How This Risk-Averse Former Detective Reduces The Chances of Failure in His Investments

Brent Riley was a former detective with the Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia. His first investment in real estate was his own house. And when the market started to crash in 2008, he had to get creative to save his investment–and that jumpstarted his journey in real estate.
Brent now owns 24 residential rental units and 2 commercial buildings. Join us in this episode of The Freedom Chasers Podcast to find out how Brent minimizes the risks in his investments and how he prepares for the worst-case scenarios.
Watch until the end where we cover and find solutions to some of the problems that he’s currently experiencing.

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Don’t Forget To Reach Out To Brent Riley:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent-riley-147832a2

Quotes
“The lesson that taught me, you know first and foremost was over leverage. Just because a bank will loan to you, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea and if a bank says they won’t loan to you, that’s probably a great indicator that there’s something wrong with your deal and/or your financial situation.”

“I saw the opportunity, (there were) rampant foreclosures in my area and the rental market was still good so I said, ‘You know what, we can afford to buy another house. Let’s look for the nicest foreclosure we can find and afford and get that. And we’ll just rent out our primary home and we’ll just ride this storm out.”

“Those failures and those hiccups and those tripping points; They’re not impeding your ability to grow, they are your mechanism for growth and while they hurt, that’s what separates those that get really really good at this from those who stall out.”

“Most people when they decide that they want to look for a rental, want to get in there right now. They want to find a place within a week or two and if you don’t answer your phone right away within 24 hours and get them scheduled to be out there within 48, you’re just not going to get the opportunity.”

“One of my driving principles right from the start is that I would never purchase a property that I would be nervous about sending my wife and son over to collect rent, to check in with a tenant, or that I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable living in.”

“So I think that’s an important piece to the puzzle of being an investor in your area is, you having that mindset that you want to be something that helps the neighborhood to be good versus something that is a drag on the neighborhood.”

“My personal opinion is that there’s a middle ground here that we can legislate requirements that are universally applicable with regards to noise ordinances that are enforceable with regards to occupancy.”

Concepts
Podcasts like this one, websites, books and other resources are readily available to everyone with access to the internet. These resources help you learn more about real estate investing and help you take the first step into this business.
When buying foreclosure properties, take into account the damages and the repairs that you need to do before they can be rented as the cost of these can pile up and will lower the amount of income you may think of earning from it.
Do not spend your deposits. These deposits serve as your safety net in case something happens.
It is a good idea to have the budget for renovations and repairs from the start of your buying a property so you can have multiple exit strategies if the need arises.
Don’t give up when the worst-case scenarios happen and always look for ways how to make your investments work.
Knowledge reduces risk. Always study, research, reach out to people who have experience, and ask them about it. By doing these, you can find a way to get around the risks and minimize them.
Virtual Assistants can be a great way to hire and train people for a property management job. VAs can be trained to how you want to get the job done and gives you a lot more control than hiring a Property Management Company where they have its own standard operating procedures that may not suit your needs.

Time Stamps
00:00 Introduction
4:50 Hating Risk
8:10 Reasons why you are so cautious in investing
14:50 Minimizing and getting around the risks in investing
19:20 How did your family help you in your decision to invest in real estate
22:55 Making good out of a bad situation
26:45 What are some failures and bumps along the way you grew from the most?
34:05 What are the next steps for you as you grow your portfolio?
37:15 Struggles in automating and systematizing your business
43:10 Solving the Property Management Problem
58:00 Community-based Mindset: Considering other people when investing
1:04:45 Optimal solution for Airbnb ‘noise’ complaints

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