Insights on Our First Property

The owners of Boom Brothers Property Solutions, Mitch and Carson, share their thoughts on what they’ve learned since becoming landlords and renovating at the same time.

What were you expecting?

Mitch: I’ll be perfectly honest in saying that I did not know what to expect. When we got started I thought that being a landlord and renovating our property would be much easier than they turned out to be. Going back in time, before we owned the property, we tried to utilize several grants and programs that would help us buy/renovate. We found out we did not qualify for hardly any of these options making things harder from the very beginning. We also found (and overcame) more surprises than anticipated during the renovation of the units.

Carson: I was expecting to purchase and live in a four unit with my best friend (Mitch) while renting out the other two units. We were all renting, paying someone else’s rent when we could lower our monthly bills by purchasing our own property while taking in some rent to help us cover the monthly debt. In a way it was a way to lower our monthly debt. I wasn’t sure how far we would take it but it would help relieve some financial stress for a while. We were going to get our feet wet, have a property we could put some sweat equity into, while learning a few things about the purchase transaction, being a landlord, etc. If we didn’t enjoy it, we could sell the property for a profit with the updates we had made to the property.

How was it different from what you were expecting?

Mitch: Even with all of the problems and setbacks that were thrown in our path, I never thought that being a landlord and renovating our property would be so fulfilling. I have never felt this amount of self pride than I have with everything we have accomplished. I do want to point out here, with my experience, that I learned how easy it can be to fully immerse yourself into your passion. Not that you shouldn’t, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to make time for yourself and especially your friends and loved ones. One cannot forget that these are the very people that helped you get to where you are, and they should always be near to you and part of your journey.

Carson: We took it a lot further than originally expected and much faster than originally expected. It seemed like we were working constantly, almost every night and every weekend. Mitch and I work as one, when one of us is working on something, the other likes to be helping. When there are things to work on, we feel like we need to keep working until the job is done. Even though we both had full time jobs, we dedicated our free time to improving the property we own and live in to provide a nice building for not only ourselves to live in but our tenants to live in as well. I guess we felt like people were counting on us now and we didn’t want to let anyone down.

We miss our friends a lot but make the most of the time we spend with all of them. I give them credit, it’s not easy to pull us away from work but we appreciate their persistence because we might never get away from work if it weren’t for them. We had a lot more time before we decided to do all of this. We ended up investing in an education program which opened our eyes on everything we could do and were already good at, with the push we could build it and mold it into something bigger and we could grow it faster than we had ever thought possible because we now had the tools to do so. It’s been stressful because of the amount of pressure of managing our day jobs, relationships, and trying to build a business from the ground up which is similar to any of the projects we work on, I guess.

What has been your favorite part since starting your business?

Mitch: My favorite part of starting the business is seeing it come together. All the planning and behind the scenes work really starts to shine once you’ve put all of the different aspects together to work as one. I know it seems silly, but I was ecstatic when our business cards were designed and printed. For the first time I had something tangible to hold and physically show people what we’d been working on, and not just talk about it.

Carson: I suppose my favorite part since we’ve started the business is seeing the progression from where Mitch and I started to where we are now. Still two of the best friends you’ll ever see and we love working with each other, I’m just glad he and I are on this adventure together, because you never know where a path will take you, all you can do is give it your all and see how far you can take it. The business is another one of our projects, and we’ll take it as far as we can while helping people in the process. We both have a passion for helping people and this is a way we can do it while affecting the greatest number of people. Provide quality housing for tenants and homeowners, provide solutions which are not usually plausible, fixing or improving things, and keeping communities strong and I’m able to do all of that with my best friend.

What are you looking forward to learning more about?

Mitch: I am very excited to expand my knowledge about the real estate business and continuing my education with becoming a general contractor and project manager. I am also looking forward to learning more about and expanding my landlord skills.

Carson: I’m looking forward to learning more about green energy, philanthropy, and ways we can solve more problems in the world. I love using green and energy saving materials to our properties because it helps save people money while cutting down on energy usage which is better for the planet. Philanthropy has always been a passion of mine. As the business grows, so will our philanthropy work. We love to solve problems and, needless to say, there are a lot of problems which need to be solved. Having our own business was a way we could reach the largest populace.