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Real Estate Rookie
The 2-Year Blueprint for Buying Your First Rental Property (Starting from Zero)
00:36:04
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- [00:00]
A
A lot of people tell themselves they'll invest when they make more money. Today's guest was a college freshman working midnight shifts at H and M. When Covid hit and she got furloughed, that moment lit a fire. She went from no real estate knowledge to a house that fully covers her $3,300 mortgage. She is going to show us that the path to your first deal is actually a personal finance story before it is a real estate story.
- [00:25]
B
And look, what I love about Mimi's story is that it's not about finding some secret market or getting lucky on a deal. She just built a system. She stuck to it for two years, and that put herself in a position where investing was the natural next step. So if you're trying to figure out how to get from where you are today to your first deal, this episode is a blue.
- [00:48]
A
This is the real estate rookie podcast. I'm Ashley Kerr.
- [00:52]
B
And I'm Tony J. Robinson. With that, let's give a big, warm welcome to Mimi. Mimi, thank you for joining us podcast today. Super excited to have you, of course.
- [00:57]
C
Thank you for having me. I've been listening to bigger pockets you for. For years. So probably like everyone else, this is a dream come true.
- [01:06]
A
Well, Mimi, you were a freshman in college working midnight shifts when Covid hit and you got furloughed. Walk us back to that moment in time. What actually changed inside you?
- [01:16]
C
Yeah, so I've always been the type of person who's trying to find a way to make money. I started working when I was 16 through, like, a summer youth program in New York, and that led to me working at H and M my freshman year in college. I, like, networked with a friend. She got me the job. But I remember being like, okay, like, this is my life now. I have this going on. I was an international studies major working at H and M. And then I got furloughed. And, you know, my mom and I lived together when I was in college. I stayed in the city just to, you know, not have to take out loans after I graduated. So when that happened, I was like, everyone tells you, go to school, get a job. But what happens when a life event causes you to lose your job? Right now you're like, oh, like, what's going on? And thankfully, you know, there are all of these things that happened where, you know, people weren't getting kicked out of their homes right away. Like, but it just still was a shock to me as a person who was always independent, even though I live with my mom. So I was like, okay, like, how can I get into making money? How can I support myself, myself and not rely on what I've been told my whole life with the whole, get a job, you're secured, you're good.
- [02:31]
B
So what happened from there, Mimi? I mean, you. You get furloughed and like, what's your, what's your next step to try and rebuild that independence?
- [02:37]
C
So a lot of YouTube videos on, you know, how to make money online, how to start a business, investing in stocks, financial freedom. And that led me to actually starting in an e commerce business. And a lot of people knew me for my hair, so I sold kits with like, hair products. I like a Shopify website. I did a quiz where people could pick out, like, the color that they wanted, their hair type, and I'd recommend something. And throughout that year, from like 2020 to 2021, I grew my email list to about 5,000 people through that quiz. I was making pretty good money from that business. But the thing is, like, once real life started again and I had to go to school, it was really hard to be shipping out boxes by myself. So I stopped. But I also changed my, my major to advertising and pr just because that was like the closest thing we had to marketing and digital marketing at my school. I literally took a winter class and put it on a credit card just because I didn't want any delays to my graduating. And all in all, that paid off because I landed an advertising job at AWS or at Amazon, actually eight months before I graduated college.
- [03:50]
B
Wait, Mimi, I just want to pause here quickly because for, for a lot of folks listening, sometimes the, the biggest obstacle to them getting their first deal is coming up with the capital to, you know, to, to, to fund that purchase through this, through, through this e commerce shop that you were running. Just ballpark. You said you ran it. You, you said, you said you ran it for. Well, I guess remind me how long you ran it for and how much revenue and potential profits did you actually make from that side? Hustle.
- [04:14]
C
Yeah, So I ran it for about a year. I was not that great at business, so my financials weren't great, but I knew, like, there were weekends, thousand dollars from that business. Like, I have Shopify, like, videos that I've taken of, like, all of the, all of the sales. And a lot of that was just through trying out influencer marketing. TikTok was pretty big at that time, so I just tried out different things.
- [04:36]
B
That is amazing. And how old were you at the time? You're still in college when you did
- [04:40]
C
that Yeah, I was maybe going into my sophomore year of college, so like
- [04:46]
B
20, 21 somewhere around there.
