Should I become a Deal Finder?

Question

Hello! I am very very new to the investing world. I am a licensed realtor since Nov 24 and just these last two days I ran into seminars and classes on deal finding. It definitely interest me but of course the companies trying to sell their courses don’t disclose the difficulties of the process. Is anyone here a deal finder ? If so, do you advise that i pay for a class to learn how to do it and use their database or do you advise that I learn on my own?

Camee Rodgers · Answer

@Stephen Morales Makes sense!! A friend of mine told me yesterday if they're excited and happy about what they've created or accomplished they'll help you for free. What you said just lined up with that!!

Now regarding your question , I'm so new to this that i didn't even even fully understand what you asked but are you asking if I was looking into finding deals of multi-family properties and presenting them to investors ? Sorry I also don't know what UW means .

Stephen Morales · Answer

I totally understand! It's awesome to be super motivated but beware of shiny object syndrome! I have always been pretty focused in my real estate endeavors, but I will say in the past I have been over zealous which can be just as dangerous. (TLDR over extended on buying too many flips at once and got caught when the interest rates hiked)I would maybe get a few transactions under your belt first in SFHs, there is a learning curve for Multi-family acquisitions. There are a bunch of free resources online and there are also some CRE classes you can take through your local NEFAR board. There are also some extracurricular studies and courses online that you can take for learning proper UW and utilizing UW models. These courses and certs are normally around $2400 + but are totally worth it if this is what you are looking to pursue. If you want to go an easier route as a deal finder and make some capital before jumping into CRE, then I would definitely advise looking at wholesaling SFHs. I actually pivoted from traditional real estate sales to wholesaling and REI after my first year or two as a licensed agent. I eventually wanted more of a challenge and worked with local PE firms to gain more knowledge in CRE and CRE Multi-family developments. Now I am involved with all facets of real estate and help new users by working on PrimeTracers which is a free property data platform for investors and agents alike. I also provide free advice where I can so if you ever need future advice no matter what the question is, I'll be happy to help! Just shoot me a DM.

Stephen Morales · Answer

Sorry! when I get into the weeds of the day I end up using the usual abbreviations and slang terms lol. "UW" stands for underwriting. But yes that was my question. Depending on what you're looking to accomplish I can help steer you in the write direction. Whether that be Commercial or Residential. You already made a great step joining BiggerPockets!

Camee Rodgers · Answer

@Stephen Morales Okay yes thank you! Yes that is very intriguing to me, where my dilemma has been is if i'm jumping the gun too quickly, as i said i've only been a licensed realtor for 4 months and i've only worked with leases so far , I would love to learn more about this deal finder pathway but I'm just wondering if i'm moving on too quickly. Have you ever had an experience like this?

Stephen Morales · Answer

Hi Camee, I would definitely steer clear from any overpriced courses and DYOR. A lot of those courses are priced much higher than they should be and most of the time they don't follow through with their availability. I have helped dozens of investors for FREE over the past few years and all of the ones that paid $10-40k on courses ended up finding much more valuable information for free whether it was online or through local networking. That kind of money can easily be put towards your own marketing efforts and business. Now I'm assuming since you posted on Multi-Family forum you are looking at analyzing CRE Multi-Family deals and UW them as well and in turn present them to PE firms or acquisition managers. Is that correct?