in this space of not having time. Right. Because in order to do the thing that will give you the time, you need to be able to allocate some time, but you don't have time, so you can't start that thing. So you'll never, never be able to get out of that loop. So I think first you gotta be able to make some sacrifices in your life to, to free up a little bit of time if you feel like you're truly maxed out. But that's the first one, is the time availability. The risk tolerance is everyone sleeps differently at night depending on the kind of risk that they take on. There are some people who are totally fine with the super risky deals because they're like, hey, I'm gonna swing for the fences. And there are other folks who are like, man, I just want to get on base. So I think understanding what your risk tolerance is and, and you know, how, how easily are you going to be able to sleep at night as you, you take these first steps, the cash and like your purchasing power is important because how much cash you have on hand and your loan approval amount will also dictate the kind of properties and locations that you can focus on. If you've got a million dollars cash and you can get approved for a $5 million loan, you've got a lot of options. But if you've got $10,000 cash and you can get approved for a hundred thousand dollars, that limits more. So what kind of opportunities you should be pursuing. So having clarity on that piece first I think is really important and then the motivation. We talk about this a lot, but understanding why you're doing this is super important because it makes sure that as you take steps on finding properties, finding markets, that it actually supports whatever goals you have in place. Because if you're doing this for appreciation, well, then you better make sure that the properties in the markets you're focused on do really well when it comes to appreciation. If you're doing this for cash flow, well, then you, you better make sure that whatever opportunities you're looking at are really focused on maximizing cash flow. So understanding your motivations, I think are first. So those are the big questions I'd ask.
- [04:21]
Ashley Kerr
Yeah, the only thing I would add to that is like, don't get Too caught up on like pursuing your passion. And I don't want to sound like a buzzkill like oh, you know, you want to get away from your W2 job, it's not your passion. You want to feel fulfilled, you want to manifest your dreams. Like if your why is because you want to make money or you want to build wealth, like yes, at some point in time that can probably be correlated to your passion. But if you want to expedite that, you really want to pick the strategy that goes in line with what Tony already talked about, but also where you have resources, opportunity and advantages. Where you have resources, opportunities and advantages. So for me, I worked as a property manager. The only person I knew that invested in real estate did long term rentals and those were my opportunities and my resource to get started. If I would have started in flipping or short term rental, I didn't have anybody around me that was doing that to ask for help, to guide, to follow me or for me to follow them. I, it would have taken me a lot longer to be successful if I didn't have these advantages and opportunities already in place and I was able to build a really solid foundation by sticking as to what was actually the path that would give me the most progress towards this wealth building. So that's something you should be thinking about too. If you're thinking about buying a deal in 2026, don't get too focused on what your dream job is or your dream investment. Think about what is going to build you wealth the fastest. And I don't want this to get confused by oh, they're posting about self storage and how you can make so much money. That's the way to make the most money. I'm going to do that. Don't get caught up on the get rich quick. And I, and I'm, I'm not going to say they're schemes but I'm going to say that it may work for somebody to get rich and to build wealth, but that may not work for you and it may not really be as quick as you think it is. They could have made a hundred thousand dollars on that flip because they're, you know, for some reason they ended up buying every single, you know, material they put into that house from a wholesale clearance place and they did all the DIY themselves, they didn't hire any contractors and you might not have the time to actually spend six months rehabbing a property and just shopping wholesale outlets to find the cheapest materials. So don't look at Instagram, don't think about what is actually going to move the needle for you when you're picking a strategy?
- [07:14]
Tony J. Robinson
Yeah, I, I couldn't agree more, Ash, about like not focusing too much on what you see on Instagram. Obviously there, the purpose of social media a lot of times is to encourage you, inspire you, even this podcast to an extent. Right. But you, you don't always see the, the hard work behind the scenes that, that goes into that. And, and you shouldn't make super big life decisions and you shouldn't make super big life decisions based on a snapshot you see of someone's life on social media. So you really got to make sure that again, you're asking the right questions, which is what we just walked through to help you make a more informed decision around what strategy, what, what asset class, what type of real estate investing makes the most sense for you.
