Go Fish Village: Personal Wealth

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

EP 13: How Much Should I Pay for Discount Points?

EP 12: How much should I pay a Property Manager?

What is a good Cap Rate?

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

Want to learn how to create financial freedom through real estate? Join our village today at www.gofishvillage.com. Types of Housing Loans: FHA, VA, Conventional..

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

Fair Housing: Blockbusting, Steering, Redlining

SHOW LESS"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

2002 - Real Estate Roots The official story is that Odis started his real estate career in 2002 as a Multifamily leasing consultant. The truth, however, is that he was fluent in the language of real estate from an early age. His father, Odis Jr., had been a real estate broker since 1971 and took young Odis with him to the office and client meetings. It did not take long for Odis to pick up his father’s work ethic and love of real estate.  In 2003, Odis and his father opened their first office in San Jose, CA, and by 2005 they had added a mortgage brokerage to their list of services. Together they weathered the 2008 housing crisis until, in 2010, they had to close their doors for good.  Odis returned to the Multifamily industry as a leasing consultant. From there, he was promoted to Assistant Manager, Community Manager, Senior Community Manager, and finally to Regional Manager, where he oversees $400 million in Multifamily real estate.  2008 - Drive to Help Others In 2008, Odis established the nonprofit organization Inside the Truth Ministries, Inc., which shared the message of love through the teachings of Jesus Christ. He financed this community outreach from his own pocket for three years until, after careful consideration, he closed the doors and turned his focus toward personal development.  Soon Odis began using biblical principles in practical application to mentor new and would-be entrepreneurs. This remains his coaching style with professionals who are going through challenging times in their business. ​ 2020 - Community Outreach through Real Estate While starting a small business—which would grow to reach seven figures in revenue—Odis found real estate investing to be far more rewarding than being a real estate broker. Through a real estate investing educational program, he learned several investment strategies that required little or no out-of-pocket capital.  Odis began buying real estate to create opportunities for potential buyers who faced obstacles to homeownership and freely shared his investment strategies through social media and various websites. He is regarded as an expert in single-family home flipping and now draws on his regional manager experience in his Multifamily acquisitions and development.  Odis’s passion is to advance the economic position of African Americans through education, strategic investing, and relationship-building. He employs his unique background and skillset to concentrate on pre-gentrified neighborhoods of color, promoting ownership, commerce, and prosperity. Odis believes so strongly in the “never stop learning” mindset that he gives away his secrets to success.

Rashauna Scott is a millennial thought leader who strategically uses her influence to raise awareness about wealth building through investing in real estate. Rashauna is the founder of Flippin' In Heels, a community for women real estate investors which hosts conferences, property tours, online summits, and much more. Flippin' In Heels not only aims to educate women on the many avenues of investing but it also highlights women who are decision makers within the industry. As an Illinois licensed real estate broker, she’s attracted many clients who have an interest in investing; whether they are first-time home buyers or seasoned investors. Rashauna's decade of investing experience includes private investing, tax liens, wholesaling, buy & holds, and fix & flips. While she serves her clients in all capacities of real estate; her niche is helping them acquire multi-family investment properties. In addition to her above accolades, she also developed a specific investment strategy for raising and managing hundreds of thousands in private capital. Now, her greatest accomplishment is the opportunity to lead, educate, and inspire other agents like herself toward success.

Brooke Lang graduated from the University of Illinois with a Masters of Architecture degree. After working for some of Chicago’s top architecture firms, she founded Brooke Lang Design in 2012. A Chicago based interior design firm, BLD provides both residential and boutique commercial interior design services and project management across the country.

Brooke’s approach to interiors is to blend style and function effortlessly, while always adding a touch of soulfulness. Her style is influenced by a long love affair with Parisian architecture, which she has always adored.  Brooke brings her Millennial Modern® aesthetic to both residential and commercial design projects around the country.  She is a lover of velvet sofas in saturated colors, antique gold mirrors and sculptural chairs. Brooke especially loves designing in contemporary and eclectic styles by combining soft lines, rich wood, luxurious fabrics and pop of unexpected flair to every room! Brooke loves mixing modern living with vintage vibes, and the end result are stunning interiors that are both liveable and luxurious.        

Brooke is involved in a number of non profit organizations including The Youth Peace Center of Roseland, Interior Design Peer Alliance, and the National Organization of Minority Architects.

Byron & Sharnice have earned 7-figures buying and selling mobile homes. When they started, they didn’t have the capital or the credit to invest in real estate. Mobile Home investing is the best entryway to the mobile home investing game. They’ve been helping hundreds of students across the country to get a jump start in this industry while closing on hundreds of mobile homes and even acquiring four mobile home parks.

At the beginning of their investment jounrney, they  purchased 2 mobile homes that they found for under $5,000 (one for $3,700 and one for $500). Less than a month later they flipped the homes for a profit of $19,500. Sharnice’s salary at her old job was $39,000 a year.

Once she realized that she just made half of her previous annual salary in a month she was convinced that they were on the right path. Her and Byron have been full steam ahead in the mobile home industry ever since. Together they’ve built a mobile home portfolio and developed the top educational platform online to educate investors on the industry.

