Join REIA instead of gurus?

[Account Closed]

I know this has probably been asked a million times, but are any of the gurus actually worth it? I get the impression that the $100 course is always a sales pitch for the $1,000 course, which is a pitch for the $10,000 course and so on...

A couple friends of mine are interested in signing up with a guy named Jeff Kaller but I haven't seen any positive reputable reviews (i.e. someone with more than 1 post).

Are we better off by ourselves trying to network with people at the local REIA? Also, we're in the Philadelphia area so if anyone knows anything about the Philadelphia REIA or a better alternative it'd be greatly appreciated :mrgreen:

Our RE knowledge is pretty limited so far, just a couple of college kids trying to get into the business. I worked at my dad's law firm briefly (they do strictly foreclosure work for the whole mid-atlantic region) but never learned much about the process... I was just putting together title policies (not actually clearing title or anything useful :cry: ).

[Timothy W.]

Originally posted by Janosik:

Originally posted by Tim Wieneke:

Ryan,
Tell us your financial goals, where you live, what you have to start with, and what your current situation is. Between all of us, we can mentor you right here for free into getting started properly.

Tim

Haha ok, I hate making long posts but here goes...

I'm in the Philadelphia area and I'd like to make a career out of real estate investing (studying finance at Penn State currently). One of my father's friends was in commercial real estate acquisition/analysis working for Texaco and I always thought his job sounded great... unfortunately that friend passed before I ever decided I actually wanted to do something with real estate. The thought of working for some sort of real estate brokerage firm also crossed my mind recently but I don't know enough about that to say it's what I'd like to do with my life.

My financial situation is nothing special... about $15,000 in the bank to work with and probably decent credit but I haven't checked my credit score yet. I've never paid a credit card late (had one since I was 17, I'm 23 now) and I took out a small student loan that I've been paying off to hopefully establish more of a record.

My dad is one of the founding partners at a foreclosure firm that does work throughout the entire mid-atlantic region and I'm hoping that will be of some use. He and his partners are very encouraging and have always said they'll help out however they can, but I'm still not quite sure what area of REI is best for me so I'm not sure how to take advantage of that. I worked at their firm for a while so I'm familiar enough with their system that I can find whatever someone needs in a particular file, but I didn't quite learn the foreclosure process or title policies as well as I wanted to before returning to school.

Ok, looking at this - what attracted you to real estate appears to be a professional career path. Are you sure you want to be a real estate investor or a real estate professional? There is a difference and I do both. As a real estate investor I am an active landlord. As a part time / contract insurance adjuster, I'm a consultant when there is damage to a building. Being a professional pays great cash and has great perks like lunch at Wildfire yesterday courtesy of a client, but no equity. Being an investor pays little cash for a long time (flipping is a profession, you're a salesman not an investor - I did that too) and you don't get any corporate perks - but it builds up your equity and frees up your time.

In all honesty looking at your situation, you're getting a good degree and you were inspired into this from a corporate professional. You don't want to buy too much locally so that you are faced with a dilemma if you get the professional offer you want out of town.

Having, like you, a dad with success in real estate and being 10 years older than you now and having experienced what I have....I'd focus on getting the degree and call dad and see if I could work for him. The education, contacts and flat out honesty dad will give you will be much better to you in the long run. Dads don't have to be politically correct and can tell you when you suck at something. The quicker you know what's holding you back the better.

While you are in college I don't think it would be at all wrong to do a deal here or there to put on the resume - but not too many so that it distracts you from your real mission at hand. I don't know about Philadelphia....seems like a rough town. Do you have your own transportation and can go to a smaller town maybe 30 minutes to an hour outside of Philly? Look for a little single family there you can pick up for under 10 grand in a halfway decent neighborhood. Bribe your college buddies with beer to help you repaint it. Clean the carpets. Tenant the property. Immediately find a realtor who deals with a lot of out of town landlords. List it with that realtor for 20-30k, whatever it takes to move the property FAST and sell it as a turnkey package. Even if you make just 5k on the deal, do it. What you're after is not your retirement here but little base hits to keep you going and look good on your resume when you hit the professional world. Besides, if you can hit the numbers I'm talking about you're talking about a near 30% ROI. That looks pretty darned impressive if you're applying for a corporate position in real estate acquisitions and analysis. Go for it. Keep it very simple because you have a lot on your plate now with the degree, but simple can be profitable.

Tim