Want to grow your rental portfolio, but are struggling to get your first investment property? Tune in and learn Ron Zuccaro’s steps for going from one rental property to 100! Ron’s journey has been one of hard work, patience, and persistence. In this interview you will hear about Ron's secrets to success: his strategies for finding deals; forecasting their potential return; negotiating with sellers; leveraging the power of wholesalers, and finally locking down a purchase contract is what makes him owing 100 rental properties. In the end, you will also learn about all the benefits that come from owning real estate as an investor—including tax deductions!

Ron explains how beginning investors can generate enough passive income to replace the ordinary income from their day jobs and achieve financial success and security.

1. What made you get involved in real estate, how long have you been investing, and how does real estate fit into your life?

I’ve been thinking about real estate for years but decided to get into it in 2014. I own 10 rental units with another 7 properties under construction. What got me interested was when I saw a company called Swell that provided software to help you track your income and expenses. After learning how to use this software, I thought real estate would be an ideal place to invest my money.

2. When did you first become aware of the idea that passive income could be created through commercial real estate investing?

I first heard about it a year ago. I was looking at flipping houses and came across a site called “Rent-A-Condo”. I found it to be a very interesting concept and found that by using the net operating income calculation that I could find the true cash flow of the property.

3. How would you describe your progress to date in terms of growth? Currently, what are your biggest accomplishments?

I’ve been investing for about a year-and-a-half. I own 10 rental units with another 7 properties under construction. My biggest accomplishment to date is finding my first property and closing on it because this gave me the confidence to continue looking for more deals. The second biggest accomplishment was meeting an investor named Rob Thomas at an event where he was speaking about wholesaling. When I told him about my interest in purchasing properties for myself, Rob contacted me and we began working on finding deals.

4. If you consider yourself a novice investor, what are some specific questions to ask when considering buying property via wholesale?

First, make sure the company you are dealing with has a minimum deposit requirement smaller than the purchase price of the property. A lot of people think that if they can get it for less than the purchase price, then they can get away with buying something for less than value. This works in reverse 100% of the time if you don’t have enough money. The second thing is that you should have your partner or a second investor ready to buy the property at closing. Thirdly, you should always have a backup offer ready just in case your first offer is rejected.

5. What is your current methodology for finding deals?

The only way to find deals is to go out and look for them. I attend seminars and listen to podcasts dealing with real estate investing. I also do Google searches for foreclosure auctions. If you want to be successful and make money, you have to put in the time and effort it takes to find properties that are undervalued.

6. Have you ever experienced an incident that could have been a major turning point in your career, but you overcame the obstacle? Can you tell us about it?

I was at a friend’s house and he had some property listings from a company that he uses called “We Buy Houses”. I saw one of the listings which said that they had paid the owner $200,000 for the property, and then sold it on the MLS for $285,000.

7. Is there anything else you would like to say about your career or expertise?

I’m on a mission to help people become successful and increase their income by buying rental properties. My website is www.ZuccaroProperties.com and I post weekly videos every Saturday which show how to find deals.

8. What are some ways that people can connect with you?

I’m very active in social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) and I have a blog on my website as well: http://www.RonZuccaroProperties.com/blog. I also do a podcast, which I post weekly on iTunes and SoundCloud.

9. If you could sum up your advice for beginning real estate investors in one sentence, what would it be?

Develop patience and learn to be flexible.

10. What does your portfolio look like now, and how do you see it growing?

What I did was focus on putting all my money in one deal and then get a partner to pay for half. [note, not sure if he means the purchase price or the closing costs]. When you get your first deal, it is important to have a partner that will allow you to use their money for the deposit.

11. How would you describe your experience with wholesalers? What have been your favorite parts of working with them?

I’ve had a very good experience dealing with wholesalers so far. I’ve had Ron give me some great advice as well as Rob Thomas who I mentioned earlier.

12. How would you describe your experience with real estate agents? What have been your most memorable experiences with them?

I learned about wholesaling and how to talk to real estate agents from Rob Thomas at an event. The most memorable part of it was meeting and getting advice from someone who talked about wholesaling and how they could help me find deals.

13. What would you say is the #1 highlight of your real estate investing so far?

The best part of it for me is that I’m able to take my time to find the right deal and either buy it or hold on to it until the right opportunity comes along.

14. How have you found that real estate investing compares with your previous jobs?

I’ve worked 9 different jobs from working in a factory as a teenager, selling cars, landscaping, being a mover, and even having my own business. I’ve found that early in my real estate career I was doing well and then things started going downhill when I was in college working for the telephone company and working at various different job sites. But now things are running smoother than ever.

15. How would you describe your experience as a wholesaler? How would you describe your perspective on wholesaling now that you’ve experienced it?

I’ve been a wholesaler for 3 years in which I’ve invested and bought more than 100 homes. As for my perspective on wholesaling, I think it is a great way to make money by using the internet and meeting investors in the real estate community.

16. What are some of the lessons you’ve learned that have surprised even you?

Since I started doing this, more than half of my deals have been in business areas different than what I thought or wanted to do, like strip malls and retail centers.

17. How did you decide to get into wholesaling? What drew you to this type of investing in particular?

I chose to get into wholesaling because I wanted to find deals that would be profitable and then sell them.

18. What are some of the benefits of the wholesale model as opposed to renting or flipping deals?

The benefits I’ve found are that I don’t have any risk, and if the deal doesn’t work out, then I walk away with less than a dollar. Also, since I buy from wholesalers, there is a huge upside in case something goes right.

19. What is your favorite aspect of wholesaling?

The aspect I love the most is that I am able to see the market in action and that I can be in and out of a deal really fast. I also like the fact that there are no bad deals if it’s on a cash flow property. The one downside of wholesaling is that you have to be able to talk with investors and know what they are looking for.

20. Would you recommend investing in wholesaling vs. other types of investments? Why/why not?

I would absolutely recommend investing in wholesalers because it’s so much easier to find deals now than it was when I first started. I’ve been able to have more money in my pocket now than before, and also I’m not working a full-time job.

21. Have you ever made a mistake that could have cost you a lot of money but didn’t? If so, what was it? And what did you do to overcome it?

I bought a house for $35,000 which was supposed to be in the city. When I went there to see it, it was located really far from the city and on top of that there were no utilities and nobody lived there except ants! So I found another deal and sold the first house for $10,000.

If you would also want to become like him and someone like owing 100 rental properties, then you can learn from his experiences and the step stones that he has mentioned.

For more information, you can visit Calculate investment property return without a spreadsheet.