Your strategy and how it has changed: multis, flipping, buying notes & tax lien sales

[Marylynn B.]

Hey everyone! My family and I have owned properties for many years and I have just liquidated several I inherited in order to invest closer to home.  Years ago I flipped a little but my comfort level has always been renting and buy and hold.  This is primarily because that is what know, that is what I was comfortable with.  I am starting to look at alternative ways of investing: tax liens, notes etc. and flipping. ( I actually loved flipping but if you saw my "handy work" on that property you would be glad a contractor purchased it.)  I am at a point in my life where I have the cash and collateral so have some options.  I also am in the point of my life where I am much more conservative, when I was younger I had nothing to lose I guess.  Anyway would love to hear how your strategies have changed over your time in this profession. 

[Nancy Roth]

Oh, please. 

I can't tell you how to find the right house and the right deal for you, Tiesha, but I can tell you this: DON'T DO WHAT I DID. I trusted a slime-ball realtor, and thereby bought a terrible first rental house. 

What I would do differently today:

--Learn how to do the investment math, so you can do your due diligence. 

--Set some specific financial goals and don't ever forget them when considering a deal.

--Talk to a lot of people at real estate investor meetings, which I know you are doing. 

--Look for ways to be of help to someone who knows more than you.

One opportunity, if you are looking to buy in Baltimore, is to volunteer to help Ned Carey in the spring after the Baltimore tax lien auction list is released. He drives around for a couple of months looking at prospective bids. He could use help recording his bid estimates on the computer as he drives. What you get in exchange is his priceless observations on neighborhoods and investments in Baltimore. I don't know where you'll get a better on-the-ground education.