Bill Jones has over thirty years of experience as the CEO or a senior executive in public and private real estate development organizations. He formed Bill Jones & Associates LLC, a Real Estate Development and Consulting Firm in 2001. The firm assists Not-for-profit and for-profit developers in the analysis, financing and implementation of their residential and commercial real estate projects.  Prior to organizing his firm, he served simultaneously as Executive Director of the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization (the Fund) and the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corporation (WPIC), two community development corporations serving the  Woodlawn and North Kenwood/Oakland on Chicago’s south side.  One of his key accomplishments was the level of minority participation on his shopping center project. The 10M project achieved 67% minority participation and 62% minority workforce as certified by by the City of Chicago.  Bill has developed over 1000 units of tax credit rental housing; 150 units of for sale affordable housing; 50 units of market rate for sale houses and a 4.7-acre shopping center. The initial tenants included: COOP Markets, a sixty year old cooperatively owned community grocery store, Walgreens, South Shore Decorating; a minority owned HomeImprovementCenter, Foot Locker, Citibank and other retail facilities. Six of the tenants are minority owned businesses and the center provides jobs to over three hundred community residents. Certified minority participation in the construction of the center was sixty-seven per cent of the construction contracts went to minority contractors and sixty-one percent of the payroll went to minorities.  Mr. Jones played a leadership role in the planning and startup of Columbia Pointe; a seven block 140 home Planned Community’ on 63rd Street in Woodlawn. The project is a joint venture between WPIC and The Woodlawn Organization (TWO), and the Davis Group. This mixed income development was designed to transform a vacant commercial corridor and accelerate the transition of Woodlawn into an economically and socially integrated community. The first phase (28 Homes) was sold completely out the first weekend the sales center opened.  Bill served as a Regional Program Vice President for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a National Non-Profit Intermediary. LISC provides debt and equity funding to Community Development Corporations in select communities across the country.  In this role Bill served as Senior Credit officer for the Midwest and was responsible for the investment of over $75 million annually in real estate projects in Chicago, Kansas City, Houston, Kalamazoo, Detroit, Michigan Multi Cities, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Duluth MN. Sites reporting to him represented 28% of the portfolio, they consistently represented over 40% of LISC output during six of Bill’s seven-year tenure.  From 1981 to 1990 Bill was President of the Codman Square Housing Development Corporation, a leading community-based developer in Boston, Massachusetts.  During his eight-year tenure, the HDC completed the development and construction/rehab of over 575 units of affordable rental and for- sale housing; and 30,000 square feet of commercial space.  The total value of projects developed exceeded 55 million dollars.

Bill Jones has over thirty years of experience as the CEO or a senior executive in public and private real estate development organizations. He formed Bill Jones & Associates LLC, a Real Estate Development and Consulting Firm in 2001. The firm assists Not-for-profit and for-profit developers in the analysis, financing and implementation of their residential and commercial real estate projects.  Prior to organizing his firm, he served simultaneously as Executive Director of the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization (the Fund) and the Woodlawn Preservation and Investment Corporation (WPIC), two community development corporations serving the  Woodlawn and North Kenwood/Oakland on Chicago’s south side.  One of his key accomplishments was the level of minority participation on his shopping center project. The 10M project achieved 67% minority participation and 62% minority workforce as certified by by the City of Chicago.  Bill has developed over 1000 units of tax credit rental housing; 150 units of for sale affordable housing; 50 units of market rate for sale houses and a 4.7-acre shopping center. The initial tenants included: COOP Markets, a sixty year old cooperatively owned community grocery store, Walgreens, South Shore Decorating; a minority owned HomeImprovementCenter, Foot Locker, Citibank and other retail facilities. Six of the tenants are minority owned businesses and the center provides jobs to over three hundred community residents. Certified minority participation in the construction of the center was sixty-seven per cent of the construction contracts went to minority contractors and sixty-one percent of the payroll went to minorities.  Mr. Jones played a leadership role in the planning and startup of Columbia Pointe; a seven block 140 home Planned Community’ on 63rd Street in Woodlawn. The project is a joint venture between WPIC and The Woodlawn Organization (TWO), and the Davis Group. This mixed income development was designed to transform a vacant commercial corridor and accelerate the transition of Woodlawn into an economically and socially integrated community. The first phase (28 Homes) was sold completely out the first weekend the sales center opened.  Bill served as a Regional Program Vice President for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a National Non-Profit Intermediary. LISC provides debt and equity funding to Community Development Corporations in select communities across the country.  In this role Bill served as Senior Credit officer for the Midwest and was responsible for the investment of over $75 million annually in real estate projects in Chicago, Kansas City, Houston, Kalamazoo, Detroit, Michigan Multi Cities, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Duluth MN. Sites reporting to him represented 28% of the portfolio, they consistently represented over 40% of LISC output during six of Bill’s seven-year tenure.  From 1981 to 1990 Bill was President of the Codman Square Housing Development Corporation, a leading community-based developer in Boston, Massachusetts.  During his eight-year tenure, the HDC completed the development and construction/rehab of over 575 units of affordable rental and for- sale housing; and 30,000 square feet of commercial space.  The total value of projects developed exceeded 55 million dollars.

Black Girls Buy Buildings (BGBB) is a Black women-owned real estate investment firm specializing in the acquisition, renovation, and management of residential properties. Our mission is to rebuild and invest in our communities one building at a time. We are committed to investing in properties that will preserve the essence of the Black community and help restore its heritage throughout the Southside of Chicago, Memphis, and Houston.

