New member from Houston: How to motivate realtor?

Question

Hi everyone,
	 
	 I am a newbie here from Houston, TX and would like to say hello as well as thank you to everyone who contributes to BP.  Such an awesome place here, I am so glad I stumbled in this site.
	 
	 I have a question with hope that you can point me out to some direction.
	 
	 I am a stay at home mom and will continue with this wonderful full time job for at least another 3-4 years if not more. In the meantime, I would like to take advantage of the small savings my husband and I have to get ourselves into REI.  We think let us start small, at least for the experience.  With the mortgage on the house we are living in (our first home), we can afford something max of 50-60K (down payment + standard mortgage). We guess that small sum will make it hard to get a realtor motivated (even the one who got us the first house). Any ideas how we can make it work in this case?

Getting a license myself can be a way to go - so I can get to see/make offers to as many properties as I wish before we see a good deal.  Is there any pros/cons in this?

Thank you all so much for your responds.  I really do appreciate them all.

Darren Sager · Answer

@Anh D. If that amount is your down payment it'll go a long way in Texas. If you need a good Realtor let me know.  I have a friend there who's "investor friendly" and will give you great service no matter what price point your investing in.  Just let me know.

Paul Timmins · Answer

@Anh D.

Welcome. Great to build the legacy.

Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.

Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice. And you get the benefit of having 50 past ones to catch up on.

Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses,The Book on Estimating ReHab Costshttp://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers with deals and rehabbers.

Good Luck

Paul

Vivian D. · Answer

Thanks @Cuong Le for your tips.  I had a look at your website and am very impressed!  Hope to have your advice when the time comes I get my first property for rent.

Thank you @Mehran Kamari I need to get over my fear taking first steps into cold water first, and hope a good realtor will help me along the way.

Mehran K. · Answer

Welcome to BiggerPockets @Anh D.! Thanks for taking the time to introduce yourself to the community.

I think it's a great idea to hook up with a local "investor friendly" realtor like the one Darren will refer you to. A smart realtor will see the value in helping an investor become successful.

Hope you find what you're looking for. You can get SFH rentals for 20% down and 2-4 units for 25% down. With 20k as a down payment, you're looking at a property between $80k-$100k if you meet the debt-to-income ratio requirements for mortgages that large!

Cuong Le · Answer

Hi @Anh D. Hard money is what we've been using and is a great way to leverage your money. The price is a bit high for hard money but it's a short term (1-2 months) before you refinance to a conventional loan.

Rough estimate for two closing (hard money and conventional) is about $10k for a property about $100k. This way, you don't have to worry about the usual 20 - 25% down payment and the loan can cover some or all of your rehab costs depending on the After Repair Value of the property. Let us know if we could help in any way.

Vivian D. · Answer

Hi all, thank you all so much for your response!

@Paul Timmins  and @Brandon Turner , I sure checked out the ultimate guide which was like a RE 101 for me.  Keep revisiting it once in a while too.

@Darren Sager We can only afford down payment of around 20K, and get around 40K from mortgage after having bought our first house.  Thanks for the referral, will pm you for his contact.

@Cuong Le I've heard of private lender but not sure about that path.  Will look into it.  My husband works 7 days/wk so we can only afford buy-and-hold.  Thanks for the great tip of finding out the why-nots, it sure will help me clear out lots of stuff in the thinking process.

Cuong Le · Answer

Hi @Anh D. And welcome to BP! RE can definitely be a way to get extra income while you are at home. You can stretch what you have already save by using hard money and then refinancing the properties. Or you can partner up with private money lender (ie friends or family) to use their money and split the profit 50/50. What strategy are you trying to use (ie buy and hold, flips, wholesale, etc?)

Also if you haven't done so, write down your why? It will help you get through the challenges. See you around!

Brandon Turner · Answer

Hey @Anh D. Welcome! You've definitely come to the right place to learn more about investing. If you haven't yet, be sure to check out the The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing and The BiggerPockets Podcast. They are both great at learning the fundamentals.

Oh - and don't forget to set up your Keyword Alerts!

See you around the site!

New member from Houston: How to motivate realtor?

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