How Wonderful Togbey Built a 20-Unit Portfolio Against the Odds

Episode 378: How Wonderful Togbey Built a 20-Unit Portfolio Against the Odds Wonderful Togbey Reveals Lessons Learned with Adding Sweat Equity Buy and Hold, House Hacking, Gut Renovations, BRRRR Wonderful Togbey joins us to explain how he’s grinded to build a rental portfolio of 20 doors and is actively scaling! Wonderful shares his start in REI back in Omaha, Nebraska. He breaks down a deal in Bronzeville that closed right at the onset of COVID that came equipped with non-paying tenants! Wonderful reflects on lessons learned from gut renovations including considerations on layouts to maximize rents. He has multiple examples of pivoting while under, and even getting a second job to get deals done. This episode is a motivating one with countless stories showcasing perseverance and grit. 00:45 – Wonderful’s backstory: immigrating from Ghana and early financial struggles 04:28 – A personal tragedy sparks a total mindset shift 08:11 – First 3-flat purchase through house hacking in Chicago 11:33 – Navigating lending as a foreign national 15:22 – Budgeting, saving, and reinvesting every dollar 19:47 – Using automation to manage rentals and time 24:05 – Key lessons and risks while scaling to 20 units 29:40 – The 5 AM club: how waking early led to more deals 32:16 – How to manage contractors and cash flow wisely 35:12 – Final thoughts: advice for landlords stuck at 2-3 units 39:00 – Using community knowledge to unlock deal flow 42:05 – Finding undervalued properties and building teams 45:30 – Scaling responsibly in uncertain market conditions 49:20 – The mindset of doing hard things early to enjoy freedom later 53:40 – Realistic expectations vs. social media glamorization of real estate Join us as we share our winning strategies, success stories, obstacles we've encountered, and most importantly, the lessons we have learned along the way. If you are ready to learn the ins and outs of the investing in Chicago and suburbs. SUBSCRIBE: http://ow.ly/pNzU50BFJtU Got an idea for the show? Shoot us an email at straightupchicagoinvestor@gmail.com Follow us behind the scenes on Instagram: http://ow.ly/lquy50BGadL Make our acquaintance on our Club: http://ow.ly/RZvr50BGaei Give us a shout on Facebook: http://ow.ly/Qqr350BGaeM Visit our world directly: https://www.straightupchicagoinvestor.com/ Listen to the 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗨𝗽 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗴𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 on your favorite streaming service: http://ow.ly/lI7050BGafp