Us.

In 2012 we decided to buy a duplex. We owned a home in Glendale, CA. The reason we wanted to invest in real estate is that we didn't feel we could trust the stock market. We felt like no matter how much research we did, we were basically only guessing. How could we set ourselves up for our future? Craig worked in TV as a Producer and I work in Fashion as a Designer. There are no 401ks, pensions... no guarantees. With a baby on the way, we figured if we bought a duplex, it could at least pay for itself and in 20 years we could sell it to pay for Elke's college education. And that was the beginning.

It has never been easy. It has always been an uphill struggle in a crazy LA real estate market.  In order to seal the deal on our first virgin deal, Craig drove over unannounced to woo the 60 year old sisters from Michigan that they were making a big mistake by choosing the other buyers. He brought them lemonade and charmed them porch-side for a few hours leaving with their word they would sell it to us. And somehow that worked. Steps away from the drool worthy local of Sunset Junction in Silverlake, hipster paradise in Los Angeles, this place was a steal at 490k. That was post bubble 2008 and pre bubble now. The front house was lived in by the owner who died in the house (Im going to ignore that part) and the back house was lived in for 20 years by the fix it man who had also been stealing from the man who died (said the sisters.) He was forced to leave because of that and by the grace of the Eastside Gods, we received the duplex VACANT.

That was 2012.  We basically painted the inside, refinished the floors and it rented so fast and we were making money... Not just paying the bills but making a 12% return on our investment, right away!  So a year later we did it again. And again. And again.... We decided to try a flip after a few purchases and remodels, and luckily it worked out for us. We kind of do anything that feels right. We always say our focus is buy and hold rentals (that we keep).  That was only 6 years ago. And today we have created passive income working for us, found a passion between us and are always excited by the hunt of the next great deal. It's possible to get started now. You never know where that will take you. Every journey begins with a single step... right?