Meet Robiar Smith, the owner or R.B. Pest Solutions. The fastest growing pest control company owned by a woman in the Midwest! Pest control has allowed her to return home to her grassroots and it’s her calling. She feels like her career and now having her own business has brought her full circle and she is fulfilling her destiny! She received her education and joined corporate America with one purpose in mind, but in reality, she was being prepared to run her own multi-billion dollar company. In a male-dominated field, she is trailblazing her way to the top, servicing her community and educating them along the way. She didn't choose Pest Control. Pest Control choose her! Anyone who talks to her can see the passion she has for this industry and the love she has for her family. The letter "B" in the name R.B. Pest Solutions is in honor of her father, Michael Benton. Since her parents, Michael and Dolores, didn't have any sons, it is important for Robiar to carry on her father's legacy with this company. His work ethic and business strategies will not go in vain. Generations to come will know about the man who taught her so much! He's the best teacher a woman could ask for. Dolores, Robiar's mother, introduced her father to extermination. In return, he showed his daughter, a little black girl from the south side of Chicago, the true meaning of entrepreneurship. She learned to create her own lane and live her dreams while fulfilling her other responsibilities.

R.B. Pest Solutions is a locally owned business that services commercial and residential properties helping them get rid of bedbugs, termites, rodents, and general pests. You got Pests! We'll take care of the rest.

R.B. Pest Solutions. 8243 S Cottage Grove, Chicago, IL 312-217-9605

All social media platforms @r.b.pestsolurions

Mike is a 30 plus year real estate investment veteran. He has controlled over $285,000,000 in real estate transactions. Mike is an entrepreneur, author, real estate trainer, public speaker, and personal coach, with strong personal resilience and a deep desire to help others live an extraordinary life. He has coached hundreds of real estate investors to fulfill their dreams. Michael began as a general contractor in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago with $5 mm in annual revenue. He sold his company and then took some time off to decide what to do next. Michael entered the real estate industry as a sales agent building a team of agents and support staff that produced over $20 mm per year in sales production. In 2005, Michael started a private equity firm, raising $18 mm in private equity and acquired $60 mm in multi-family apartments including 4,000 units in five different US markets. As part of the company’s growth, Mike built and developed a property management division that managed 7,500 units. Mike has always believed that transparency and honesty are central to any successful business and personal life. As a result of the 2008 world economic crisis, Mike let his guard down and let his transparency slip. The impact that had on his company and its real estate holdings left him scrambling to protect the company and its investors. ormed. This was a devastating loss of life as he knew it and everything he thought was important and came as a harsh wake-up call. Mike used his time in prison to make a difference. He worked to receive his college bachelor's degree. Mike developed and taught bible studies, ethics, real estate, and property management classes. Mike served on a prison suicide cadre and was involved in the community outreach program. He was one of the founding members and president of toastmasters as well as a core member of Alcoholics Anonymous. He and his story made a positive impact in the lives of others both in and outside the prison walls. Mike’s resilient mindset helped him turn things around. Now Mike is focused on helping real estate owner-operators and other industry professionals make wise, responsible decisions while continuing to grow their businesses and create a profit. The positive impact Mike can have on you comes from learning from his experiences, both positive and negative. Mike offers to be what he did not have during that time - someone to help you make tough decisions when challenges come your way. Mike’s comeback story will inspire you and open your eyes. Entrepreneurs are often faced with decisions that impact the rest of their life. As Mike experienced, those choices can either be positive or devastatingly negative. Today Michael’s passion is sharing his knowledge and wisdom with others for their gain. Mike is the host of the Insider Secrets Podcast and the co-host of Multi-family Unplugged Vidcast. Michael has built My Core Intentions training and coaching platform to help real estate investors and industry professionals excel in their field. His Core principle is to teach his clients how to create “short-term cash flow and long-term wealth.” This is delivered through live and virtual training events, and three levels of personal coaching. Two of the things that set My Core Intentions apart is their teaching about developing an exit plan and a deep dive into creating wealth through small multi-family properties. Michael’s clients are completing transactions within 12 weeks, experiencing personal growth and business revenues exceeding rates of 20% growth annually

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.  Neither Joshua Mercer, Go Fish Village , or any of its affiliates endorse the work or reputation of any guest or company featured on the Go Fish Village Podcast. Each guest is representing themselves and his/her brand only. Take their advice at your own risk. We urge you to do extensive research, speak with references, get examples of work before doing business with any featured guest, business, or company.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

Natasha entered into the mortgage industry about 13 years ago because she honestly just needed a job. She started in the closing department and was eager to learn more then became a loan processor which she did for over 12 years. During her 12 years of processing mortgage loans, she had the opportunity to work on many loans for clients and learn a lot about the guidelines and the flow of how mortgage loans work. In October of 2015, Natasha realized that there are so many clients who need my assistance that my true strength was to be a VP of Lending, which is when she became a full time VP of Lending.  Natasha entered this business because she's very passionate about real-estate and it is her privilege to offer her clients an excellent home buying experience regardless of the client's purchase price or income status. Natasha loves what she does and works really hard to get deals closed within the time frames expected. Natasha has been a buyer, a seller and a landlord so she knows the importance of every role in the industry and does her best to offer excellent customer service to all her clients. She offers FHA, VA, Conventional, Jumbo AND Renovation Loans (FHA 203K and Home Style Renovation) and I also offer the Down Payment Assistant Programs available as well as IHDA and the City of Chicago Down Payment Assistance Program. Natasha study's guidelines and is current on updates within the industry, which include guidelines changes.  Natasha graduated from Chicago State University where she obtained her Bachelors in Finance. I obtained my MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. I am also a graduate of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business.  Natasha is a member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. and is married with two children. Natasha loves traveling to Las Vegas and Miami when she has free time. Natasha was born and raised in Chicago, IL and spend most of her time working and taking my son to baseball.