- [07:53]
Ashley Kerr
I mean, even right now for you guys watching on YouTube, here I am looking all glamorous and beautiful, but in reality I got sweatpants on, a heated blanket on my lap, level four heating right now, and slippers on. So you never know what's actually going on behind the camera on YouTube, Instagram, things like that. So once you stop asking the wrong questions, the next mistake rookies make feels productive. But it's the reason most first deals never actually close. Next, we're going to talk about why chasing the best deal keeps you from buying any deal. You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy. Just use Indeed. When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. That means you can stop struggling to get your job notice on other job sites. And Indeed sponsored job posts help you stand out and hire the right people quickly. Your job post jumps straight to the top of the page where your ideal candidates are looking. And it works. Sponsored jobs on indeed get 45% more applications than non sponsored posts. The best part, no monthly subscriptions or long term contracts. You only pay for results. And speaking of results, in the minute I've been talking to you. 23 people just got hired through Indeed Worldwide. There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and listeners of the show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility@inn Indeed.com rookie just go to indeed.com rookie right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. That's indeed.com rookie. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.
- [09:35]
Podcast Advertiser/Host
Here's why. Savvy real estate investors are obsessed with bonus depreciation it lets you take that rental property or commercial building you own and depreciate most of the cost against your income. Legally 100% IRS compliant, that's instant cash flow improvement. Cost Segregation Guys is the number one firm nationwide specializing in identifying these faster depreciating assets in your property. They've completed tens of thousands of studies across all 50 states, from remote cabins to apartment complexes. So if you own investment property, this is a no brainer. So Visit Cost Segregation guys.com BP for your free proposal and find out how much you could save this tax season. Most investors spend all their time talking about their high level returns, but that's not the number that actually matters. What actually matters is what you keep after taxes. And that's where multifamily real estate quietly stands out. With built in advantages like depreciation, the right deals can generate steady cash flow while reducing the tax drag. BAM Capital structures its multifamily investments around those fundamentals, pairing tax efficiency with disciplined operators and a long term approach. This isn't about chasing hype or guessing market timing. It's about building durable tax aware wealth over time. Learn more@biggerpockets.com Bam welcome back.
- [10:57]
Ashley Kerr
Once rookies get clear on their situation, the next trap shows up immediately. They start hunting for the perfect deal instead of one they can actually execute. So number two is we pick the boring deal that still moves the needle. Yeah, I am too tired, I'm too exhausted to be chasing the perfect deal. And the longer you wait to actually get started, the less time you're actually building equity in a property. And that is really the the opportunity that I have seen over the last 10 years of buying properties and holding them and waiting and seeing all that equity build up. And if I'm spending the full year chasing the perfect deal, I'm wasting out on all that time of already getting baked in appreciation and mortgage pay down by my tenant. I'm wanting to take action on a deal that works. It doesn't have to be the best, you know, use of my money. And I see this posted in the BiggerPockets forums all the time and it's a great question to ask. I mean I ask myself questions like this every day. But it's like I have $50,000, I don't know how to invest. What is the best thing I can do with it. And everybody wants to know where are you going to get the best value of your money or the best value of your time? And sometimes that first deal, it doesn't need to be the best and you don't need to overanalyze and get stuck in that analysis paralysis of like I'm not spending this $50,000 unless I know that I'm getting the max return. And I've looked at every possible deal and every possible option and that really is just going to stall you and delay you. So I'm, I'm not going that route. I'm going to look for a deal that works even if it's not a home run deal and not super amazing. And you know the you if someone interviewed me my YouTube thumbnails and going to be cash flows. $5,000 on her first deal. It's going to be the slow and boring investment with Ashley Kerr.
- [13:02]
Tony J. Robinson
My, my very first real estate deal. I think I was cash flowing like 150 bucks a month something to that effect. That that's not life changing money.
