CERTIFIED PMB TRYING TO BECOME RE INVESTOR

[Robin Hopkins]

I recently became a Certified Private Money Broker and my original plan was I thought I would use that business to build my Capital so that I could then become a Real Estate Investor. As I started out in my Broker business I realized it was going to take me a while to get things up and going because I was going to have to do everything manually, even though the company that I received my training from has a phenomenal software program that can help completely speed up and automate my entire business, the problem is I just don't have the funds to be able to afford that software (it is quite expensive upwards of like $4K+) so at the moment I just don't have the funds for that right now. But what I suddenly found was that I was getting bombarded with all kinds of Real Estate Investing training and opportunities from every direction so suddenly I felt like something was telling me to shift to RE Investing so suddenly I have been immersed in all kinds of RE training, websites that offer memberships, etc. so now I am thinking maybe I will go the REI plan first and use those profits to help fund my Broker business and there is also a phenomenal program that same company has that can automate my REI business too. So here is the reason for my post.

Should I be doing it this way? Are there any PMB out there, if so how did you start out your business when you began? Do you have any suggestions on ways to help get that up off the ground? Current REI, do you all have any suggestions? I am planning to start with Wholesaling, any Wholesalers out here, can you offer any advise or suggestions on how best to find, calculate an offer price, how do you present your offers, how long do you put in for closing your deals? Since I am so new to all of this side of RE I am not sure just how to start... I am also a Certified Paralegal and I worked in Law Firms for over 25 years doing the majority of my work within the Real Estate field so I understand a lot of how RE works and a lot of all the ins and outs of it but now that I am getting into the actual buying side of it, I know this is a different side of the entire process so I feel a bit lost starting out.

And I guess as an ender here I can say since we are all in the REI business here, since I have now said it and opened that door... If anyone is in need of finding funding for their Investing projects, please also feel free to reach out to me, I will be happy to discuss helping you out and helping you get the funding you need for your projects since you are great enough to help me out so it is a win - win!

And I thank anyone for any help, suggestions or help they can offer because I really want to do this right to help take care of my family, as right now I am a person on Disability and my Husband is of Retirement Age, but he also works for a company that is a seasonal only company (they have to shutdown every fall/winter) because they are an outdoor music venue and now since the pandemic he has not been able to go back to work.  We are trying hard not to have to pull his SS for retirement because the longer we can hold off the more he will get and lord knows we need every penny we can get now with the prices of everything going up except our income, I just decided I needed to do something to help us secure our own future and not depend on anyone else to promise us a paycheck all while making them rich....

Thanks for listening....

[Daniel Hennek]

I am a licensed mortgage broker.  I own my company 100% and have been working in real estate since 2003.  I wouldn't even talk to some jokers that wanted me to take some paid certification class before I could lend their money.  Lenders give me free training if they have complicated products.  Tons of free training in the wholesale world because they all want me to lend their money vs someone else's.  They are competing to get my business and anyone asking me to pay for it just isn't paying attention to the industry or their target audience is someone else, likely people with zero experience.

"Certified Private Money Broker" is just a term they came up with for someone who took their class.  It's not recognized by any state or federal authority.  Be sure to check license laws in your state to protect yourself and don't do things that require a license, unless you get an actual MLO license through the NMLS and work for a state licensed brokerage.  Be careful not to do any type of "advertising" that would imply you are a licensed broker.  Anything where you mention that you're a broker, make sure to mention you ARE NOT licensed.  A "certification" from some private entity is not a license to be a mortgage broker.  Be very sure you are only engaging in activity that is legally allowed by an unlicensed person.

There are a ton of different real estate classes out there trying to take your hard earned money in exchange for their "education".  You likely got bombarded by "opportunities" and training because you showed yourself to be someone who would pay for it based on your "certified private broker" thing.  Those people who took your money and gave you that "certification" sold your contact information to all their affiliates and other companies to market their crap to you.  It's not the universe telling you something, it's just how they operate to sell more stuff.  

If it was that easy to get rich then why are the people "teaching" you in instead of out there making millions?  Because it's not nearly as easy as they make it out to be.  They make more money "teaching"/upselling you and getting you to "invest" with some large buy in, or buy some $4,000 piece of crap software system that they've billed as your ticket to financial freedom but wouldn't be worth it if it were free.

The best advice I can give is to find a mentor.  Not someone you pay to tell you stuff, someone you work for and who is personally invested in your success and makes money when you do.  Find someone who has experience and knowledge because you're going to get lost constantly if you don't have someone to lean on.  If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together.  Going fast might be a fast way to more financial struggles.  Be honest with yourself about the fact that you know next to nothing about brokering loans, and your chance of success alone is somewhere right around zero.  The turnover in the mortgage industry is ridiculous and it's that way for many reasons, originating mortgage loans is not an easy business.

Be very careful out there on your own.  It's a minefield full of people with veiled intentions that are good at making others feel like they're trying to help and you've already fallen victim to them once.

How much did you spend on the certification?