Let's face it…The Odds are Stacked Against Aspiring Real Estate Investors. It’s seemingly impossible to find deals in this sellers market, banks require HUGE $XXX,XXX down payments for investments, and flipping and wholesaling strategies are COMPLETELY SATURATED. After 4 years of trying and failing at multiple different strategies to break into real estate investing, Matt Porcaro learned about a little known government backed renovation loan that allowed him to do a live-in house flip. Using this strategy, he managed to turn a small $9,500 down payment into $130k in liquid equity and $2k a month passive cash flow… in just 8 months! After being asked constantly by friends and family on how he did it, Matt created a community dedicated to leveraging this strategy called “The 203k Way™”. Since creating the community...he’s helped 100’s of aspiring investors get their first or next cash flowing, high equity investment property - with only a 3.5% down payment by leveraging renovation loan products. But it doesn’t stop there! Not only does the first 203k deal help his students achieve immediate equity and cash flow returns, but it acts as a catalyst to open the door to even more deals, and launch their real estate investing careers.

It depends, but consider the pros and cons...

The biggest downside to refinancing is that it costs money. Not only does the actual refinance cost but in some cases you are stretching your payments out for a longer time period. What you're doing is taking out a new mortgage to pay off the old one - so you'll have to pay most of the same closing costs you did when you first bought the home, including origination fees, title insurance, application fees and closing fees (www.mortgageloan.com).  You should avoid refinancing if it takes too much time for you to recoup the new loan's closing costs. This time is known as the break-even period or the number of months to reach the point when you start saving. At the end of the break-even period, you fully offset the costs of refinancing (www.investopedia.com).

One of the first reasons to refinance is to lower your monthly payments, duh. There are a list of other reasons, but the second is to do a cash out refinance, this allows you to access a large chuck of money without selling your home. You might need the cash to start a business or pay for a child's education. Keep in mind, though, the cash you take out will cost you more in interest over the life of your new loan, but not necessarily more than other financing options would cost you www.bankofamercia.com.

I it was 2014, my second child was on the way. Child care aint cheap, that can be an entire post in an of itself. I had recently stopped teaching and opened up an insurance agency. My wife, an actress, didn't have consistent income. I liquidated my teaching pension and used all my wedding money up, lol. Multiunit refinance to the rescue, lol! In short, to save money, we 1) moved in with my in-laws, 2) raised the rent, and 3) refinanced. All in all, we were able to net approximately $1,100/month...this was clutch!

 Craig K. Huffman has nearly two decades of experience as an entrepreneur. Most recently, he was a Co-Founder and Principal of Ascendance Partners. Ascendance Partners is a Chicago-based real estate private equity firm, established in 2006, focused on commercial real estate investments in metropolitan Chicago. Ascendance was an early sponsor of institutional investment funds that acquired real estate in economically underserved communities of Chicago and it has sponsored real estate funds, in excess of $50 million AUM, for foundations, endowments, pension funds, family offices and high net worth individuals. Some notable Ascendance investors have included PNC Community Development Company, LLC, Bank of America, and the Retirement Plan for Chicago Transit Authority Employees’ Trust. Prior to Ascendance, Mr. Huffman worked in diverse senior management roles in the sectors of entrepreneurship, education, non-profit and politics. Mr. Huffman serves on numerous philanthropic boards and is an advisor and investor for several emerging entrepreneurs. Mr. Huffman holds a B.A. from Morehouse College and a master’s degree and an MBA from the University of Chicago. 

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 "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

Yondi K. Morris-Andrews is a founding partner of Knight, Morris & Reddick Law Group. She specializes in various practice areas including corporate, entertainment, property tax appeals and real estate transactions. With her corporate clients, Mrs. Morris-Andrews works mostly with start-up companies, offering them advice on how to form as an entity, while drafting and negotiating contracts on the company’s behalf. Morris-Andrews offers creative solutions for her entrepreneur clients, and is able to guide them as they grow from the start-up phase to experienced businesses. She has been hired by her clients to act as general counsel, handling any needs that might arise from the day-to-day responsibilities of running a business.

For her entertainment clients, Morris-Andrews drafts and reviews contracts including licensing, agent and artist agreements, and will negotiate deals on her client’s behalf. Ranging from an independent play writer to a talent management company, Morris-Andrews assists her clients in whatever their legal needs might be.

Another area of great interest to Morris-Andrews is real estate; representing clients in the buying and selling of both residential and commercial properties. Morris-Andrews works closely with clients and agents on her deals, and as a Chicago native, has insight regarding various neighborhoods and what her clients should consider when buying or selling their home. Morris-Andrews is also a property tax appeal expert, which means she can likely get a reduction in the amount her clients are paying in their property taxes. In that capacity, Morris-Andrews files appeals with the Cook County Board of Review, and submits evidence and attends hearings on her client’s behalf.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

Wright Layne Development a real estate design build company created by Jasmine Layne and Charles Mckever took its shape in 2009. Starting primarily as a construction company, Wright Layne began creating unique spaces with the belief that our home is the foundation of the lives we build. Wright Layne specializes in designing a product complete with modern and contemporary finishes along with an urban aesthetic. As leaders in home design, Jasmine and Charles have created a wide range of developments that has exceeded market expectations while forging a relationship with the community. "The Wright Layne Way" is a phrase that has not only become a motto for our team but a mantra to live by. We are a lifestyle company based in real estate. Here, we construct homes with substance and style that is grounded with integrity. Doing things "The Wright Layne Way" means living inspired with authentic expression. All projects from concept to completion are lead by the duo themselves. As a standard Wright Layne continues to maintain a high level of design refinement along with an unmatched construction operation. Here with us, all residents are exceptional and with our natural care and commitment ensures a home that is made fit for family.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

Donna J Rogers is passionate about empowering others through education and real estate. She has over sixteen years of experience within the real estate industry in various capacities as an Investor, Instructor, Broker, Property Manager and Project Manager for rehabs. Donna is the Managing Real Estate Broker and Owner of R’ Legacy Realty, a residential and commercial real estate brokerage in Illinois.  Moreover, she is an Adjunct Business Professor at Chicago State University and a licensed Pre-licensing Real Estate Instructor at various institutions.  Donna has written curriculum for the Chicago Association of Realtors and is the author of a real estate book for teens entitled: Who Got the Keys? Building Generational Wealth through Real Estate, with pre-orders available at www.whogotthekeys.com.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

What Is Appreciation? Appreciation, in general terms, is an increase in the value of an asset over time. The increase can occur for a number of reasons, including increased demand or weakening supply, or as a result of changes in inflation or interest rates. This is the opposite of depreciation, which is a decrease in value over time.  The term is also used in accounting when referring to an upward adjustment of the value of an asset held on a company's accounting books. The most common adjustment on the value of an asset in accounting is usually a downward one, known as depreciation, which is typically done as the asset loses economic value through use, such as a piece of machinery being used over its useful life. While appreciation of assets in accounting is less frequent, assets such as trademarks may see an upward value revision due to increased brand recognition.  

KEY TAKEAWAYS:   

• Appreciation, in general terms, is an increase in the value of an asset over time. 
• Capital appreciation refers to an increase in the value of financial assets such as stocks, which can occur for reasons such as improved financial performance of the company. 
• Currency appreciation refers to the increase in the value of one currency relative to another in the foreign exchange markets. 

SOURCE: INVESTOPEDIA.COM

KEY TAKE AWAYS:

• Flipping properties and buying and holding real estate represent two different investment strategies.
• Owning real estate offers investors the opportunity to accumulate wealth over time and avoid the stock market's ups and downs.
• Flipping can provide a quick turnaround on your investment and avoids the ongoing hassles of finding tenants and maintaining a property, but costs and taxes can be high.
• Buy-and-hold properties provide passive monthly income and tax advantages, but not everyone is prepared for the management and legal responsibilities of being a landlord.
  

SOURCE: INVESTOPEDIA.COM

Michelle Mills Clement is the CEO of the Chicago Association of REALTORS®. An experienced association executive, she previously served as president and CEO of the Commercial Brokers Association (CBA) in Seattle, WA, association executive for the Washington State Commercial Association of REALTORS®, and Executive Director of NAIOP Washington Chapter: The Commercial Real Estate Development Association. She is a Director on the board of the Association Forum, and a Fellow of ASAE: The Center for Association Excellence, an honor bestowed on less than 1% of the association’s membership.  Michelle is a passionate voice for fair housing and antiracism in the real estate industry. Under her leadership, in 2018, the Chicago Association of REALTORS® issued an apology for past actions in promoting inequality and segregation in Chicago. She has been a vocal advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, penning an op ed for the Chicago Tribune on the importance of ending segregation in real estate and issuing an Industry Call for Action seeking more equity for Black REALTORS® and fair and equal treatment for Black and minority property owners. She has spoken out on these topics at the national level, including on behalf of the National Association of REALTORS®, and as cohost of a new podcast focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion, Texts to Table, with three of her Black association executive peers.  A native Chicagoan, she enjoys political campaign fundraising and volunteer management. She was integral in the election of Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-IL) from Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District. In 2019, Michelle was elected to the Board of Trustees for Bradley University; she is also active in Bradley’s Black Alumni Alliance, of which she is a past president. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, and volunteers regularly with CREW Chicago (Commercial Real Estate Women) and the CREW Careers Program, which introduces the career of commercial real estate to girls ages 12 – 18 on Chicago’s west side.  She has won many honors and awards, including Crain’s Chicago Business’s “40 Under 40” (2019), twice Chicago Agent Magazine’s “Association CEO of the Year” (2020 and 2019), Connect CRE’s “2020 Women in Real Estate” award, Bisnow Chicago’s Commercial Real Estate “Power Woman & Rising Star,” and most recently was named to the prestigious Swanepoel Power 200 List of most powerful and influential executives and leaders in the residential real estate brokerage industry, amongst others.  Michelle holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Bradley University and a master’s degree in nonprofit management from DePaul University. She has a certificate in commercial real estate from the University of Washington and has earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) certification from ASAE and the REALTOR® Certified Executive (RCE) certification from the National Association of REALTORS®. Michelle lives in the West Town neighborhood in Chicago with her husband Brace and three-year-old son Broyce.

With over 20 years experience, Anthony “Tony” Hardy is the multi-family division executive director at Keller Williams ONEChicago.  A Chicago native, from the Englewood neighborhood, Hardy is passionate about helping investors maximize returns and preserve wealth.   Hardy is a recipient of the 2020 Chicago Association of REALTORS Commercial Achievement Award, 2019 Platinum Sales Award for Multifamily Sales Volume, and 2019 Platinum Sales Award for Multifamily Units Sold. He currently serves as the chairman of the association’s CommercialForum committee and is president of the South Side Community Investors Association. Hardy earned his juris doctor from Whittier Law School and bachelor of science in agribusiness economics from Southern Illinois University.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com.

