Contacts:
www.drpinvestmentproperties.com
deb@drpinvestmentproperties.com
Ep 017: Investing since 1996, started with no help, internet, or classes | Debra Cousins
01:53 – Her best story is she was looking for a newspaper for foreclosure properties and found a property which was listed twice with the same address so they went to the bank and bought the note of the property and surprisingly, there was a second home attached to it. There was no underlying mortgage on the first property and the second had a $3,500 note on the house.
03:43 – In her early working career, Debra was a registered dental assistant. Debra says she has this “drive” to do more and wanted a little bit of freedom. She always loved interior design at young age. She opened a popular wallpaper window covering store in Fresno and that was her first dive into the entrepreneurial stage. She did model homes and worked with contractors. She was successful, until one night a storm came out and crashed her business overnight. She decided to go back to school and get her degree, but before she finished, she decided to start flipping houses.
09:57 – Debra says she was very visual. She has this ability to see the final product in her mind and execute it.
12:55 – Debra shared her experience on her first property she had sold, it scared her. It was a property which was bank-owned and had water damage. So she went for it. During this process she learned her first lesson in REI. She over-did the rehab. Her profit was only $800.
16:49 – Debra shared her struggles. When she first started she really didn’t know anything about market cycles. She didn’t even knew she was on the down cycle, all she knew was the numbers. Despite people telling her she couldn’t do it, she kept going.
18:33 – In the market cycles, Debra says what you need to look out for is when you buy and sell, it will make a huge difference in your profit and what your exit strategy should be.
20:19 – Debra advises that people need to watch what is going on economically because that has a huge part at real state investing career.
21:40 – Debra believes that if you are patient enough to watch what’s happening in the economy you can find some good deals.
22:53 – Debra also adds that you should also pay attention to age demographics because people do things at particular times.
23:56 – From 2006 to 2012 Debra was studying the market, especially multi-family.
24:43 – Debra’s strategy was capitalizing on time, patterns, and planning ahead. She had this gut feeling that she needed to plan long term and stick with her strategy.
27:27 – Debra says people can earn money in any market. Take action!, not just sit and read and learn, go out there, it’s scary but if that’s really what you want to do you can make it work.
Ep 018: Cash flow is King! Not appreciation | Debra Cousins
01:53 – Her best story is she was looking for a newspaper for foreclosure properties and found a property which was listed twice with the same address so they went to the bank and bought the note of the property and surprisingly, there was a second home attached to it. There was no underlying mortgage on the first property and the second had a $3,500 note on the house.
03:13 – People told Debra back in the days that she couldn’t do it, but she found her way. She started by looking at the number of foreclosures. She would go to the courthouse and see what in was up for auction. She began building her knowledge on real state investment by reading books and using paper maps.
05:55 – Debra defines cashflows as a money making her money so she can do things like raise her three children; unlike other jobs that they trade time for dollars.
06:56 – Debra shares some of her strategy, she would sometimes do things to throw off her seller a little bit by putting cents or odd numbers on her contract offers
08:23 – Debra does not count on appreciation. She buys for cashflow. You have that money coming in monthly and the tenants pay your debt on your mortgage. Debra loves to buy in groups, five to six homes at a time.
12:26 – If you have a regular job you get your pay check, same thing goes on cashflow… you get that pay check every month. But in real estate it’s a lot bigger and you’ve got the bonus of the tax benefits and tax write-offs says Debra.
13:50 – Cashflow to Debra is everything, it supplements your income and lifestyle. Appreciation is just a bonus.
14:20 – Debra describes the difference between investing in single family and multi family. She looks for a growth market. You can tell it’s a growth market because of things like a new Amazon center, or Intel is building a new plant. With multi family you also have your investors who are looking for appreciation and cash returns with higher percentage rates.
15:50 – If you work hard you should enjoy life, do something to reward yourself and your family says Debra.
18:13 – Debra shares her lifestyle of where cashflow led her and the freedom she has now. They’ve enjoyed a lot in their lifetime and not only have they been able to provide for their family but also for others. They are big on giving to charities and very supportive in education.
19:40 – Debra bought a boat and would take her foster kids, youth groups, and other groups of kids.
21:11 – “Search your heart” says Debra. It is true that dealing with some tenants is hard sometimes, but she always looks at it as a business, and in business there is always a cost of doing business. She also says “keep your emotions out of investing”.
23:23 – Debra believes that you also get to a certain point where you will need a property manager. There is always someone out there that will take care of your property and will deal with the tenants.
25:41 – Debra shares her website www.drpinvestmentproperties.com, DRP stands for Doable Repeatable Profitable. Debra is always asking questions like “is it doable?, is it repeatable? and is it profitable?”
26:46 – Debra’s last words are “Take action and follow your passions!”.
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