RE Rookie standing at the fork in the real estate road (still)

[Brent Skaling]

I've been down the podcasting and "self education" path for close to two years now but I'm still taking baby steps. . . more like crawling. This spring, i took out a cash out refi on my primary residence, to use as down payment funds so I'll be ready once I find a deal. 

I'm a superintendent in the general contracting realm with a background as a carpenter. I have the passion and ability to use this skill set to aid in a potential deal ie; value add/rehab. However, I'm hung up with the specific strategy. The cash we have available doesn't go as far in my backyard, limiting opportunities compared to out of state. However, with my skill set, I have a hard time committing to an out of state deal, knowing this will hinder my ability to get/give the most value. 

I'm super interested in seller financing and think this could be my best opportunity but I haven't made those local connections or gained the confidence to move forward. 

Hoping to gain some insight and hopefully some great local Rhode Island contacts, too!

Many Thanks,

Brent

[Travis Timmons]

It's damned if you do, damned if you don't. Be patient and kind to yourself. There are things worse than not owning a property after a year or two of looking. Getting in over your head or in a bad out of state deal is far worse than just piling up cash and trying to figure out what you can and/or want to do. Keep saving money and looking for the right deal and/or strategy. Going from 0 to 1 and 1 to 2 properties is the toughest and slowest phase.

Seller financing is the needle in the haystack. It's much like buying a discounted property - you have to find someone that does not have any better options. You take on problems that they cannot solve or you overpay for the property. The exception would be finding someone that either wants to help you out or just can't do basic math. Something like a property that cannot qualify for conventional financing or a seller with an above market asking price that will give you a low rate. 

It's almost always a bad deal for a traditional seller to carry a note if they have an option to just sell outright, collect a big check, and be done with it. That's especially the case now that cash pays 5-ish percent.