SAM BLAISDELL

• How do you make your living outside of real estate investing?

           -  I own a house painting company and I work with a lot of Dan’s clients.

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• How old were you when you bought your first property?

           - 26

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• Tell me about the first property we bought together

           - Our first property was a great example

of someone doing a lot with a little. The price the

lender approved narrowed my options for a

livable single-family home in Chicago quite a bit.

I didn’t let that stop us, we looked at all the

places we could find in that range and we were

running out of hope because everything needed

way more work than I was prepared for.

Finally, I looked again at the filtered listings on

Zenlist and saw this little house with terrible

photos that I had skipped over because it looked

haunted but I was out of options so we decided

to go look. We went and looked and although

the place was very dirty I realized with a paint

job and a few cosmetic fixes it would be just fine.

The other huge selling point was the in-law apartment in the basement that I knew I could clean up and rent to cover most of the mortgage. That property is now cash flowing $1,400 a month with both units rented.

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• How did you find the tenants?

           - I used a yard sign and Zillow.

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• How do you communicate with your tenants?

           - Texting and sometimes phone calls.

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• What do you do to collect rent?

           - My tenants just zelle me which makes things very easy.

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• What would you say to encourage an investor who hasn't yet bought their first property?

           - The temporary discomfort of moving every year for the first couple of properties to get better loans is absolutely worth it. Rent rooms, Rent everything you can in the beginning and maybe it’s not glamorous at first but when you have all your bills covered by tenants and you’re on your third property you’ll be happy. Find a significant other who shares your dream of financial freedom too. My fiance has been working alongside me this whole time and it makes a world of difference. Just remember how fast a year goes by and be willing to delay satisfaction in order to have an amazing not-so-distant future. 

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• When you think about your future, what are your long-term goals as an investor?  How many properties do you hope to own and how much cashflow would be enough?

           - I see myself continuing to invest in real estate for the rest of my life, I genuinely love it. It’s hard work but it’s the type of challenge I enjoy. I plan to make millions of dollars from real estate and replace my job with cash flow. I don’t have a set number of units because I have a personality that always pushes for more, I‘m very grateful for what I already have too. I just enjoy the game.

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• Is being a real estate investor easier or harder than you thought it would be?

           - It’s easier because of my interest in it. I love learning about real estate; the more educated I become, the more prepared I am. It is not always easy but I do my best to plan ahead and each property is easier than the last because I’ve gained more experience. The first deal was a little scary but it was a cheap little one-bedroom condo and the mortgage was less than my rent at the time so it was a no-brainer and I’m so glad I took that leap.

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If you need a painter, you can reach Sam at +1-513-704-5245.