Aaron Amuchastegui has built a thriving real estate business by mastering the art of buying properties at a discount. With his expertise and tools like Lead Propeller, Prophawk, and Roddy’s Foreclosure Listing, Aaron now manages a portfolio of over 800 properties across Texas, generating an impressive $250,000 in monthly revenue.
The video below outlines his journey to success from convict to $3.6 million per year and the strategies behind his rise in real estate.
How does a former federal prison inmate build a real estate business that brings in nearly $300,000 a month?
Hailing from a small town in southern Oregon, Aaron Amuchastegui had a challenging childhood. At the tender age of 21, Aaron was arrested and charged with driving the getaway car used in the armed robbery of the downtown branch of South Valley Bank and Trust. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on Sept. 1, 2000,and sentenced to 2 years in prison.
During his time in prison, Aaron reflected on his past mistakes and started dreaming about his future. He developed a vision for his life and started planning for how he was going to turn his life around once he was released. He took the lessons he had learned in prison and his newfound appreciation for any opportunities that would come his way, and began his career in real estate.
Aaron soon became a real estate agent, but was hit by the effects of the housing crash in 2009. This forced him to create his own path to success using his favorite real estate investing model: partnering with someone who will provide the funds, while you do the work and splitting the profits 50/50. Aaron attributes his real estate success to his investment in foreclosure properties. Here’s a closer look at Aaron’s 5 steps for making your real estate journey with foreclosures a success.
Foreclosures: The Hidden Goldmine
Step 1: Create A Narrow List 📋
Aaron began his real estate career by spotting the opportunities presented by properties being auctioned off in courthouses in Northern California. He swears by his 5 step plan which starts with creating a list of foreclosure properties which is accurate and specific. It’s a good idea to use the following criteria, to help you choose the best property: potential profitability, location, and condition of the property. It’s important to make sure that your list consists of properties that are the most promising for making a profit.
Step 2: Assess Each Property 🔍
Once you’ve built a solid and specific list, the next step is to jump in the car and drive by each property to asses its condition. Aaron suggests looking for red flags like too many cars parked outside the property, which indicates tenants, or occupants that aren’t willing to oblige and may not want to vacate the property. By assessing the properties, you’ll be able to cut the list down to properties that don’t just look like good deals on paper, but are actually worth pursuing.
Step 3: Conduct Thorough Title Searches 🗎
Aaron stresses the importance of conducting a thorough title search on each property to make sure that there is a clear title without any tax liens or other issues that can become a problem later on. Titles searches are useful for investors, according to Aaron, to avoid accidentally buying a property where there is already a loan, which would leave the investor with a second-position loan. This can be a costly mistake that is easily avoided with a title search, before purchasing the property.
Step 4: Run The Comps 🏘️
Once you’ve conducted title searches on your list of most promising foreclosed homes, Aaron’s advice is to take a look at the comps (comparable properties) in the area. These will be properties that have similar features, are in the same area, and have sold within the last 6 months.
Aaron also advises investors to calculate potential renovation costs, commissions, and other expenses. Factoring these costs into the overall amount you’ll need to spend is vital, because once you purchase the property there will be other expenses. Aaron highlights the fact that this step is important so that you avoid overpaying at an auction, and you can pre-determine the maximum amount you’re willing to bid. Aaron’s mindset on this is quite simple: it’s all about knowing the numbers to ensure each deal is profitable.
Step 5: Start Bidding 💰
Armed with the numbers, the comp details and the property information, you’re ready to start bidding on the properties you have shortlisted, at auctions. Aaron’s number one tip here is to stick to your pre-determined maximum bidding amount and avoid making any emotional decisions. He typically works with partners who provide the capital, while he handles the bidding and execution. For investors who are starting out without much capital, this is can be a successful approach. When bidding on properties, the main focus should be getting the best value out of the deal and maximizing profits.
How To Find Foreclosure Properties
Once you’re ready to start your investing journey, you’ll need to start by looking at how to find foreclosure homes for sale. One of the easiest ways to do this is by looking online, and there are a host of sites to browse. Such as:
- Foreclosure.com (free)
- Auction.com (free)
- Homepathcom (free)
- FlipScout by New Silver (free)
- Realtytrac.com (paid)
- Zillow (free)
The other methods you can consider using are the age old solution, real estate agents, as well as public records which can be found at your local country’s records office.
An experienced real estate agent can be immensely valuable in your search for a foreclosure that fits within your budget. You can use their impressive local knowledge to your advantage, and hopefully, find a property that doesn’t make it to any of the online portals.
Before any of the listings that you see on sites like Zillow and RealtyTrac are published, they will be documented at your local county’s records office. You will need to visit the record office to conduct the search, but this barrier to entry can be a good thing. You can potentially open up a time window where a limited set of people know about the property.
About Aaron
Aaron’s real estate journey began in 2009, after the housing market crash led to downsizing at the California real estate firm where he worked. Seeing an opportunity in the foreclosure market, he launched his own hedge fund, flipping over 1,000 homes in just three years. But his early success faced challenges—competition from large investment firms forced him to pivot and shift his focus to Texas. Aaron’s business has since evolved beyond just investing. In 2017, he acquired Roddy’s Foreclosure Listing, venturing into the technology side of real estate.
