1 00:00:13.710 --> 00:00:17.580 Johny Fernandez: The City of Brotherly Love is known for historic sites, philly 2 00:00:17.580 --> 00:00:22.410 cheese steaks and affordable real estate. Kurtavious Ball is a physician 3 00:00:22.410 --> 00:00:27.300 assistant at Jefferson University and a real estate investor. His journey to 4 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:30.540 investing started at the start of his medical career. 5 00:00:30.630 --> 00:00:34.470 Kurtavious Ball: And so I was in my second year of PA school on my clinical 6 00:00:34.470 --> 00:00:38.190 year, and I ran across some good deals on some properties. I inquired about 7 00:00:38.190 --> 00:00:43.110 them, I went to see them I put in an offer, I use an FHA loan for $7,000 down 8 00:00:43.110 --> 00:00:48.840 for my first unit, that unit produce $1,000 in cash flow almost within two 9 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:52.080 months after purchasing it. And I just kept rolling ever since then, 10 00:00:52.170 --> 00:00:55.710 Johny Fernandez: Paul says his second investment was a learning experience. 11 00:00:55.750 --> 00:00:58.930 Kurtavious Ball: So I got the first unit, I was so excited with what I was 12 00:00:58.930 --> 00:01:03.490 making about $1000. $1000 each month, you know, after all expenses were paid 13 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:07.630 out, I kept looking for more duplexes off on another duplex, this one was 14 00:01:07.630 --> 00:01:12.310 about $150,000. But because I had already used FHA, I had to go the 15 00:01:12.310 --> 00:01:16.630 conventional route. So I had to put 20% down. So I think that equals somewhere 16 00:01:16.630 --> 00:01:21.040 about $48,000 - $50,000. Right, that was my down payment on that one. That unit 17 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:25.480 was a duplex also, the bottom unit was bringing in $800 and top was bringing up 18 00:01:25.600 --> 00:01:30.310 like $950. So that kind of got me rolling, then I realized, okay, if I 19 00:01:30.310 --> 00:01:34.240 want to continue to do this, I can't buy units that's already at the top of the 20 00:01:34.240 --> 00:01:39.520 value I need to buy some deep down, put in my own equity, raise the value of it, 21 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:43.360 you're not gonna cashflow more. So then I sold that unit. And then that's when I 22 00:01:43.360 --> 00:01:46.960 got into doing renovations where I can get the property a lot cheaper, put my 23 00:01:46.960 --> 00:01:49.240 own equity into it, and still have something 24 00:01:50.350 --> 00:01:54.460 Johny Fernandez: He shared with me why he aims to buy duplexes.Why did you pull 25 00:01:54.460 --> 00:01:55.780 the trigger on that one versus the other. 26 00:01:56.310 --> 00:01:58.770 Kurtavious Ball: So for some reason, in my mind, I knew that I was gonna have a 27 00:01:58.770 --> 00:02:02.520 mortgage because I had already had a mortgage before. And I figured if I'm 28 00:02:02.520 --> 00:02:07.650 gonna have a mortgage, I would rather have two people paying. So if one person 29 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:10.920 means rent, at least the other person was going to pay, and that person is 30 00:02:10.920 --> 00:02:13.950 going to take care of the mortgage, versus me having to pay my own personal 31 00:02:13.950 --> 00:02:17.700 bills and dad come out of my pocket to pay the mortgage. So I always tried to 32 00:02:17.700 --> 00:02:22.170 move in a safe way to make sure that I decrease my chances of having to pay 33 00:02:22.170 --> 00:02:26.190 money out of my own pocket. And I just kept adopting that same strategy. And as 34 00:02:26.190 --> 00:02:30.120 I continue to get more and more units, I try to always do with multifamily. So 35 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:31.350 they never falls back on me. 36 00:02:31.720 --> 00:02:35.470 Johny Fernandez: Ball says he worked on 15 different properties over the last 37 00:02:35.470 --> 00:02:40.510 three years. Despite being a one man show. He says there's nothing holding 38 00:02:40.510 --> 00:02:44.440 him back. You're a one man show.How did you learn all of this? 39 00:02:44.710 --> 00:02:48.340 Kurtavious Ball: Man reading, you know, I just started doing a lot of research 40 00:02:48.340 --> 00:02:51.610 and everything from all the Guru's they said you got to read, you got to do 41 00:02:51.610 --> 00:02:55.450 research, and you got to jump out there. So my thing was, I wasn't afraid to 42 00:02:55.450 --> 00:02:59.170 fail. So because of that, I put the money out, I feel I figured that I was 43 00:02:59.170 --> 00:03:02.890 still young, I had a good career. So if I lose 30 grand trying to start 44 00:03:02.890 --> 00:03:06.760 something, it's fine. I got, I got plenty of time to make it up versus this 45 00:03:06.760 --> 00:03:10.870 is my life savings, you know, so I took a risk on myself and it paid off. 46 00:03:10.949 --> 00:03:14.639 Johny Fernandez: What advice would you give to the freshmen investors? You 47 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:18.029 know, they don't know where to go for financing or needing some guidance with 48 00:03:18.029 --> 00:03:20.429 finance, what would you say? And what would you advise? 49 00:03:20.789 --> 00:03:23.549 Kurtavious Ball: So first thing, you got to say somebody, we're always going to 50 00:03:23.549 --> 00:03:27.749 go back to that, you know, people say it, you can get into it without spending 51 00:03:27.749 --> 00:03:31.349 a lot of money, but you got to have some money saved, you know, and that's where 52 00:03:31.349 --> 00:03:34.949 it starts, then you go with the credit. So you want to be using your credit as 53 00:03:34.979 --> 00:03:38.999 one of your aces for finances. And then you want to be using your own cash for 54 00:03:38.999 --> 00:03:42.929 one of your aces as finances. And then with the two of those, you should be 55 00:03:42.929 --> 00:03:46.859 able to get started. That's the issue is you have to make sure that you make good 56 00:03:47.009 --> 00:03:51.239 financial deals, so that you're gonna have cashflow left over so that you can 57 00:03:51.239 --> 00:03:52.319 continue to keep rolling it. 58 00:03:52.630 --> 00:03:55.690 Johny Fernandez: Ball took deBanked to one of his duplexes outside of 59 00:03:55.690 --> 00:04:00.520 Philadelphia. He shared with me how he starts and finishes his projects. 60 00:04:00.810 --> 00:04:04.170 Kurtavious Ball: So right here we're in Darby, Pennsylvania, which is the 61 00:04:04.170 --> 00:04:08.520 outskirts of Philadelphia. So pretty much kind of Philadelphia but another 62 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:14.580 county, what we have here is a six unit, which consists of two units, four units 63 00:04:14.580 --> 00:04:18.360 and the first apartment here and then there's another two units in the back 64 00:04:18.570 --> 00:04:22.650 with four parking spaces. So this is a unit that I picked up earlier this year 65 00:04:22.650 --> 00:04:29.790 for around 260 days. So we come through we'll see, this is the main building 66 00:04:29.790 --> 00:04:34.050 here, which is a bigger one. As you know, we've already started doing some 67 00:04:34.050 --> 00:04:37.770 work. We still have a little bit more exterior work that we have to do but I 68 00:04:37.770 --> 00:04:40.830 kind of want to focus on getting the interior renovation and getting the 69 00:04:40.830 --> 00:04:45.000 tenant placed in it and refinancing out and then I can start continuing to 70 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:46.920 beautify the project as I continue to go. 71 00:04:47.320 --> 00:04:50.800 Johny Fernandez: Ball says this duplex will give him his return on investment. 