Crypto and Real Estate Investor | Building Bono Capital Group | #Bitcoin Advocate | @LizandTomInvest
Somewhere along I-85
Joined May 2018
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Six years at EY analyzing mortgage-backed securities taught me how real estate looks on paper.
Buying my first Long Island condo in 2018 taught me how it works in real life.
I left EY in 2020. Today: 7 properties, 9 units.
I’m back to help W2 employees buy their first rental.
A deal can show 1.30x DSCR today and still be unfinanceable tomorrow.
With an interest-only loan, underwrite DSCR twice: during IO and after amortization begins.
The second number decides how much reserve the deal actually needs.
Interest-only is runway, not income.
Before I underwrite a renovation, I put every line item in one of four buckets:
Required before occupancy
Prevents a future failure
Directly supports higher rent
Merely looks better
Only the third bucket gets credited with rent growth.
The fourth is where budgets go to die.
Every real estate deal has two clocks:
The time needed to execute the plan.
The time until your capital forces a decision.
If the second clock expires first, the deal can be “right” and still fail.
Underwrite the gap between those clocks. That gap is your optionality.
Stress-test the mismatch: delay revenue, push costs higher and move the exit later. Then ask one question: At what point would I be forced to refinance, sell or add capital? That date matters more than the base-case IRR.
Before your first rental with a W2, calculate the worst normal month:
Mortgage + taxes/insurance + utilities + one deductible + one major repair.
If that lands on a credit card, the deal isn’t ready—even at 10% cash-on-cash.
Your paycheck is not the reserve account.
My first property was a Long Island condo in May 2018.
At work, I analyzed mortgage-backed securities.
Outside work, I was learning what ownership actually asks of you.
Same asset class. Very different education.
I kept the W2 until 2020.
I came back to X because first-rental advice gets weird fast.
Beginners are told to quit their jobs and act like they have unlimited time.
I bought my first property while still at EY.
That’s the lane I’m here for: buying one rental while a W2 and real life still exist.
If your first rental plan only works after quitting your job, it probably doesn’t fit your life yet.
I bought my first property in May 2018 while still at EY.
I stayed until 2020.
The first deal had to work alongside the W2.
That sequence was less dramatic. It was also real.
Tom Bono retweeted
The next gen of STRs will be purpose built luxury rentals, from what I’m hearing from my STR friends that unique STRs are still getting great numbers. Can I get a confirmation on that? I’m thinking of building one or two for personal use and rent then when not using.
