The Green Newbie Jitters

[Maurice Brown]

 Hello BP family! First off I do not consider myself a newbie as I have not completed a deal at all. For one to be a newbie you had to have completed a deal.  I have not. So I'm nobody.  With that said, I think I have the beginner jitters, though. I have stumbled across what I believe to be a potential deal. It's a three family unit that I am considering  strongly house hacking in.  Now here's the hick-up… what I've noticed about the property is, Zillow has the purchase history as being sold for 180,000 in 2004 and last being sold for upwards of 400,000 in 2006.  Plus it appears to be currently two different owners, both paying taxes on the property with two different parcel numbers for the same property. Both paying two significantly different tax amounts.  With this information, I've been working on applying all the steps that BP has in place for newbies, however I'm finding myself a bit jittery with the process.  And what I mean by jittery is, anxious, excited, and nervous all at the same time. I am greatly enthused to see if I can get the deal to work, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, which makes me anxious, nervous, and excited (jittery). It seems like the closer I get to completing all the steps BP suggests to actually submit an offer, the more jittery I get.  I mean, I'm not panting and breathing heavily or breaking out in cold sweat or experiencing shortness of breath at all. But there is a lot of emotion. There is this knot in my chest that feels as though I'm about to give a speech or  perform for a large audience. Which brings me to three questions: 

1. Is this normal for beginners? 

2. Is there someone in the Baltimore area that can talk this GREEN beginner through this process? 

3. Should I even continue finding more information about this property?

Thanks in advance for everyone's help, knowledge, experience, and expertise!

Also I have not put together a team yet.  I'm stuck on the basics of this property.

[Ned Carey]

@Maurice Brown welcome to BP.

First question - yes it is normal

Third question. Yes if you have any intention of buying it. Yes even if you have no intention of buying it but do have the intention on continuing the journey to become an investor. 

Now the second question,Yes lot of people from the Baltimore market, are very active on BP. Go to meetups or the various REIA meetings in the area and often you will find someone to answer your questions. There is a group that meets every Friday for lunch at 2610 WIlkens ave 21223. Its just called the landlord lunch. It is a great place to network and ask questions. No cost other than whatever you buy to eat and anyone is welcome. If you ever see me feel free to ask and you can certainly ask here.

Now lets talk about why you have the jitters. You need to know the numbers, especially the hidden costs, of real estate. You can do that here. The 50% rule is a good start. Next you need to know the market. That comes from looking at a many many dozens of deals and evaluating them. If you do that you will start to become more comfortable with the market and more confident moving forward.