Summary: On today's episode I share my journey investing in rental real estate from my early start at the age of 18, through my trials and tribulations, to where I am today. We should all learn from our past experiences, good and bad, because they provide us knowledge and the wisdom to improve and do better as we go.<br> <br> Regardless of where you are in your investing journey, I encourage you to listen in, and feel free to share your story with us.<br> <br> If you missed last week's episode, be sure to listen to the Indianapolis Update and Listener Questions.<br> <br> Enjoy the show!<br> <br> - - - - - - - - - - - - - -<br> <br> Download your FREE copy of: The Ultimate Guide to Passive Real Estate Investing.<br> <br> Get your FREE coffee mug by leaving us a Rating and Review on iTunes. Here's how.<br> <br> See our available Turnkey Cash-Flow Rental Properties.<br> <br> Please give us a RATING & REVIEW (Thank you!)<br> <br> SUBSCRIBE on iTunes | Stitcher | Podcast Feed <br> <br> <br> Investing in Turnkey Properties -- My Journey, Setbacks and Advice<br> Today, I wanted to talk about the concept of investing in turnkey properties. Investors sometimes ask me, “If I had to go back and do it all over again, what would I do different? What did I learn?” Really, it's just about the journey of where I started and how I got to where I am. People just want to know where I started and how I got to where I'm at. If I was to just rewind the clock and tell you where I started, I was only eighteen years old when I bought my first investment property. I have to tell you, at that time, it was an exciting time and a scary time. In fact, I had never read a book or taken a course on real estate up to that point. I only really had experience in rental properties through helping my parents, aunts and uncles renovate a single property they bought as a group when I was in my early teens. It really was a family project, and it really was the only rental property that they ever bought and fixed up. It was more daunting and more work than they anticipated, so it ended up taking weeks to get done. It was a job that was done in evenings and on weekends because everybody had a full-time job, we were in school so it was really a side project, if you will.<br> <br> My first investment property was a rundown, two-story townhome that needed a decent amount of work and upgrading. I was able to purchase it with financing because the lender considered the property to be livable and I qualified for the financing because I was employed for over two years with a good paying job and it was a part time job. I then hired my uncle who was a general contractor. With the help of my immediate family for some of the demolition, we jumped in to get the property cleaned, upgraded and prepared to lease. That project probably took a couple of weeks.<br> <br> <br> <br> I recall running an ad in the local paper. Remember back then, there were no iPhones and there was no internet so it was the newspaper or you stuck a sign in the yard. I would have people come by the property to fill out applications while we continue working on the property inside. I had absolutely no experience in screening tenants. I'm sure I relied on my gut feeling at least as much what they wrote on their applications. I kept that property and managed it for probably a few years before I decided to sell it. I made a nice profit on it. All in all, it was a very good experience and one that I can look back and reflect on. The property was local to me. The price was right and I was ambitious enough to literally jump in and just do it. My biggest regret though with that first property was selling it. Over time, the market value exceeded ten times the price I originally paid for it. I can't imagine what the cashflow would be like today if I had kept it. It probably would be free and clear. I would be raking in,