72 00:04:50.830 --> 00:04:53.740 But the renovation process isn't always easy. 73 00:04:54.140 --> 00:04:58.190 Kurtavious Ball: So another issue that I ran into with the kitchen, you know, I 74 00:04:58.190 --> 00:05:03.260 know that I always do the 60 inch set kitchen in the smaller apartments. And I 75 00:05:03.260 --> 00:05:06.680 knew that it was a 30 inch stove. So when I told you guys we're gonna frame 76 00:05:06.680 --> 00:05:10.190 and I said, make sure that I have 90 inches from here, matter of fact give me 77 00:05:10.220 --> 00:05:15.140 91 inches. So I told the guys, I need 91 inches, they finished doing the framing 78 00:05:15.140 --> 00:05:18.860 and they were moving so fast. And by the time I got here, the drywall was already 79 00:05:18.860 --> 00:05:22.100 on the tile was in, most of this was here. And then when I ordered my 80 00:05:22.100 --> 00:05:26.480 appliances, we went to, you know, try to install the stove here, and we're short 81 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:30.470 about another we're short about an inch. So we try ripping the drywall out, which 82 00:05:30.470 --> 00:05:34.430 is a half inch, and we're still short, so we're gonna probably have to tear 83 00:05:34.430 --> 00:05:38.480 this frame and wall down and make some alterations. This sort of distance bit, 84 00:05:38.510 --> 00:05:42.380 so it will be cheaper to tear it down then turning that down. So that's just 85 00:05:42.380 --> 00:05:46.220 one of the cons that to deal with when you're not at your job size on a regular 86 00:05:46.220 --> 00:05:49.460 trip here to check the progress of the contractor. 87 00:05:49.530 --> 00:05:52.650 Johny Fernandez: So we talked about the pros, obviously, real estate can take 88 00:05:52.650 --> 00:05:56.490 you to the next level, let's talk about the cons and the problems and challenges 89 00:05:56.610 --> 00:06:00.480 you face on a daily basis when flipping a home and dealing with tenants dealing 90 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:01.050 contract. 91 00:06:01.570 --> 00:06:05.050 Kurtavious Ball: Obviously, the biggest con that I face is generally contract. 92 00:06:05.590 --> 00:06:09.190 Because you know, contractors want the money, but they're not gonna always, you 93 00:06:09.190 --> 00:06:12.310 know, give you what you're paying for. So really just juggling the contractors 94 00:06:12.490 --> 00:06:16.510 stand on top of them being direct and being assertive, making sure that you 95 00:06:16.510 --> 00:06:19.660 know, they get to the finish line. That's the biggest con, of course, 96 00:06:19.660 --> 00:06:23.110 you're gonna have some issues sometimes with tenants, but through good effective 97 00:06:23.110 --> 00:06:27.100 communication, I'm usually we get over that. So it's really about how well you 98 00:06:27.100 --> 00:06:31.300 communicate, and how well you set your expectations and stand by what you say. 99 00:06:31.570 --> 00:06:35.200 Johny Fernandez: Despite the work balls advice to freshmen investors is to 100 00:06:35.200 --> 00:06:39.340 always keep in mind the end product. So this is one of the other units that Kurt 101 00:06:39.340 --> 00:06:43.540 is fixing. And currently working on and Kurt walk me through, walk us through 102 00:06:43.540 --> 00:06:47.080 exactly, you know what you've done here and kind of report. 103 00:06:47.930 --> 00:06:51.290 Kurtavious Ball: So right here, this is when it was really, you know, in decent 104 00:06:51.290 --> 00:06:55.010 condition. So what I do here, we had dropped sevens all the way throughout. 105 00:06:55.160 --> 00:06:59.300 So I read all the drops in it, I had it framed. And once we planned it, we ran 106 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:02.930 out of electric copper here, so I know where all the electrical is if I open up 107 00:07:02.930 --> 00:07:09.140 the repairs, so they're all electric we have the reset is like with a dry wall 108 00:07:09.140 --> 00:07:12.980 over here, I hung onto this panel wall because I feel like it's coming back. 109 00:07:13.250 --> 00:07:16.370 And I feel like it has a rotation to the police. Because there's such a small 110 00:07:16.370 --> 00:07:17.990 place, I kind of want to get some character 111 00:07:18.170 --> 00:07:20.600 Johny Fernandez: And to have a vision with every project. 