Talking to Tyler Madden for any more than a minute, you can tell that he’s a smart guy. But would you ever guess a general contractor and real estate investor has degrees in biology and chemistry? Probably not! Tyler went to school to be a doctor, but after leaving school he found himself in the restaurant industry. He was serving tables, which later turned into bartending, and later managing the restaurants himself. He enjoyed the growth he found in the restaurant industry but realized that there was a cap to the success. At the same time, Tyler was fixing up his primary residence every so often, learning new tricks of the trade from online. He got so good at fixing up his own house, other people started asking him to take care of projects on their houses. Tyler loved fixing up houses, and decided to get his general contractor license and start up his own business. Tyler was even inadvertently house hacking and doing a live in flip/rehab on his first primary home without even realizing it. He rented out a room in his house while he was fixing up the property, which helped him cover a lot of costs. When Tyler and his wife decided to move into another house, they kept it as a rental property, and held on to a LOT of equity that he is now using to pursue future deals. He’s had a fire in a home, a break-in, and at one point had 40 cop cars surrounding him with guns drawn (he shares in the episode). Tyler is an interesting guy, and has a lot of knowledge to share on rehabbing, contracting, cost estimating, and financing! In This Episode We Cover: How doing a great remodel can boost up the price of your house significantly Taking out HELOCs (home equity lines of credit) and keeping them around for future financing options Starting an LLC so you can take advantage of financing later on Using high-end finishes vs. using standard finishes for rentals How to get your spouse on board when they are worried about real estate risk Making offers on and off market so you can get a deal in an expensive area And SO much more! Links from the Show Real Estate Rookie Facebook Group BiggerPockets Podcast Ashley's Instagram Tony's Instagram Redfin Zillow Rookie Podcast 48: 4 Ways Newbies Can Finance Deals with Richard Kelly BiggerPockets Podcast 189: 500 Deals, the $100,000 Wholesale Paycheck, & the Systems That Make it Work with Tarl Yarber BiggerPockets Podcast 438: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Finding GREAT Deals in ANY Market with Anson Young PropStream Check the full show notes here: http://biggerpockets.com/rookie55 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices