Now Eagerly Anticipating The Future ... · Multifamily Strategy Community

Now Eagerly Anticipating The Future ...

Who you are & where you're from

I'm Erik, from the Pacific Northwest. I live on an island about 45 minutes N and 20 minutes west of downtown Seattle. Come visit sometime, it's a nice getaway.

Where you’re at in your real estate journey (beginner, first deal, scaling up, etc.)

I became enamored with creative real estate years ago with the late night infomercials on the 90's, Robert Allen, Nothing Down, Dave Del Dotto (was he for real?), Tom Vu, A.D. Kessler, Al Brown, Jr., Charles Givens ... anyone remember them?

I bought my first house when I was 18, no money down (well, none of my money, at least). I felt pretty pimp for a bit. I took over payments subject to an existing seller-held private note secured by a deed of trust. Not terribly creative, although I did meet with the holders of that note to discuss the possibility of their subordinating their interest to a new first mortgage.

My plan was to take out a small first mortgage (enough cash to pay off the credit cards I had borrowed the down payment funds from) and have the existing mortgage go behind it in priority, becoming a second lien. My interest in creative finance began with that idea of subordinating that loan, and/or substituting collateral with other real estate--moving the mortgage to another house, and leaving this one free and clear. ("You can do what?" I silently shouted to myself while reading about the possibilities of private money.)

I'm leaving quite a bit out: the con man business partner who owed everyone in town but me (and vanished), his crazy incompetent attorney who apparently drafted a document that clouded my house's title for no reason I could ever determine; the real estate attorney I met who eventually wore me down after 6 months of begging me to come work for him (who became a mentor of mine, and we are good friends to this day); the lender he introduced me to so I could learn the real estate finance business as I moonlighted as a rookie loan officer, doing legal work and escrow closings during the day.

I eventually decided to resign my position at the law office because I started my own mortgage firm, with 9 employees at one time. wisely retiring the practice before the home loan crisis and the bank bailouts. I took a few years off, and got my real estate license. That was in 2016, and I still have a passion for real estate, and it's been ignited anew by my interest in commercial multifamily and other income property varieties, and the relative abundance of creative finance opportunities that can be found therein.

Your biggest goal in real estate investing

I have quite a few goals that I'd like to achieve in the real estate and finance arena:

Write more. I'd like to create a finance course for people who aren't financially-minded and can't see how they could ever save anything for retirement, and use that to create a community where I could teach and strategize for others.

Build a profitable portfolio, to leave a legacy for future generations. They're going to need it.

Provide support for my parents in their retirement years. They've earned it, putting up with me.

Travel and enjoy spoiling the people I care for, bringing comfort and a measure of happiness to those who deserve it.

Live where I want, when I want, and enjoy life more. Spend quality time with those I choose.

Did I leave anything out?

Erik

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