That's what my moms told me when I started my housing search...lol. Looking back, she was right. Back in 2007 everyone was looking to buy a condo in the South Loop or Bronzeville area of Chicago. At the time, I was in my second year of teaching making about $45,000/year and in no position buy condo. The mortgage, taxes, assessments, parking, etc would've hit me for like $1,600 month, and this doesn't include taxes, utilities and other costs associated with living in the down town area.

Instead, I opted to purchase 3 flat building in Chatham (located on Chicago's south side). This is when I feel in love with real estate. I purchased a 3600 sq foot building, unit's 1 and 2 were 3 bed / 2 bath. I stayed in the basement. I charged the first floor tenant $1,200 a month (free heat) and the second floor tenant $1,100/month (they paid their own heat)...$2,300 gross/month. The mortgage, taxes, utilities, and maintenance came out to approximately $3,100/month. I know what you're thinking, that's a net loss of $800/month?!? Technically no, $800 was my portion. I was only paying $800/month for a much bigger living space, which is a huge discount compared to condo living. I also had piece of mind knowing that my tenants were helping me pay the mortgage...it wasn't all on me!

In this scenario, and this is my opinion, the biggest win is that my tenants were adding money to my net worth! If you do the math, over a 10 year period they paid me a combined $276,000. This money was used for travel, new car, date nights, dinner, purchasing stocks etc. Ten years later, I refinanced, moved out and was able to net about $1,200/month!

For many, real estate is the biggest purchase that you'll ever make and it's also where most of a person's wealth is tied up. This begs the question, should my first home be a condo? Multi-family? Or Single family?   Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.  Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Multi-family boot camp coming soon!   Need a realtor in the Chicagoland area? Contact joshuamercer.realestate@gmail.com or visit www.listwithmercer.com.

On Episode 9, we had Brendon Harrington from Constructive Loans as a special guest, and we talked about hard money lending, which is something that most of you may have heard about once or twice. Contrary to what most people think, hard money lending does not mean that money is hard to get. Instead, it means that the lending is “asset-based.”  Okay, maybe there are a little too many technical terms here, so let us back up a bit. To really understand what hard money lending is, we have to compare it with the traditional lending that people get from banks or government agencies. The thing is, getting loans from these institutions can be quite a hassle. Not only is there plenty of red tape and bureaucratic processes to get into, but it is also harder to get a loan from them because you have to qualify to get a loan. That means they will look at your income, your credit score, your credit history, and other factors to determine if they will be willing to lend you money.  Hard money lenders do not need to look at all that. The only things they will be looking at are the deal's profitability (if you are getting a loan to rehabilitate a property, for example, they will assess how successful you’ll be at rehabilitating it) and the assets you have. They check the profitability of the deal by looking at the purpose of the loan. If it is for flipping real estate, the lender will look at the borrower’s capability to quickly rehabilitate and sell the property. If it is a rental loan, they will look at the rent schedule.  In the case of Constructive Loans, they are looking at around $25,000.00-$30,000.00 in reserved funds and other liquid assets like stocks, mutual funds, bonds, retirement accounts, and the cash value of the borrower’s life insurance.   What makes them different is that they are not even going to look at your job or if you are working. What is important is you have assets to cover the loan that can ensure that you pay. That is what “asset-based lending” is. In other words, it refers to loans that are given mainly based on the borrower’s assets, which determine whether they can pay the loan.  One difference that hard money lenders have compared to traditional lenders is that they have higher interest rates. This is understandable because hard money lenders — with their more relaxed guidelines — are taking on more significant risks with their lending schemes. Despite the higher interest rate, however, they still look to ensure that the deal is still affordable for the average person. The higher rates are also offset by the fact that the loans are short-term deals, which means that the borrower needs to make payments for only around six to twelve months.  Now you might think that purely asset-based lending means that you do not need a high credit score to get a loan from them, and you would be right. However, hard money lenders still require a decent credit score, at least. Constructive Loans, for instance, requires at least 620, which is a fair requirement compared to the usual requirements of 670-740. It is also a huge plus for the borrower if they already have experience as a landlord or investment property holder because most hard money loans are taken to finance real estate transactions.  Speaking of real estate transactions, one of the most essential factors they also look at is the property’s ARV or after-repair value for loans that are taken out for renovation deals. In the case of Constructive Loans, they assess the property’s ARV and will lend only up to a maximum of 75% of the property’s ARV. That way, the borrower’s exit strategy will never be jeopardized, and they still have leeway to profit off the whole transaction after paying off the loan.

Jared R. Rogers is an Illinois-licensed Certified Public Accountant and CEO of the Chicago-based financial services firm Wilson Rogers & Company. Prior to his current role, he spent 13 years in the finance function of several major companies including Hyatt Hotels, PepsiCo, Robert Bosch and KPMG LLP. In addition to the above, Jared is also the published author of three books:   1) The Real Estate Brokers Little Black Tax Book (CreateSpace Independent Publishing 2020) 2) How to Slash Your Taxes Legally & Ethically (CreateSpace Independent Publishing 2018) 3) Pathways to Wealth - A Common Sense Guide to Personal Money Management & Lifestyle Techniques (Authorhouse 2003)   In his role at Wilson Rogers & Company, Jared is responsible for advising clients on matters including income taxes, tax debt resolution and personal financial planning. Through his business dealings over the years, he has reviewed thousands of personal and business income tax returns to ensure not only their accuracy, but that the taxpayer is paying the minimal amount of tax that they are legally obligated to.  Philanthropically, Jared has served as Financial Secretary and Treasurer for the IDeaL Education Foundation. He also has previously volunteered as a tax preparer for the IRS’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA), which offers free tax help to low-to moderate-income people who cannot prepare their own tax returns. Over the years, Jared has blogged about numerous tax matters, many of which can be found at www.wilsonrogers.net.