112 00:07:21.170 --> 00:07:24.620 Kurtavious Ball: So usually when I start any property, the first thing I always 113 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:30.080 do out there outside the property and get my keys, I go to the property, I 114 00:07:30.080 --> 00:07:35.930 always set up my phone and play this one song every time is by Chaka Khan called 115 00:07:35.930 --> 00:07:40.610 Sweet Bang, I play that song is my most favorite song. And I play that song. And 116 00:07:40.610 --> 00:07:44.450 I just sit here and I brainstorm on what I want to do to the property. Okay, I 117 00:07:44.450 --> 00:07:47.840 can kind of visualize it like this property. The seller was down here when 118 00:07:47.840 --> 00:07:51.770 we first came. So I knew I wanted to lift it up, I kind of have a vision for 119 00:07:52.010 --> 00:07:55.640 and as I continue to do more property, I get better and better. So the first 120 00:07:55.640 --> 00:07:59.270 thing I'll do is I come I brainstorm, on exactly what it is that I want to do. 121 00:07:59.540 --> 00:08:02.780 And then always start with my roof. Always put a roof on because once I 122 00:08:02.780 --> 00:08:06.350 started to add all this expensive stuff, I don't want the rain, the rain down on 123 00:08:06.350 --> 00:08:10.430 anything damaged. So I always put a roof windows and doors. That way we can 124 00:08:10.430 --> 00:08:14.060 secure it. So once I start bringing my equipment and other material, 125 00:08:14.150 --> 00:08:18.230 everything's secure as well. But we do the demo, then you got to frame. So I do 126 00:08:18.230 --> 00:08:21.320 all of my framing, make sure that everything is good. After I do my 127 00:08:21.320 --> 00:08:25.100 framing, I do plumbing, plumbing is a lot of big pipes. Plumbing has to be a 128 00:08:25.100 --> 00:08:29.090 specific locations. You can't play around with it and maneuver it so always 129 00:08:29.090 --> 00:08:33.050 get the plumbing out of the way. Then I do my electric and my H back up. I'll do 130 00:08:33.050 --> 00:08:36.680 the H back and all my electric everything is in we test everything. 131 00:08:36.890 --> 00:08:40.550 Make sure the water is working, there's no leak. We make sure all electric is 132 00:08:40.550 --> 00:08:44.840 fine. Then we put up the drywall, put up drywall, you put up your lights, then 133 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:48.920 you paint, you finish paying then you do the floors, after you do the floors and 134 00:08:48.920 --> 00:08:53.810 you put in the cabinet. You put the toilet, you know the tub is already in 135 00:08:54.170 --> 00:08:58.820 and then just finish out with a little bit. Last minute stuff as you have to 136 00:08:58.820 --> 00:08:58.970 do. 137 00:08:59.270 --> 00:09:02.660 Johny Fernandez: As for his medical career, Ball told me he'll be taking a 138 00:09:02.660 --> 00:09:07.220 step back from it to focus on real estate. What's your goal now that you've 139 00:09:07.220 --> 00:09:10.370 started this in real estate? You know, you have a medicine career, you have a 140 00:09:10.370 --> 00:09:13.370 criminal justice career. Now you have a real estate career. What's your goal 141 00:09:13.370 --> 00:09:13.970 with all this? 142 00:09:14.090 --> 00:09:17.900 Kurtavious Ball: Man? My goal right now is flip some properties, pay off all of 143 00:09:17.900 --> 00:09:22.220 my mortgage that way I don't owe anyone and I can sit back and relax and just 144 00:09:22.220 --> 00:09:26.300 live off, you know, the rental income. Real estate is gonna take you to the 145 00:09:26.300 --> 00:09:29.870 next level man. So if it's something you've been thinking about doing the 146 00:09:29.870 --> 00:09:33.410 earlier you get into the better because prices are always rising. And you may 147 00:09:33.410 --> 00:09:34.130 miss the bus 148 00:09:34.540 --> 00:09:37.810 Johny Fernandez: In Philadelphia. I'm Johnny Fernandez for deBanked News.