- [13:10]
Ashley Kerr
That's what I thought I mine was going to be but then I forgot to account for snow plowing so it
- [13:15]
Tony J. Robinson
was even less snow plowing. And now when you're break even. Right. So I, I couldn't agree more. I, I think oftentimes if we just focus on that first deal being as boring and simple as possible, that simple decision will unlock your ability to actually get the first deal done right. So I, I think boring and simple is often the, the, the approach that most, most rookies should take because there, there's a difference between a deal that looks good and a deal that you can actually close. Because yeah, I can take you to the hoarder house that's got a bunch of deferred maintenance. It probably needs to be renovated down to the studs, but it's a really, really good deal versus a house that's mostly turnkey, has a tenant in place already that's slightly above break even on cash left you account for all of your expenses and vacancy and OPEX and all those things. And the first deal definitely seems a lot better. But which one will you actually pull that you're growing. Which one will you actually be able to execute on? The hoarder house is down to the studs or the turnkey property that you'll cash flow a little bit, but you'll cash flow on day one. So I think the goal is not necessarily just to look for the deal that looks the best, but it's which one can actually move forward on today. So to Ashley's point, instead of prioritizing a big home run, we want to try and prioritize this first deal. Something that's Clean and easy to, to, to finance. Right? Because oftentimes these big heavy rehab jobs are super complex things. They, they get a little bit more tricky on the financing piece. Simple to. To no rehab removes a big obstacle of having to, to to manage a rehab for the first time and something that, that's just like a very clear path systematically for you to move through to actually get the deal done. There's so much talk out there right now about different sexy strategies and you know, subject to and seller financing and renting by the room and you know, conversions to ADUs. And you know, we've interviewed a lot of these folks with these different strategies in the podcast as well. So I'm not, I'm not knocking those, but I am saying that those are, are slightly more involved than just the strategy of buying a house that's basically ready to go on day one, that's got a tenant in it, right? Or you know, if you want to, you know, even if we want to talk about flipping, like what's an easy way to flip a home or short term rents, what's an easy way to, to do it that way, right? Buying something that's true and key and closer to, to being ready. But I think just trying to move away from some of the super complex and overly sexy strategies to one that's a little bit more black and white cut and dry on that first deal.
- [15:37]
Ashley Kerr
I, I think like a great starter property is looking for, you know, a single family home or a duplex, a small multifamily that has, you know, a tenant in place and it's somebody, you know, the tenant wants to stay there long term and like maybe the property isn't like updated but it's in good condition. Like if you could find a property that, you know, it's not completely renovated or up to date, but it's very well taken care of by the tenant. And maybe the tenants already lived there for 10 years and wants to keep living there. Like that could be the easiest first deal that you ever have. Like already having a tenant in place. It's already cash flowing from day one, even if it's only $150 a month, you know, depending on how much money you're putting into the deal. But you know, you already have somebody in there that you know is going to take care of the place. Your chances of having a long term renter in there are great. You don't have the cost of vacancy and turnover and then you can just have your, you know, know that you're going to save and you know, at some point, you know, if the person does move out, then you're going to go ahead and renovate the property or over time, which I've done with, you know, tenants that say a long time is like, I'm going to do an increase this year and but we're also replacing the carpets or we're going to repaint or we're, you know, doing this upgrade to the property due to kind of like justify why we're increasing your rent a little bit more than, you know, what we usually would. So I, I think that is like also a great opportunity. I have a friend that did that, she invested out of state and anytime I ask her like, how's that rental doing? She's like, I think good. I mean, she just, she pays a rent and it was a tenant that lived there forever. It's just a little single family house. And you know, if there's a maintenance issue, she will, you know, just message about it. And then my friend calls, you know, someone to go out and take care of it and that's it. And it's said and done.
- [17:31]
Tony J. Robinson
Number three, the third big thing is we'd focus on financing early on. I think that one of the first questions, and we kind of touched on this on the first point, but one of the first things that we need to understand is what kind of financing do we have access to? There are, I've used this metaphor, this analogy before, but the lending industry is a lot like the ice cream industry where I can go into different ice cream shops, I can go to, you know, Dairy Queen, I can go to Baskin Robbins, I can go to Cold Stone and they all sell ice cream, but they all sell slightly different flavors. And it's the same thing in the mortgage industry where I can go to lender A, lender B, lender C, and they all sell loan products, but the flavor and how they deliver those loan products is slightly different. So I think making it a point early on to try and talk with as many lenders as possible to understand all the different flavors of loan products that are available to you. That way you can identify, okay, what is the actual best product product for the type of deal that I'm going after. Because a lender who really understands traditional single family long term rentals is different than the lender who understands small multifamily. And that lender might be different than the lender who understands flipping. And that lender might be different than the lender who understands short term rentals. And that lender might be different than the lender who understands large commercial properties and RV parks and motels and like, you know, whatever it may be, self storage. So understanding the loan products that are best for the deals that are in front of you, I think is one of the big things that I would focus on as well. Because I've seen plenty of deals get to the 11th hour with the lender who says, yeah, sure, you know, I write loans like this all day and then when it comes time to actually close, you're like, oh man, this is actually, you know, underwriting pushed back on this because of X, Y and Z. Or actually don't think I'm going to be able to get this loan closed. So having those conversations early on, I think is a big thing that Bricky should be focused on as well.
