I am a beginner in real estate and first time buyer:)

[Natasha Gus]

Hello everybody. Let me introduce myself first: my name is Natasha and I am a student at UNLV. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I have been renting for a while now and I would like to buy a townhouse or a medium sized home. I am looking for a foreclosure or pre-foreclosure properties at www.realtor.com or www.foreclosure.com. I don't want to have a real estate agent because they tried to push me to buy expensive properties which I don't have money for. As I said, I am a student who needs help and I see how people in my area buy townhouses or condos very reasonably priced properties. How do they do it? Thats why I am asking because I have no clue how to start and present my offers. Any help? Any ideas? I appreciate any advice about my situation and thank you for reading my post. P.S. I saw on TV groups of people bidding on properties in parking lots?!?!?!?! How do they do it or find out about these auctions?

[Roy S.]

I get the impression you want to buy a house for yourself rather than be a real estate investor - nothing wrong with that, but it changes what the relevant advice is.

Typically, you don't want to buy a house unless you're going to live there a few years (3-5 at least). The reason being that when you buy you have to pay closing costs (say ~5% of price) and when you sell you have to pay closing costs (say ~10% of price). That 15% makes for a lot of rent :). And when you graduate and want to move, a house can take a while to sell.

Also, when you apply for a mortgage, you get better rates as an owner occupant, and there's plenty of government incentives/grants for first time home buyers. But if you read the fine print, these often require you to stay there for a certain number of years.

I think your best course of action is to find a new real estate agent. Let him know what you want upfront. You may have to go talk to a few before you find one that clicks. Or since you're already looking at websites, they should list the selling agent. Often, they'll work for you as well, since it lets them pocket double the commission. I don't know if the ones showing foreclosures will do that though, as they may have to work exclusively for the bank.

You can also find a local REIA club. People there are looking to sell houses cheap. Listen to the annoucements and pick up fliers on the tables set up for them.

One local Las Vegas REIA club is Prosper. http://www.prosperreia.com/

Caution: while I like my fellow investors, some are more than willing to take advantage of a newbie. Just because a house is worth $X, doesn't really mean it is. Get a professional inspection done. It would even make sense to have someone you meet at REIA go over the deal and see what he/she thinks about it (someone different from the seller, natch :) (And yes, you should slip him some money for his time and/or at least treat him to dinner).

You should also go to a bank/credit union and get pre-qualified for a mortgage. Check what they say you can afford vs what your budget says you can afford. But this is the MAXimum amount - you'll probably want to go lower.

Good luck!