Week 2 – Origin Story
Between 2003 and 2005, Chris and a partner bought over $5,000,000 worth of real estate. Home values were inflated by easy money, and they paid too much without understanding what makes an investment property cash flow.
The houses performed fairly well, but his share of the profits just wasn’t enough to keep his portfolio afloat. By August of 2008, Chris realized that he was not going to be able to turn it around.
Planning, filing and recovering from bankruptcy was the biggest, hardest, and most important project Chris had ever faced. Oddly, no one seemed to care; the whole country was focused on their own financial problems.
Slowly, Chris started to view this second chance as an opportunity. He retained an experienced attorney—a successful real estate investor himself—and over the next six months, they came up with a plan that positioned Chris to move forward on the other side.
Chris made a lot of mistakes during those first eight years, lost all of his savings, but in the process, he gained an invaluable education. Bankruptcy gave Chris the second chance he needed to go out and start being of use again. Chris has invited others to learn from his mistakes without the downside of repeating them.
Chris didn’t know a single real estate investor when he bought his first rental property. His education came from reading Rich Dad Poor Dad on the back porch, contemplating stepping down from his position as District Team Leader for Target Stores in New York City.
Robert T. Kiyosaki said that you could get rich buying, renting and selling real estate with Other People’s Money! Chris wanted out of corporate retail. And investing in real estate sounded easy, and boss-free!
No one explained the potential pitfalls of real estate investing to Chris, and at the time, he may not have have listened.
Real estate investing is unlike any other business. There is the potential to make – and lose a lot of money.
Success real estate investor must do many small things right, over and over again. Some consider it a passive activity, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Real estate investing involves at least some active involvement, every day.
Better than average returns result from additional effort. Active management gets the most out of every asset under normal market conditions, positions the portfolio for success should lightning strike in your favor, and prepares for the worst.
Residential real estate investing requires active participation, every day. The portfolios of properties Chris’s company manages generally outperform the stock market because his team is deeply involved, every day. It’s not sexy, but it works.
Here is how Chris explains it in the book: If you have a 401k worth One Million Dollars, in order to preserve your capital, you should never withdraw more than 4% – or forty thousand dollars a year. In Springfield, Ohio, Chris and many of his clients earn 15% or more on single family rental housing. To earn the income equivalent of a One Million Dollar Nest Egg, you only need a dozen or so 15 to 35 thousand dollar, single family homes. For case studies of some of the properties Chris manages, get a copy of the book – or download our bonus content from the blog: MakeRealEstateWork.com
For a free copy of the full book, A Real Estate Investor’s Guide to Profitability, email FreeBook@ROOSTRealEstateCo.com and we will send you one. Or download a free e-book version here: MakeRealEstateWork.com/free-book