- [19:25]
Ashley Kerr
Yeah. And even if you're not going with bank financing, you know, lining up your private money lender or where you're pulling cash out of, you know, from, if you're borrowing from your 401k, like make sure you talk to your employer and you understand what the process is to actually get that money out. So one thing that I actually just learned with retirement funds is I didn't know this is with a Roth IRA you can actually pull out. I think it was up to like $10,000 without like a penalty. And since it's a Roth, you've already paid taxes on it, so no taxes, but without penalty for a first time home purchase. So if you're looking to purchase your first home, you can actually tap into your Roth IRA and pull out $10,000 to put into a property. I thought that was cool. But anyways, with, you know, have that plan in place of how are you going to actually access the money that you're going to need and use? There's been a lot of times where, you know, I've found a deal and then I've went and got the money. And yes, you can absolutely do that. But it is so much easier to have the financing, have the money lined up first than to do it the opposite way. And it makes the deal go faster and a lot smoother and a less headaches and things like that along the way to actually get the deal done.
- [20:44]
Tony J. Robinson
One last thing I'd add to that. Ash, we've answered this question on different rookie replies and folks have asked me this question in person as well is like, is it too soon? Or like when should I go talk to a lender? And my answer is today. Because there, there's, there's no harm in going to get like a, a soft pre approval today. So at least you have an idea of where you stand and what loan products are available to you. So if it's been more than, I don't know, 90 days since you've gotten a pre approval, I might do that process again today just to kind of keep it fresh, you understand what your options actually look like.
- [21:16]
Ashley Kerr
Because a lot of times with a pre approval they're not actually doing like a hard credit pull. So like make sure you ask that first. You're not getting a hard pull every 90 days, but you should be able to do that, you know, without having a hard pull on your report to get the, the pre approval. And if you are going to get a hard pull, make sure you know what the window is. I can never remember and I feel like sometimes it like varies like I don't know from state to state or what, but I always get like it can range from 45 to 60 days or something like that. But you could literally go and have a lender pull your credit every single day within that period of time and it will only count as one hard pull. So Tony, what's the answer?
- [22:00]
Tony J. Robinson
In 2026 you can shop for a mortgage for up to 45 days before multiple applications are treated as separate hard hits on your credit score. Now it also goes on to say that because you cannot control which scoring model a lender uses, financial experts typically recommend a more conservative 14 day window to ensure you are protected under all different systems.
- [22:25]
Ashley Kerr
So that might be where there's a range sometime depending on the so like Spice system, they must mean like Experian or fico.
- [22:33]
Tony J. Robinson
Vantage score and themes are like the two different ones you're talking about. So FICO looks like an older versions, it was 14 days. The newer version of Fico is 45 days. Vantage score uses a 14 day rolling window. So again, you know, hey, big disclaimer Ash and I, you know this is Chat GPT Gemini giving us his information. So go validate this. But 14 days seems like a reasonable time frame to make sure you can shop with them but still validate that with your lender as well.
- [22:58]
Ashley Kerr
Yeah, literally just go to the websites of the banks and usually most of them have like a form that you fill out and just take a night and just fill them all out for each of them. The lender will most likely reach out to you, ask for some more information, let them know what you're doing and things like that. And then they usually tell them that you're looking for, you know, to get a pre approval and that you don't have a deal in place or anything like that. I have seen like sometimes they do even have like a checkbox as to like are you. Do you have a deal now? Do you. Well they don't call it a deal, but do you have a property now? Do you plan to get a property within the next month? Are you this for like so far out or whatever that you can actually put in there too?
- [23:41]
Tony J. Robinson
All right. Even if you've solidified your financing, you know your motivation. You still have to find the right property. And after the break, we'll break down how simplifying your buy box and redefining what a win looks like finally gets you across the finish line.