- [04:48]
C
Yeah.
- [04:49]
B
That's incredible. And you know, the reason I pause on that is because so many people who are listening again, the, the financial piece is sometimes that that biggest hurdle and if you as a, as a sophomore in college could figure out a side hustle to make 2,000 bucks in a week, and obviously, you know, there's some costs associated with that, like it's not on net profit, but if you could go out there and generate, you know, four figures in a weekend, well, then for the folks that are listening, there's not a whole heck of a lot of excuses around why we can't start something to start working towards that. So you get this, this actual career now, once you graduate, you're working at Amazon. Do you start up the E Commerce store again or kind of what's the pivot from there to get you back on the path that you were hoping for?
- [05:26]
C
Yeah. So I knew that when I graduated I wanted to be making at least 75k. I would journal about that and everything. And so when I graduated, my base salary was 63k. I got a sign on bonus year 1 and year 2 for about 30k. So to be honest, like that first year I was making six figures, I just did not use that. Like I, when I tell you, I did not see that 30k because immediately when they gave it to me, I put it in my high yield savings account and left it there. I fully lived on my base salary both years. And that's how I was able to kind of come up with the money that I did to buy my home.
- [06:07]
A
Now, Mimi, how did you do that? Because it is so easy to have that lifestyle creep, to have that money sitting there and tap into it. What are some maybe, you know, characteristics or habits that you implemented at a young age to be able to stay diligent, to not spend that money and not to increase your lifestyle?
- [06:27]
C
Yeah. So I got a roommate. I know a lot of people who, you know, as soon as they, you know, make some money, they might be like, I don't want to live with anyone, but I got a roommate. I did not buy a car. I made sure to live somewhere where public transportation was, you know, close by. And I just was really intentional about what I wanted to do. Like, I knew the goal was financial freedom, building wealth. I knew that, like, for me, my first path to that was buying a house. During that time in Covid, when I was looking up building a business, all of that Stuff. That's when I came across bigger pockets. Meet Kevin. All of these different people who are investing in real estate. And I was like, okay, like, this is my path, this is what I'm working towards, so I'm going to stick to that. And something that I always talk about is like, having a season of focus. Like, those two years were my season of focus. And to be honest, that first year I kind of got a little depressed. Not because of what I was doing, but just because it was, you know, post grad, you're realizing that life seems like it's just work and home, work and home. And I was like, okay, like, I don't like the era that I'm living in. I want to live in inner city D.C. because I had moved to Virginia and so I lived in D.C. and I lived in a sunroom because I knew that to me, like, where I lived was not super important to me, but I wanted to be in the city surrounded by more people. So it's kind of like just choosing the things that align with your life and then sacrificing or I don't want to say sacrifice, because that's not the narrative that I want to give, but like just having something that you're really intentional about. And if you're not happy with the way things are looking, it doesn't mean get your mind off or step off of the path that you're going towards. It just means changing things to still make your goal work. But you might be living in a sunroom for a year just because you want to live in the, in downtown dc.
- [08:22]
B
But Mimi, I don't, I don't think sacrifice is necessarily a bad thing. Right. It's like, I think if more of us could sacrifice in the short term. Right? To your point, you said season of focus. If more of us could sacrifice in the short term, I think the long term prospects of our happiness and our fulfillment would be so much higher. Because typically we can't get to that pinnacle when, without some level of hard work and sacrifice in between. So I, I, I, I don't think we should shy away from that. If anything, I mean, you did sacrifice, right? And, and it worked out for you. Um, so the sacrifice is a good thing.
- [08:53]
C
It is, it is. I think that sometimes when people are thinking about building wealth, they think, oh, now I need to survive on ramen, now I need to give up my social life. I can't travel as much. But that's what I mean by like, kind of focusing on one thing. I guess it's it's perspective, right? Some people are like, hey, it's sacrifice. But I'm like, no, you're not sacrif that you want because you're still intentional about what you want to do with your life. But, you know, you might be giving up this one thing now.
- [09:24]
A
Mimi, a lot of our listeners are living paycheck to paycheck and may think that is really hard to save $2,000 a month, which it could be what maybe mindset shift did you have or, you know, what is. What are some recommendations that someone could be doing today to be able to save that amount of money a month?
