New to the Site and Extremely Excited to get Started

[Dave Iadarola]

My name is Dave,

I have been doing land development for the past 10 years in rural Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Texas. Most of the land development I have done revolved around surface improvements. While I have done a multitude of vacant land deals I have only done a hand full of housing deals.

I'm new to the site, but have been reading multiple articles and doing market research in Colorado for the last 2-3 months. I found BP through a friend who listens to the podcast. i began listening and became very excited about the opportunity to do this for myself. I'm want to start out flipping, but eventually move into buy and holds.  I'm finally in a spot where I feel comfortable enough to start looking at deals. 

1) I haven't found a real estate agent yet that I have felt comfortable using. Any suggestions on where to look for an agent? How do most of you find someone to work with that will bring you deals? 

2) I'm currently looking at a deal on an extremely distressed property, in a good neighborhood. The house is bank owned and been assigned to a real estate agent. Does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of questions to ask the agent so I can get a clear understanding of the property?

3) I currently have some liquid capital, but am interested at looking at some financing options. Does anyone know someone in the Colorado Front Range area? 

Thanks for any help/advice. I look forward to becoming a part of this community. 

Regards, 

Dave 

[Chris Vacek]

In regards to #1... Here's the thing about real estate agents:  The really good ones usually cost the same as the really bad ones.  I would contact a BUNCH of agents, explain your goals and tell them all it's first come first served.  The search part of the investment game can take a while so you will have plenty of time to weed out the agents that you dont like/feel comfortable with and work with the one(s) who understand your goals and expectations.

Another option is to ask other investors in your area who they work with. Any agent can set you up with an MLS search but the really good ones will be able to recognize the deals that meet your goals and will make sure you see them.

As far as #2...

Understand that that agent will be representing the seller (the bank) when they speak with you. If the property is listed by an agent you should find an agent to represent you and reach out through them. The seller pretty much pays your agent so its almost free representation...why wouldn't you? I don't really do REO transactions too often so I will leave it to someone else to answer as far as what kind of questions to ask them.

Good Luck!