- [23:55]
Podcast Advertiser/Host
Here's the truth about passive investing. If the strategy isn't right on day one, the returns won't save it. Multifamily real estate offers structural advantages many investors are overlooking, including depreciation that can help offset taxable income while cash flow continues. BAM Capital builds its investment with that reality in mind. They are focused on solid operators, tax efficiency and long term performance. For investors who want real estate exposure without being landlords and who care about consistency over hype, this is a smarter way to allocate capital. Learn more@biggerpockets.com Bam when I started my
- [24:30]
Ashley Kerr
business, I had to figure everything out alone. Scripts, setups, schedules, logos. The to do list kept growing. Finding the right tool changes everything and for millions of businesses, that's Shopify. Shopify powers 10% of all US US E commerce with templates to match your brand, AI tools for product descriptions, easy email and social campaigns, plus 24. 7 Support Start your business with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com rookie Go to shopify.com rookie that's shopify.com rookie Tired of
- [25:05]
Podcast Advertiser/Host
traditional lenders holding you back? Host Financial is here to change the game. They've ditched the DTI restrictions and they zero in on what really matters your property's income potential. So so no more chasing papers for tax returns or personal income statements. Think about it. A lender that values your property's worth over your paycheck? That's the Host Financial difference approved in 47 states. They are ready to help you make your next big move. Curious if you qualify? Just head over to HostFinancial.com and find out. Stop letting outdated lending practices hold you back. That's HostFinancial.com where your property's potential meets unlimited financing. Passive income sounds amazing until it involves 17 apps and active maintenance. That's where the Gemini credit card comes in. It earns you Bitcoin back on everyday purchases. Automatically. You use it like a normal credit card for lunch or gas or groceries. And every time you swipe, you earn up to 4% back instantly in Bitcoin or one of over 50 other cryptos sent straight to your Gemini account. No points to track, no categories to activate, no waiting to redeem rewards. It just shows up. And there's no annual fee, which is great because paying money to earn rewards has really never made much sense. So if you've been curious about building your Bitcoin stack without constantly thinking about it, this is one of the simplest ways to start. Go to gemini.com card to learn more terms apply. See the link in the description for more information regarding rates and fees issued by Webbank.
- [26:29]
Tony J. Robinson
Some exclusions to instant rewards apply. This is not investment advice and trading. Crypto involves risk. Check Gemini's website for more details on rates and fees.
- [26:35]
Podcast Advertiser/Host
All right, rental property investors, listen up. Our friends at Dominion Financial already have some of the best DSCR rates in the industry. Now they're the fastest too. They just launched 10 day DSCR closing. That's right, 10 days. And they're still the only lender with a DSCR price beat guarantee. That means faster closing. The best terms, zero guesswork. That's Dominion Financial. Check them out@biggerpockets.com Dominion Again, that's biggerpockets.com
- [27:04]
Tony J. Robinson
Dominion all right, guys, at this point we've gone through all of the big things you need to do, but now we're talking about the actual deal. And the faster you simplify the kind of deal that you're looking for, the faster your first deal will actually happen. So with that, and the fourth thing that we focus on is that we would ruthlessly simplify the buy box. Now, just to define this, your buy box is basically the type of property that you're looking to purchase. So I always go back to the very first deal that I bought and my buy box was super simple. I wanted a three bedroom, ideally two bathroom property in the 71105 zip code of Shreveport, Louisiana. There was a 1950s build or newer. That was my buy box. And that's pretty much exactly what I bought. It was a three bedroom, two bath built in like 56 or something like that in that exact zip code. So a very, very simple buy box makes it so much easier to A, buy build your confidence, right? And then B, it gives you the ability to say yes or say no quickly. The reason that it builds your confidence is because if I'm only underwriting a very tight, specific type of property, every time I do that, I get better and better and better at understanding what a good deal looks like versus what a bad deal looks like. Because think about it, if I analyze 100 different three bedrooms in the same zip code, I start to get a really, really good sense of A, how much revenue that property will generate if it's a rental short term or long term, or B, what the after repair value is if I'm looking to do a flip. So that way, as I find a deal that seems significantly lower price, immediately I can say, well, man, this is actually a really, really good price because I just analyzed 99 different deals that were $50,000 more than this one, $100,000 more than this. And so I know this is a good deal. So as you have a tighter buy box, your ability to more quickly and confidently underwrite deals exponentially increases as well.