- [09:42]
C
Again, genuinely just the way that you're looking at things. So a lot of people or women in general? Because, like, I'm always speaking to women, oftentimes we don't sit down and think about what we want. It's like, someone told us that that's just not possible, right? I mean, what a lot of people are like, oh, hopefully I can do this. And I'm like, no, yes, fully. If you want to do this, this is what you need to sit down and get clear on that vision. So. So if saving $2,000 a month is something that you want to do, because, like, for me, I want to retire early, and the compound interest calculator does say that I need to be saving 2,000amonth to do that, I'm like, okay, where do I want to be and how can I make that happen? So right now, if my job is not giving me the amount of money that I want to make that happen, okay, now I know what I'm working towards, and now I know that I need to spend a good maybe two to three months refining my resume, refining the way that I interview, so. So that I can get a job that will allow me to save that $2,000 a month, I knew that, you know, I want to retire early. So maybe for me, it was sitting down and saying, I'm not going to be spending any of the extra money that I make through bonuses through work. Even if I have a bit of extra through that base salary that I am spending, I'm going to put it aside because I know that I want to buy a house. And buying this house means that my living expenses are low, and I can be saving that, too. Like, you know, just thinking. And sometimes people want that instant gratification. My journey took five years. Five years of figuring out, oh, a job does not mean security. Okay, next step is making a job that gives me this amount of income so that I can put Aside the money that I need to buy a house and just making it happen. And I personally waited two years after I started a job to buy my home. But I searched up so many programs and knew that if I graduated and got a job in my field, I could use that as like proof of income to buy a home too, if I wanted to. So just different things to make it work. Because you are intentional about making it work.
- [11:43]
B
Now, Mimi, you set a two year deadline before you actually want to start looking for your first deal. Why two years specifically? And I guess maybe even more importantly, how did that specific time frame kind of change how you managed your money during that, during that time?
- [11:59]
C
I said two years just because I knew that two years meant no excuse. Like two years meant, you know, I've had two years of work history because I was still dilly dawling on, okay, should I do this, should I do that? There's so many different ways to build wealth, right? And this was just my path. So two years was my, hey, when you get here, there's no excuse. Like, you have the history, you have all of these things that you need to be able to make it happen. So when it came to managing my money to make sure that I would get to that two year goal, I. I would do funny things. So sometimes I did slip up, right, where maybe I had a month of credit card spending. So I would call my credit card company and say, hey, I want to lower my interest rate. I would like you guys to lower my limit. Because I know that when my limit is above this amount, I'm going to be spending on the credit card. I did that for bills. I. I was kind of the crazy, frugal friend. And when I would meet people and we'd go out and they'd be like, oh, hey, can we go to a restaurant? I'd be like, actually, that's not in my budget today. And some people are scared to tell people that. But I mean, it's true. It's not in my budget today to go out to a restaurant. And I'm going to be honest about that. Can we go do something else? And nine times out of ten, the something else was lower cost and it was still just as fun, right? So just things like that and not being afraid to tell people what I'm working on. Because sometimes when you do tell people what you're working on, it makes it more real and people are like, oh, that's a girl with a vision. So I understand and I'm going to respect that. Nobody ever gave me any crap about saying, hey, that's not in my budget right now.
- [13:42]
B
I love that. And I love the crazy frugal friend. Like that's like a you got to go grab that Instagram handle because that's like super, super marketable for the people that want to follow in your footsteps.
- [13:51]
A
Okay, well, Mimi, you did everything right on the savings side, but getting to your first deal was not as frictionless. And I want to hear about that because I think there's a lot of rookie investors that assume once you have the money, the hard part is over. After the break, we're going to get into what the deal actually looked like and the mistake you almost made. We'll be right back.
- [14:11]
D
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- [15:09]
E
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- [15:55]
D
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- [16:37]
A
Okay, so welcome back, Mimi. You saved the money, you hit your two year mark and now it is time to actually buy. Let's talk about what the search looked like and how did it not go exactly the way you thought it would or had planned? I guess first I want to know about you. You came in dead set on a duplex or a home with a walkout basement. You wanted a classic house hack setup. So what happened when you first started looking?
