They experimented with other ventures, including a hookah lounge, before focusing on real estate.When Aria Khosravi and Alan Blue met in high school, they, admittedly, weren't the strongest students.
"Alan and I are not your typical success story," said Khosravi."We didn't come from rich families. We weren't born into the business. We didn't start with any kind of trust fund or nest egg or anything like that."After deciding they wanted to actually go through with buying a home for them and their college friends to live in, Khosravi and Blue started saving specifically for a down payment.
It was a $190,000 four-bedroom that they financed with 5% down, they said. They closed in June 2004, did some light renovations, moved in, and rented the other two bedrooms to friends. "Nobody's ever gone wrong with buying and holding onto real estate for 30 or 40 years," said Khosravi.Categorizing their first purchase as a success,"we caught the bug and wanted another rental," said Blue. "This one just didn't make financial sense. The mortgage was higher than we could get for rent, so we were losing $150 to $200 a month on that," said Blue.
After driving through Fort Collins, looking for"for lease" signs, and calling up building owners, one finally bit. They started going to meetings and seminars hosted by their local Real Estate Investors Association .
More than 68% of successful business owners attributes their success to being very determined, staying consistent and never quiting on their selves after series of loses and failures. Bravo to the two friends who became partners right from the onset.