- [29:00]
Ashley Kerr
We actually have a few resources for you guys too. To help with this. You can go to biggerpockets.com resource and we have a buy box resource, which is basically just like a worksheet for you to actually define your buy box and kind of just gives you things to think about, like, do you care about what the age of the property is? Our one friend that invests in Seattle, like, he only buys within like a certain time frame, you know, from like 1940 to 1960 houses, because those were built like during the, you know, great construction, you know, and he knows everything about them. So, you know, really down to the specifics of the property and things you may not have thought of. And you can always add and expand to it too. But it's a great template that you can find@biggerpockets.com and then also too, like, really defining your neighborhood is, I think, really important that may be missed sometimes. As to you think, okay, like, I'll give you Buffalo, for example. As to like, I'm my picked, my market, it's going to be Buffalo, New York. Okay, well, there's lots of areas of Buffalo. Are you going to invest in the west side? Are you going to invest in BlackRock? Are you going to invest in the east side? Are you going to invest south Buffalo? Are you going to be by, you know, a park? You know, all these different things, but it really goes street by street. So in like the rural towns I invest in, it's not so much. It probably pretty much is like the town metrics are the metrics. But when you get into like bigger cities, there is a triangle. And this triangle is the area that I would invest in in south of Buffalo. Anything outside of this triangle is literally within walking distance of the two houses I have in South Buffalo, but yet I will not buy them because it is such a distinct, distinct difference crossing over this one street or like not even a different street, but driving too far west on the one street you, I would not buy over there. And I think you need to take a map or get out your drawing tool on your laptop and mark out the actual lines of the neighborhood that you want to be in and really define and narrow down. Then you can use websites like Bright Investor or Neighborhood Watch and those will, you can actually like really, really get down into the, the niche of the neighborhood that you're actually looking in and get the metrics for that exact like specific streets and neighborhoods where you can see what you know. Like I think it's like Crime Watch. I haven't looked at it a long time, but I know like Neighborhood Watch and Bright Investor has this integrated now, but you could like there'd be like a little pin where crime had happened and like what the crime was and what data happened. And so like you can see where there's significantly more crime than there is in other areas too.
- [31:57]
Tony J. Robinson
Yeah, that's a great breakdown, Ashton, how to build out your buy box. And I, I think the other piece that I would layer on top of that is that your, your strategy, your, your chosen strategy should also go into your buy box as well. Because you know, a market that maybe is really good for flipping is not a great market for short term rentals or a market that's really good for maybe room rentals. Right, like renting by the room. Maybe that market doesn't work as well for a traditional long term rental where you're renting out the entire house. So understanding your strategy I think leads itself to building out your buy box as well. And we just interviewed on a recent episode, Rashad George, and he broke down how he built out his buy box and he was focused on Section 8 housing. That was the, the, the strategy that he was going after. So he started his search by identifying the zip codes in his town or in his county that gave the highest rents for Section 8. And then once he had those zip codes, he layered in things like crime and, and schools and all those other things to really drill down on what part of town he wanted to focus on. And then you layer in your ability to actually get approved and Your purchasing power, and you start to end up with a pretty tight buy box. Like, okay, here's the max price, here's the location. It's probably going to be this type of property that I'm focused on. So starting with your buy box, super important point.
- [33:22]
Ashley Kerr
Okay, let's move on to number five. We'd redefine a win for the first deal. So a win may be different for everybody depending on what your why is what you're trying to achieve with real estate state. So there's no set thing, but a lot of times a win is considered you made money or you're cash flowing. But this is also an emotional payoff. The first deal, it really builds your confidence, your proof of concept and your skill building. And that holds a lot of value in calculating your roi. Think about going to college and how much people pay to go to college to learn how to do something. So Tony and I both have deals that have cost us and been examples and that's the cost of education and the lessons that we have learned on them. And I think that when you are looking at your first deal, you need to understand that this is so much experience that you're getting by being an active investor and owning property than you are just from reading, listening to podcasts, watching YouTube videos, all of that. You can absorb so much knowledge and it's just like, think of a doctor, think of a teacher, think of a lot of professions where before you can actually get licensed, you have to go through some kind of hands on training. Obviously a doctor, very long time, a teacher. I think it's like your last year of college, you have to go and shadow and teach in a classroom for, you know, two different semesters. So I think that this is something that is often left out when you're considering your deal as a win, is not thinking about what you learned and how much better and how much you're going to improve on the next deal because of that.