- [17:04]
C
Yeah, so when I first met with my real estate agent and told her what I was looking for, she said in this area that you are looking at, you probably will not find a duplex. But if you want a house hack situation, you'd probably find a single family with a walkout basement. And a lot of people, you know, that's the, that's the footsteps that they follow in if they're looking to rent out part of their homes. So that's what I was looking for. We searched a lot of homes. Some of them were, I don't want to say out of the price range that I could afford, but just because you're Pre approved for 500k doesn't mean you should be spending 500k. Right? You gotta run the numbers and see what makes sense depending on like the rents you can get in the place in the area and all of that stuff. So, so I looked and I found a few places. But then when we did the inspection, things did not turn out. And I knew that I didn't want to get riddled with all of these expenses and having to fix so many things because I'm also still working. I want to get people in the house as soon as possible so that my rent can start being covered right away or my mortgage can be covered right away. So that's. Those were like, some of the considerations that I was thinking of as I was searching for home. I put in an offer that one didn't work out, put in another offer for a home that actually ended up being in the same exact neighborhood as the house that I closed on. And I really love this neighborhood too. I was like, oh, my God, Like, I love this neighborhood. It's close to the train, which means that, you know, I can get more people who don't have cars, yada, yada, yada. But that house didn't turn out. Someone ended up outbidding me. And finally, when I found this home, we did a first inspection, but the gas wasn't turned on. So we were like, hey, gas is not turned on. We'll do this preliminary inspection with what we have, but we want to come back and do another inspection. And so we let the sellers fix up some of the things that they found in that first inspection. But then I was like, hey, I've done an inspection before. And I just feel like what this person or this first inspector covered did not hit all of the things that I've seen in other inspection reports. So I actually ended up calling someone else that was recommended to me by a different real estate agent. And there were bit more thorough. And those people found a few things. Like they found that the roof needed to be replaced, I needed to replace the water heater, the crawl space had some issues. And these were all things that if I had went into blind, I probably would have, you know, crapped myself because I'm like, oh, my God. Like, I did not want to deal with all of this in the first place. But that's why it's important to, one, run the numbers, and two, really kind of just play around with different scenarios. I knew that this home was big enough for me to be covering my mortgage to do different things with it. Like, if I wanted to Airbnb the room downstairs, I could do that. If I just wanted to house hack, I could do that. And I ended up deciding to house hack and just live in the place because I could not find that walkout basement situation that I was looking for in the first place. Right. So, yeah, I thankfully had enough money saved up after I closed to be able to do these repairs. But if I had gone into it blind, like, I would not have loved coming in and finding out that I had to do all of these things versus getting that second inspector to come tell me everything that's wrong with the house. And I was able to negotiate with the sellers and get some of those other things fixed or those deeper issues fixed and also fix some of the other things myself.
- [20:44]
B
No, no, that's super helpful because I think for a lot of folks like you hit on something we probably don't talk about a ton, which is the, the variation in quality of inspections that you get back. And just like any other professional that we work with, property inspectors, they're not all the same. Right. And you could send two inspectors to the same property and they could come back with very different reports in the same way you could send two appraisers to the same property and they come back with different appraisals. We recently interviewed Ellie Ridge. It was episode 696 and she's an agent based in California, but she's also like, her dad's a property inspector and she has this big following on Instagram because she talks about property inspection. So if you guys are curious around maybe what are some of the things you should be looking out for? Episode 696 is a, is a good one, but, but maybe going, going back to your story, so you had to pivot, right? You're hopefully, hopefully initially looking for a duplex or this walkout basement, but you, you kind of settled on a more traditional residence, I guess. Walk us through exactly what did you, what did you end up with? What did you pay for it? And how does the income actually help in your goal of covering your mortgage?
