First Time Investors Stories
Annie Liu, Admin
Houston, TX; Dallas, TX
How to finance your first investment property?
In most un-trained ordinary people's eyes, I do not seem like I would ever be able to ever afford a home in the Bay Area. I worked in non-profit and international education for the last ten years of my life, and my current salary from work is just enough to live off of in San Francisco. In fact, I am pretty sure that the majority of the folks in this group earn way more than I do. I am one of those bad-ass Asians who picked a pretty useless major in college (got a Master's Degree in it too) and went to an expensive private university.
I still rent where I'm staying in SF and OH, here's a good one for you: I am terrible with math. *Holds signs that says: Willing to get international student visas for your foreign relatives in exchange for free boba* Just kidding!
But this never stopped me from purchasing my own home and it should not stop you. You don't need to be a high-wage earner or quit your 9-5 job to get start with real estate. With some financial help from my parents, I started my journey just 7 years ago and now I'm working toward my 5th and 6th purchases this month...read more
Joshua L.
Los Angeles, CA
In 2006, I was introduced to the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. Fascinated by the concepts he shared, I passed the book on to my younger sister, Jessica. After graduating from college in 2007, she worked, saved, and bought her first rental in 2010 at the age of 25. When I saw the returns she was getting, I knew I had to jump in.
My first property was a duplex in South Los Angeles purchased in 2011. From 2011 - 2017, we had a good run and grew our portfolio to 6 properties and 17 units. In 2017, a friend passed in the Las Vegas shooting.
That tragic event made me think about the fragility of life and the importance of not putting things off. So the following year I quit my job to do something I've always wanted but never had the courage to do, solo backpack around the world. It was a life-changing experience.
Now I'm back! Currently wrapping up cash-out refi #4 and preparing for two purchases or ADU additions. So far everything we own is in Los Angeles, but it's such a hot market now we're also looking at out of state...read more
Minh L.
Dallas, TX
Hey SARE,
I’m glad to be here! Shoutout to Annie Liu for being so active and getting me involved. I wasn’t able to jump onto the #30daytobuyahomechallenge, but it’s definitely motivating to see people take action. I tossed this idea back and forth with Annie and we’re here with another challenge in hopes of motivating more people to take action. #REorigins
TLDR - My first purchase was a house hack and is now a rental. It was a growing experience and was worth the risk.
The Journey Back in 2015, I had an easy job as an EMT at a casino was paid well for what I did. It was nice because I had my private office. All I did was sit around and wait for accidents to happen, which conveniently did not happen that often. I lived in Norman, Oklahoma, which was a small college town where there wasn’t much excitement going on. The cost of living in Norman, and Oklahoma in general, was very affordable compared to most places in the U.S. ...read more
Susan H.
Charlotte, NC
Hi SARE! Long-time lurker here - and participant in the first wave of the #30daystobuyahome challenge. Just closed on my first rental today and I wanted to share my journey in case it might help someone out!
Three years ago, I declared that I wanted to invest in real estate, but was at a complete loss for where to begin. I had just started my freelance career so the idea sat on the back burner. Fast forward to 2020 and I suddenly had all the time in the world (thanks to COVID). This was when I stumbled across Elisa Zheng Covington who revived my thirst for RE investing. And thanks to her for inviting me to be a part of SARE, this small idea became a reality today.
A few essential points I want to call out:
- I was 36 weeks pregnant when the challenge was announced and almost didn’t apply because the thought seem too far fetched. A day later, I thought “oh wtf go for it anyway” and began walking homes within a week. As I went through the cram classes, I felt like the only newbie asking embarrassingly novice questions (that were probably obvious to everyone else). But, I asked them anyway… The lesson here - nothing is ever too far out of reach. And there’s no shame in not knowing what you don’t know.
- Thanks to Nelson Lin for doing a virtual walk-through with me, I began to grasp what investors look out for in an investment property ... read more