Veena Jetti is the founding partner of Vive Funds, a unique commercial real estate firm that specializes in curating conservative opportunities for investors. Veena brings a dynamic perspective to targeting, acquiring, managing, and operating assets using best practices combined with cutting edge technologies. Her professional expertise includes driving corporate strategy and business development opportunities. After graduating from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a degree in Finance at 20 years old, she pursued her passion for real estate. Veena, also a co-founding partner of Enzo Multifamily, has over a decade of real estate experience and over $1B+ in real estate assets over her career in both the startup world as well as the corporate world. Because of her diverse background, she is often a panelist and speaker for various podcasts, global conferences, and radio shows. Aside from professional endeavors, Veena is a passionate philanthropist. She has founded and served on the board for a national non-profit organization. In 2017, she was one of only three women to receive the Politico Woman of the Year award for the significant amount of time and focus she spent on aiding in a grassroots Hurricane Harvey disaster response. She continues to be involved in helping companies and charitable organizations develop better disaster recovery protocols for future emergencies. She is a current lending team lead at kiva.org, an organization that specializes in helping entrepreneurs with micro-loans. Other organizations that Veena has a passion for include RIPmedicaldebt.org, local food banks, water.org, St. Jude's Hospital, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Safe Mothers Safe Babies.  Vive Funds is the vision of an investor centric firm coupled with proven best practices coming together. The firm was established to create a space for investors to rely on carefully planned projects with client experience being at the forefront of our mission. Any project with the Vive name on it can be trusted to have gone through our rigorous metric standards before approval.

In this episode, "Episode #6: Building a $1M+ Portfolio," we talk to Tia Lance, a full-time attorney and single mom in Atlanta, about her real estate journey. You'll find out how to build a winning portfolio from someone who's done it the hard way.  H2: How Did Tia Lance First Become Involved in Real Estate?  When Tia first started out, she had no plans on becoming a real estate investor. After law school, though, she couldn't help but think there has to be a faster way to generate income and become wealthy.  She got started slowly, by buying a property and renting it out after she moved. From there, she became more interested in local property values along the Atlanta BeltLine, and she asked friends and family if they'd be interested in investing in one of those properties together. Unfortunately, they said no.  A little while later, though, a family friend recommended a certain area where she should buy a property, and since the homes were so run-down, she ended up buying it sight unseen, in cash, for $50k. She razed the previous house and built a new one in its place. From there, she was hooked.  Today, she has 6 rental properties that are generating steady income for her and her daughter.  H2: What Are Some of the Most Important Keys to Being a Good Real Estate Investor?  This podcast is packed with helpful tips about real estate investing. If you want to become the best and most educated investor you can be, you're going to have to watch the full thing.   However, as a summary, here are some of the key takeaways:  H3: Find Good Contractors  Tia says that "finding a good general contractor is probably the #1 thing that can make or break you" as a real estate investor.  How do you find good mechanics, plumbers, and painters? Focus on personal relationships. You need to network within the industry. Take people out to lunch and coffee, and always be on the lookout for another contractor as a Plan B.  H3: Remember: Profit is the Bottom Line  Tia recommends focusing on single-family homes and duplexes in order to generate as much income as possible. HOA fees from condo investing will cut in on your profits, and profit is always the bottom line.  H3: Keep Your Goal in Mind  Somewhat related to the previous point, this bit of advice will remind you not to spend too much on frivolous things.  Tia's goal from real estate investing was to develop enough monthly income to cover her expenses in case she has to leave her job, and this has guided her decisions ever since.  After closing a deal, she doesn't go out to buy a new car or anything unnecessary, she aims to reinvest that money.  H3: Don't Take Losses -- Learn Lessons  A loss is only a loss if you don't learn anything from it. As long as you see losses as a necessary step in your development (and they are), you really can't lose.  H3: Don't Be Afraid to DIY, From Property Management to Demo  There hasn't been a single project that TIa hasn't worked on herself in some way, whether it's managing tenants and their complaints, staining the backsplash, or doing demo, remember that you can save a lot of money (and learn a lot) by taking on a lot of different roles.

For this episode, we had Roberto Young, and we discussed buying real estate with a credit card. Now you might ask, what is so special about buying real estate with a credit card? Well, usually, when we buy real estate, we get a loan first. Because it involves an application process and you can get rejected or denied if the lending institution does not think you are financially capable of paying it off, even if you really are. With a credit card, you don’t have to go through all that as long as your credit limit can take it and as long as you’re wise enough to take steps to be able to pay it off.   Before we get into credit limits, let’s back up a bit and talk about how Roberto got to the point where he was able to buy real estate with a credit card in the first place. When he was a student at the University of Memphis, he was on a football scholarship and received a stipend from football. He treated this stipend as his cash flow, so he budgeted it, used his credit card for his regular expenses, and paid it off using his budgeted stipend. By treating his credit card like a 30-day advance and paying it off on time every month, he was able to raise his credit limit from $250 to more than $40,000, and he did this by calling the credit card company every few months to ask for a credit limit increase. They were more than happy to grant this because Roberto’s credit history showed him as a reliable borrower! He kept doing this throughout all five years of college. After college, he had a business of cleaning corporate office spaces and his employee told him that a property next door was going on auction. Roberto saw an opportunity here and capitalized on it.   He participated in the auction and won. Where at this point, other people would start going to the banks or the lenders to finance their purchase of real estate, Roberto used his credit card to purchase the property. $18,500 went to purchasing the property itself, and $12,000 went into improving it. That is $30,500 he spent on his credit card to buy and flip the property.  Eventually, he had a tenant, got the property appraised for $55,000 and pulled out $44,000.00. He was able to pay off his $30,500 credit card bill in full. Now guess what he did with the remaining credit on his card. He bought and flipped another property and sold it off while making a profit. He did all these while working full-time for Boeing and on top of his own cleaning business. At around this time, he had an excellent credit limit of 740. As a young engineer with a single credit card, he was able to flip two properties and sell them profitably without ever going to the bank which could have gotten him hooked on interest payments for a much longer time.