- [21:43]
C
Yeah. So again, I knew that I wanted to close before 2026, that two year deadline. And I just could not find a place that was one, within the price range that I was looking for, that had a walkout basement, two that didn't have issues deeper than some of the things that I found in this home. And three, I guess those were probably my main two things. So I was like, okay, I want to make this happen. I've lived with roommates before. If I wasn't buying this house, I'd probably still be living in an apartment with a roommate anyways. I just need some flexibility because I don't want to share one bathroom with four other girls. So when I found this home, it was on the market for maybe it had been on the market for a while. And to be honest, the pictures that they put on Zillow were horrible. Like, I can tell why it was probably on the market for a while, but when I came to the house, it was actually pretty great. It's a four bed, three bath. So there are two bedrooms on the second level, one huge bedroom with a bathroom on the Main level. And then downstairs, there's, like, a small room with a bathroom. And I was like, okay, that's perfect. I can live upstairs, share one bathroom with one other person, and then everyone else kind of gets their own space in the house. Right? And that's why, even though some of the inspection items weren't as great as I hoped for, I still went through with it because I was like, hey, this. These benefits outweigh these issues. So I currently live in the house with three roommates, and they all pay different prices because all of the rooms are different. But they do cover that 3300 mortgage, as mentioned. And what I would do is literally, I would go on Facebook, Marketplace, Marketplace, put pictures of the room, say, hey, I'm looking to, you know, have somebody move in soon, talk to them. And you get a lot of different people. But the good thing is, so sometimes I hear people say, oh, like, you know, you're living with strangers. Like, doesn't that get weird? No, I get to interview these people. I get to talk to these people and actually see what their characters are, see if they're okay abiding by rules and okay living with other people and ensuring that, you know, our harmony is in good standing. Because, like, I live here too. But even if I didn't live here, I'd still care enough about the people to make sure that I am vetting who's living here. I use avail to do, like, the background check and all of that stuff. And honestly, they all have the rents automated, so it's been pretty good.
- [24:17]
A
And too, because you are living there that you get to decide is you don't have to apply, you know, apply to the same laws and standards that a landlord was that has an investment property. Since you live on the property, you can use your gut feeling or deny, like, you don't have to. Just because somebody's the first application in doesn't mean you have to accept Tony to move in, even though you get bad vibes from this guy.
- [24:42]
B
You know, that would be the worst roommate. But I think on that same note, Mimi, like, how. Because you've never been a landlord before, so this is all, like a new experience for you. And. And there. There's the added layer of being a landlord, but also being the landlord of your roommates. So how has that dynamic been? And I guess, what is your advice to someone who's maybe thinking about taking that step for the first time as well?
- [25:06]
C
So I would say that when I lived in that sunroom in dc, My name was on the Lease and I would just have roommates come in as like a sublease type option. So it kind of felt like I was controlling everything already. And that was like my, you know, my trial period. Yeah. So I was like, okay, this is not too bad. Like again, went through the process. It's not horrible. So I wasn't scared to do it again. And I took a leap of faith because the first person I was already advertising this place before I even closed on it. And I did get someone to sign before I even closed on it. And that's risky because if I hadn't signed on it, then I would have had to say, hey, sorry about that. But it hasn't been super bad. So frankly, I work from home like four days out of the five weeks and they all go to school or, you know, have their own jobs and I'm usually home. I think the one big point is the fact that we all share a kitchen. But again, one thing about this home, we keep that kitchen clean because to me, like, I don't have an issue saying, hey, this is the one space where if you leave a mess, someone else is going to have to come here and work over the mess that you've made. So please, please, please just ensure that you are keeping the area as clean as possible for the next person. I again, I do a process where, you know, when someone reaches out about the room, I will call them on Facebook, like video, go over the room, go over the house. We'll talk about us and our kind of living styles. And I'll say, hey, like, this is kind of what the vibe of the house is. This is what we've been doing, you know, is that something that aligns with you? They say yes or no, we move forward with the application and set their move in date. Funny enough, I was listening to a podcast of yours earlier today where someone asked, oh, someone is not my. My tenant reached out and said that they have not been paying rent. And I was like, well, I didn't have an experience like that per se, but I did have an experience where one of my tenants did pay rent late and it was because she was having trips trouble, like logging into avail. She changed her phone and it had gotten to a point where, you know, rent was maybe 10 days late. And I was like, hey, like, can you just send it on sell maybe? And she was like, kind of gave me like, oh, like I need to go put this in here, do that, all of that. And I'm like, hey, like, you and I spoke about a deadline. The Deadline has passed and you know, per our lease, I do have to put in that late fee that we spoke about. And she was like, okay, I understand, yada yada. And she sent the front payment with the late fee the next day. But you can't be scared to talk to people because at the end of the day they're in your house. And it's either we all are happy in this house, especially me, because it is my house, or you know, it's not going to be a comfortable living situation. And I don't mean that in a hey, you have to follow my rules way. Like, I'm very conscious of like just setting rules in the beginning so that we all follow it. Like, I have a shared notes with all of my roommates so that we all see who's next on the cleaning schedule. But when you know something doesn't happen, you can't be afraid to say, hey, you know, it's week, whatever, it's your cleaning week. I was just wondering when you'd be able to clean the kitchen and the living room as we discussed. And nine times out of ten they're like, hey, I'm so sorry, I've been super busy this weekend, but I'll get to it on this day and that's usually it.