- [35:14]
Tony J. Robinson
Yeah, you hit on like the emotional side of it. I couldn't agree more. And we talk about this all the time. Like the purpose of your first deal is not to retire you. You know, we're almost 700 episodes into this podcast and we have yet to interview someone who retired off of their very first deal. So that that's not the purpose of it. The purpose is to give you that confidence to move on to your second deal and your fifth deal and your 10th deal. And like clockwork, we oftentimes see that the complexity of deal number five is significantly higher than deal number One. And the confidence that someone has going into that third, fourth, fifth deal is significantly higher than what they had going into that first deal. So there, there is a massive, massive emotional transformation between deal number zero and deal number one. So much so that the actual monetary value of that first deal is just icing on top. But it's that internal transformation where all of the value really lies in that first deal. And transforming yourself from someone who wants to be a real estate investor into someone who actually is a real estate investor. I think the last thing I'd ask to this too, Ash, is that because so much again, of what we see and what we hear on podcasts are people kind of sharing their successes, you've got to be careful to not judge your first deal against me or Ashley, you know, or some of the guests that we bring on who've been doing this for five, 10, 20, 30 plus years, because we're at totally different points in our investing journey. So just really stay laser focused on the purpose of your first deal, the transformation that it's supposed to carry, and don't compare yourself to the person who's on step 100 when you're on step number one.
- [36:48]
Ashley Kerr
And if you are in the middle of your first deal now, we would love to have you as a guest on the podcast to come and share, you know, the experience that you're going through and what this journey is. And don't worry about not knowing anything because we just think it is so impactful for when somebody comes on when it is so fresh in their memory. Like, there are things that Tony and I probably have, like, blacked out from our first deal that we just don't think about anymore or don't remember. And so I think, like, if you are listening right now and you're going through your deal, just telling us the process is going to help so many rookie investors through their process of doing that first deal. So you can go to biggerpockets.com guest and fill out an application and me and Tony will watch for you and invite you onto the show. I'm Ashley. He's Tony. Thank you guys so much for listening. If you loved this episode, make sure to give us a little thumbs up and make sure you are subscribed to us on YouTube. And if you're listening on your favorite podcast platform, please be sure to leave us a review. We'll see you guys next time. At some point, your little real estate side hustle stops feeling little rent's coming in. Maybe you've got a couple properties now and Suddenly the money part gets real. Your tax bill's going up, you're googling LLC versus S Corp at midnight, and you're just hoping you didn't miss something that'll cost you later. That's where Collective comes in. Collective is the first all in one financial solution built exclusively for solopreneurs. Saving you time and money, they help you structure your business for success, whether that's forming a single member LLC or adding an S Corp election. Collective's AI engine, backed by expert oversight, automatically categorizes every expense so you never miss a deduction. Beyond bookkeeping, they handle quarterly tax estimates and prepare both your business and personal tax returns so you never miss a deadline. You'll also get integrated invoicing plus seamless payroll for S Corp owners, which can unlock thousands in self employment tax savings. And with Kollective's community and support, you can finally take the solo out of Solopreneur. Right now, Collective is giving you 50% off your first two months when you go to collective.com rookie. That's 50% off your first two months at collection collective.com rookie hey rookies, if
- [39:02]
Tony J. Robinson
you're watching this, we want you to apply to be a guest on the Real Estate Rookie Podcast. That's right. Ashley and I are looking for amazing stories just like yours to be a part of our Real Estate Rookie podcast. Now look, you don't need to be an expert. You don't need to have done thousands of deals. Even if you've done one deal, your story could help inspire the next listener
- [39:19]
Ashley Kerr
as a rookie investor. Especially if you just got your first deal. It is all fresh in your minds and you are the best person to tell your story. Give your experience on how you got it done to help someone else get their first deal.
- [39:32]
Tony J. Robinson
So head over to biggerpockets.com guest if you want to be a part of our show. Again, that's biggerpockets.com guest and we'd love to have you on.