So after reading some tips in this book, I thought I would take that idea of using other people to get started, my knowledge of designing web pages, combine the two and take it to the world wide web. I figured since most other businesses grow through the help of the internet, it could work for me too. The concept was simple, I find a property in need of repair at much lower cost then its after repaired value. I'll use other peoples money to buy it and fix it up in cash, and then once finished it would be worth twice as much if not more. Now, I would have a property owned in full, no mortgage, making it easier to just take out an equity loan against the house, to pay back the people that pitched in with some interest. So I went to work on designing the site and only taking about a week to finish it, making it ready for the internet. Before I started accepting money from other people I didn't know through the internet, I wanted to at least test the concept of what I was planning to do first. My girlfriend at the time (now my wife) had great credit, a good job, high limits on her credit cards available and money saved up. She was willing to help me get the first property. We found a foreclosed property in need of repair, that seemed like a great first time property. With her help, I bought the property for $20,000. It was a semi-detached 5 bedroom single family house. I did my research in the area, and new it could be worth at least $55,000 after being renovated. We used the money she had saved up, and her credit card to buy the materials I needed to do the repairs. I was so proud of getting my first place, that I lived in it while I did the work myself. It was a bit like camping out. I had no hot water, I slept on an air mattress, it was the middle of October 2005 getting colder out every day and I had no heat. But I couldn't be happier! I felt completely free, I was working at my own pace, I had no boss, no specific hours of when to arrive and leave. I knew this is what I wanted to do. My girlfriend paid me with her savings, just enough to get by. We knew that once the place was finished, we could do a cash out refinance from the equity that would be in the property, and pay her back. After about two months, I finished the place with the help of a few friends and had it appraised. It came back at $65,000! We did an 80% refinance, giving us $52,000. Was enough to pay her back, and for me to live off of for awhile. I quickly rented the place to a section 8 tenant. I got $750.00 a month, and only paid the water, sewer, and trash. The mortgage was $528.00 a month, so we had a small positive cash flow as well. I was happy with the results, and was ready to get the next property by using other investors through my website. What happened with this next property... my first property used with investors, was completely unexpected and a disaster that nearly kept me from continuing business. Make sure to subscribe to read about it in the next blog post!

Tags: Real Estate Investing Money Goals Hopes Dreams

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