- [28:46]
B
Can you talk to me about that? I don't know if we've had anyone that's mentioned the podcast about like a cleaning schedule and like a house act situation. Just kind of give us the quick rundown. Like, like, what is that and how do you leverage that? Like, what's the purpose of it?
- [28:57]
C
Yeah, I mean, so there's four girls in this house and I share a bathroom with one person and her and I have like a bi weekly cleaning schedule. But then everyone who's sharing the living room and the kitchen, we have a cleaning schedule. And I'm like trying to see if I can pull it up here to show you guys, but it's very detailed. It's like, this is the cleaning schedule for the next three months, every bi weekly one of us will clean. And on that week as well, we'll take out the big garbage can. And of course, if they came up to me and said, oh, hey, like, actually we'd like to get a cleaning person for the home, I'd be okay with that because I'm fine splitting that. And that's also something that I discussed in with all of them before they moved in. Right? Like, if the cleaning schedule doesn't work out, I'm totally okay if we all just Pitch in on a cleaning lady. But just to ensure that there's, you know, the home is clean, it's peaceful for all of us. I. It's right here where I like have like the names of everyone. We might have to block that out because it does have my roommate's name. We have bi weekly cleaning rotation, general house rules written down, trash and recycling. I'm a very thorough person. So, you know, and everyone follows it. Thankfully, like, even certain times when like, maybe one of like my busy roommates will say, hey, I actually cannot clean this Sunday, but I am setting time to clean on Monday because, you know, I'm going to do this, then it's just like, oh, okay, great. You know, so it's been good.
- [30:26]
A
I mean that I feel like has to be such an important part of living together because like, I could see it in a house hack, not setting those expectations. And it's like, okay, you make dinner or something in the kitchen, you know, to wipe the counters and do things like that. But like, who's vacuuming under the couch if you don't have, you know, like a set schedule like that or something? Like you're not. You spill something. Okay, you clean it up, you pick it up. But like, other than that, I feel like it would be difficult to have everyone equally do their part to do kind of that more in depth cleaning.
- [30:58]
C
Yeah. So that's why it's nice having that schedule. Because then there's no, oh, this person didn't do this, or oh, no, you see, everyone is on rotation. So everyone is doing their part. And as long as everyone is doing their part, then we're all happy. We all value a clean home and this is how we're going to do it. And that's how I present it too.
- [31:20]
A
So before we take our next break, I want to look back at the whole process from you being furloughed to funding this first deal. What is the one thing you wish that you would have known at the start that would have saved you the most time or even more money?
- [31:36]
C
I think just being intentional about the path you want to take. So I again mentioned that there's so many different ways to build wealth. There's so many ways to do whatever you want to do. But when I decided that I wanted to buy a home, I then I was able to work backwards and give myself a set deadline on how to make that happen. I was able to clearly say, okay, if I save up this 50k in 2 years, then this is how I am going to. This is when I will feel assured enough and safe enough to even start the home searching process. Right. And so that would have saved me a lot of time because then I remember thinking maybe I shouldn't have actually go after a home, like let me go through this avenue instead. And that didn't pan out. Or oh, you know, maybe I don't want to buy a home. Corporate hasn't been super bad. And then corporate was actually not that great. So I was like no, when we stay on the course. So yeah, I think that's the thing. Just being, just being clear and intentional on what you want and also getting a handling, getting a handle on your money.
- [32:50]
B
So yeah, made me incredible story. Now you went from furloughed freshman to house hacking homeowner in just a few short years and you did it without a family playbook to follow. So after the break, I just want you to break down like the actual roadmap. Like what someone who is listening today. What should they do in the next 90 days to be where you are? And we'll cover that right after a quick word from our show sponsors.
