277: Leaks, Surprise Rehabs, and the Reality of Buying Your First Rental Property w/Sara Plaisted

Real Estate Rookie

You don’t need to look very far to find a real estate success story, but it’s not every day that you hear from someone who is currently in the trenches of their very first real estate investment. The truth is that there are all types of hurdles to overcome during an investing journey, and today, you’re going to hear from someone who is still in the thick of it.

For years, interior designer Sara Plaisted dreamed of investing in real estate. But like many real estate rookies, analysis paralysis prevented her from taking action. Having built up a network of people to lean on, however, Sara eventually drummed up the courage to dive in. It wasn’t long before she landed her very first property—a two-story cabin tucked away in four-seasons vacation spot Julian, California. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. Rather than enjoying consistent cash flow and great tenants, Sara was dealt a steep learning curve that involved persistent water leaks, excessive rehab costs, and other issues.

If you’re struggling at any point in your real estate journey, you’ll want to tune in to this episode and hear Sara’s story. She shares about her initial fears surrounding real estate, how she was able to land her first deal, and how she is currently dealing with all of the unexpected hurdles that her new property has thrown her way!

In This Episode We Cover

How to get past analysis paralysis and finally buy your first property

The importance of building your own real estate investing network

Finding the right contractor to walk your new property with you

When you should ask the seller to make repairs rather than making them yourself

Three types of software you MUST have to manage your property

How using virtual assistants can help you scale your investing business much faster

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Find an Investor-Friendly Real Estate Agent

Ashley's Instagram

Tony's Instagram

Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group

Join BiggerPockets for FREE

BiggerPockets Forums

BiggerPockets Bootcamps

Property Management Software for Short-Term Rentals: Hospitable, Guesty, OwnerRez

Dynamic Pricing Tools for Short-Term Rentals: PriceLabs, AirDNA, Wheelhouse

Digital Guidebooks for Short-Term Rentals: Create on Canva, Hostfully, Breezeway, RemoteLock

Software for Long-Term Rentals: RentRedi, Avail, Apartments.com, Zillow

Software for Scaling Long-Term Rentals: AppFolio, Buildium, Propertyware

Find Virtual Assistants at: Fiverr, Upwork

Books Mentioned in This Episode:

Real Estate Rookie: 90 Days to Your First Investment by Ashley Kehr

Connect with Sara:

Sara's BiggerPockets Profile

Sara's Instagram

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-277

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