“If you don't sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice”  Mayo’s story is one of sacrifice.  Not many people can set aside half their income for a month, let alone a year. I like Mayo’s story because it’s real and it’s step by step. So much of the success stories we often hear about in life gloss over the specifics…the sacrifices, the mindset, the research. People love to skip to the end result and consequently get burned because they are ill prepared for the unexpected…unplanned maintenance, delinquent tenants, losing a job etc.  While working as a server at Maginanos (Philadelphia), Mayo knew he wanted more. His foundation was rooted in the exposure he received from his grandparents who had their own modest real estate portfolio, as a teen he’d often assist them with maintenance to make ends meet. Mayo, making approximately $60k/year as a restaurant server made the conscious decision to save up $30k a year, roughly $80/day. Not an easy feat. But what made it easy for him is that he had a plan and a S.M.A.R.T goal. In short, he knew he wanted to purchase real estate and move to Atlanta. His dislike for Philadelphia was also added motivation.  Mayo was also wise enough to ask questions and was prompted to do additional research. What should my credit score be? What is debt to income ratio? How many years of employment do I need?  What should my emergency fund be?   Once Mayo arrived in Atlanta, with $60k saved, he leaned on the advice of his grandparents, “don’t buy a place you wouldn’t live in and don’t buy a place you can’t afford if the tenant moves out..”  The first property Mayo purchased was a duplex, for $65k, putting down 20% (roughly $15k with closing cost), this in turn netted him about $900/month. He then purchased another duplex property just 2 months later, similar price, and it also netted $900/month. Less than a year later, he purchased a $100k triplex with 3.5% down, approximately $5k with closing costs! This building was all 2 beds, 2 baths and netted him an additional $1,600/month. Mayo was now taking home an additional $3,400/month…$41,000 a YEAR!!! This my friends, is how wealth is created. Mayo was able to increase his income by more than 50%.  I won’t bore you with how he purchased another duplex and refinanced, etc etc. We will save that for another show! Sign up now for the Go Fish Village Multi-Family Boot Camp at www.GoFishVillage.com. 

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"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com

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Alvin Hope Johnson has been in the Real Estate industry for over 35 years. Starting out as a handyman selling painting and repair services door to door, Alvin grew his entrepreneurial skills into an empire. He currently serves as the President of Hope Housing Foundation, an affordable housing company that offers beautiful, well maintained, and safe properties. Alvin also serves as President of Assertive Management Group, LLC, a privately owned property management firm that helps to support the foundation.  Alvin Hope Johnson started his real estate career almost by accident. While struggling at a young age to make ends meet and picking up odd jobs here and there, Alvin continued to take the skills he learned along the way and parlay them into new opportunities. Starting out as a local handyman, Alvin eventually became a general contractor, and from there, Alvin began learning about property development and mortgages. He spent 12 years in the mortgage business and ran several successful firms. He soon realized that all of these seemingly separate industries were all part of a larger opportunity in real estate. When you know every single aspect of what goes into building a safe and stunning home, it will help you to sell that safe and stunning home. Alvin focused on doing just that in order to bring a sense of community to those in need.   As a way of providing affordable renovation to the developments that Hope Housing Foundation has purchased, a general contracting firm was birthed. That company, Empowered Services of Texas is also led by Alvin, who is a licensed General Contractor in the State of Louisiana. Alvin Hope Johnson is a beloved and prominent member of his Texas community. He is the President of the non-profit entity Hope Housing Foundation, aimed at providing affordable housing developments. In addition to his philanthropic work as head of the Hope Housing Foundation, Alvin Hope Johnson also manages Assertive Management Group, LLC., a privately owned property management firm aiding in his foundation’s development, and Empowered Services of Texas, a general contracting firm that handles all of the foundation’s renovation ventures. The three businesses are centrally located in the Dallas, Texas area. __________________________________________________________ 

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Chinese Proverb  Go Fish Village was founded by Joshua Mercer, Realtor (Chicago Premiere Real Estate). Through a series of podcast interviews/testimonials, boot camps, forums, meetups, and more, our goal is to educate everyday people who on how to use REAL ESTATE to achieve financial freedom and leave legacy for their loved ones! If this resonates with you, Go Fish wants you to be a part of our growing village! Learn from the successes and failures of everyday people as well as industry professionals and seasoned vets.   Topics include mindset, goal setting, sacrifice, negotiation, building a team, finding/analyzing a deal, financing, vetting tenants, exit strategies, tax benefits, scaling, and so much more! Follow us on social media @gofishvillage or email us with questions at gofishvillage@gmail.com. Sign up for our multi family boot camp at www.gofishvillage.com