- [33:11]
A
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- [34:18]
D
There's a point where basically every investor realizes traditional financing stops scaling with you. At first it works. You qualify with your income, your job, your tax returns. But as you grow, that model starts to break. Now it's not really about your personal income. It's about the income from your properties. That's where DSCR lending comes in. And it's why a lot of investors end up working with lenders like Host Financial. Host Financial qualifies deals based on property income, not personal income, so you're not dealing with W2s or tax returns or DTI constraints. And with 80 to 85% LTV, you can stay more flexible as you scale. It's just a different framework, one that tends to align better with how investing actually works. If you're buying rentals, refinancing or growing your portfolio, go to host financial.com that's host financial.com and see what you qualify for.
- [35:14]
E
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- [35:55]
A
something, whether it's a business, a side hustle, or even investing, it feels like you're doing 10 jobs at once. You're figuring out branding, setting things up, trying to get customers, and somehow keeping everything organized behind the scenes. That's where having the right platform actually changes the game for millions of businesses. That platform is Shopify. Shopify powers millions of businesses worldwide and handles about 10% of all E commerce in the U.S. it's built to help you manage everything in one place, from inventory and payments to analytics and growth. You can launch a store that actually looks professional using their ready to go templates and even use built in AI tools to write product descriptions or improve your listings. And when it comes to growth, Shopify helps you market like you've got a full team behind you with easy email and social campaigns to reach your customers wherever they are. Plus, if you ever get stuck, they've got 24. 7 support to help you figure it out. So instead of juggling a bunch of disconnected tools, you can run your entire business from one platform and actually focus on growing it. It's time to turn those what ifs into with Shopify today. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com Rookie go to shopify.com Rookie that's shopify.com Rookie if you
- [37:10]
D
own a short term rental, here's something worth knowing. Not all landlord policies are built for your type of property. And with holiday bookings, chilly weather, and higher guest turnover, having the right coverage is more important than ever. Steadily offers insurance designed specifically for short term rentals, covering property damage, liability, lost rental income, and even unexpected issues like bed bugs. Steadily works exclusively with real estate investors so they understand the details that make short term rentals unique, and they build coverage to match it. A quick review of your rates and coverage every year can help you protect your property and your cash flow. Get a quote in minutes@biggerpockets.com landlordinsurance steadily rental property insurance for the modern investor.
- [37:52]
B
All right, we've heard the story. Now the goal is to make it actionable. Someone is listening right now. They're exactly where you were in 2020. No savings, no network in real estate. Maybe not even sure that this is possible for them. So we want to understand, where should they start? So, Mimi, if someone is starting from scratch today with a regular job and some level of motivation, what does the first 90 days look like before they even think about properties which they'd be focused on first?
- [38:15]
C
So I think the first 90 days should be focused on getting clear on what you want. Again, like I mentioned, I wanted a duplex, but you know, in what area, right? Like, I'm originally from New York City. I moved to the DMV area because I kind of had some notion of what I wanted to do. And I know if I stayed in New York, no matter how much I was making, I probably would not ever feel financially stable. So even doing things like that, it's, you know, something to think about. But I would say if you're like, okay, I, I want to buy a house and maybe the next year and I need to come up with a plan on how to do it. Start looking at the area that you want to be investing in. Right? Where do you want to buy a house? And if it's a house hack, does your area even have or offer duplexes? If you wanted to do a duplex or multifamily homes, are you going to just buy a single family? Because then once you say, okay, the house that I'm buying could be in like the 400k range, then you can say, okay, how much would I need on a down payment? How much would closing costs be? Let me see. Or have like a tangible number that I'm working towards so that I can really double down, focus, lock in, and get to that number and the reason why I just always start with and just clarity and knowing what you want to do. Because it's so hard to justify saving a certain amount of money each month if you don't know what you're saving for. Like, so many people are like, oh, like, I've been trying to do an emergency fund for years now, but it never pans out because I spent so much money. Well, what do you want to do after you save the emergency fund? Or is this emergency fund so that you can take a sabbatical, you know, for a few months? If you don't have like that tangible why, then you're always going to fall back off track. And then second of all, start stop being afraid to look at your money. I mean.
- [40:12]
B
Hey, Ricky's if 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
- [40:31]
A
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.
- [40:43]
B
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.