Knoxville, TN · Member since 2016 · 13 posts · 3 votes
Everyone calls me Chip. My experience thus far with real estate has been buying my homes and investigations into real estate ownership as well as how certain people paid for their property. I am a police investigator. I have been looking at this line of work for a number of years but time has not been on my side so I am taking charge of more of my time to make things happen. I have found some properties and been "practicing" to go thru the motions I would need to master to avoid making ALL of the mistakes all at once. But it is time to quit cutting bait and learn to catch fish. I came across what looked like a deal 2 weeks ago but my planning has been deficient when it came to financing. That is what I am trying to learn about now. So I take any advice offered and am glad to be here!!
All the above advise is sound. Invest time in your education. There is a group in your area called Knoxville Real Estate Investors Group (KREIG), I suggest you look them up in Google and attend a few meetings before you take action. Collect lots of business cards; especially cash buyers, private lenders / hard lenders.
The buyers may become your customers once you find a good deal. You may be able to assign the contract to one of them and collect a fee without ever owning the property (called wholesaling). You want to do that a couple times a year though, because the board of realtors may come after you as an unlicensed agent.
The private and hard lenders will loan to anyone quickly, if the deal is a good one. Side benefit is you get an experienced opinion on your deal. They charge big fees, but if the deal is good enough it is worth it.
Go to a small-ish regional bank, and get pre-approved. Tell them what you want to do, and say you want to be able to act quickly. Do the application. Have them pull your credit, job history, etc. and they will tell you how much you can barrow and the terms. When you find a deal, they will add the property price and address to the application, and process it in no time flat.
Finally, call your insurance agent and ask about financing. I know it sounds odd. State farm gave me incredible terms on a single family rental a few weeks ago. My mind was blown.
Welcome to BP. You are at the best REI networking portal on the internet.Few actions on this website to help you get most out of your subscription.
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If you are absolute beginer in real estate investments like me check out the following as well.
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Welcome over 30 years LE here. Use your experience when evaluating neighborhoods apply CPTED principles.
Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers who provide deals and rehabbers (cash buyers). Find them through Google and meetup.com
Thanks @Paul Timmins I have been trying to find some of the REIA clubs you mentioned and am on the trail of 2. I have been using those CPTED principles quite a bit while looking. 29 years of UC and narc have given me some insight into how some areas work differently than others but it has also given me some GREAT inroads into who to see about what before things go public.
And thanks for the book recommendations. I look forward to reading them.
As much experience as I have in some areas of East Tennessee, a mortgage planner has not been someone I crossed paths with often but will get on the trail.
All the above advise is sound. Invest time in your education. There is a group in your area called Knoxville Real Estate Investors Group (KREIG), I suggest you look them up in Google and attend a few meetings before you take action. Collect lots of business cards; especially cash buyers, private lenders / hard lenders.
The buyers may become your customers once you find a good deal. You may be able to assign the contract to one of them and collect a fee without ever owning the property (called wholesaling). You want to do that a couple times a year though, because the board of realtors may come after you as an unlicensed agent.
The private and hard lenders will loan to anyone quickly, if the deal is a good one. Side benefit is you get an experienced opinion on your deal. They charge big fees, but if the deal is good enough it is worth it.
Go to a small-ish regional bank, and get pre-approved. Tell them what you want to do, and say you want to be able to act quickly. Do the application. Have them pull your credit, job history, etc. and they will tell you how much you can barrow and the terms. When you find a deal, they will add the property price and address to the application, and process it in no time flat.
Finally, call your insurance agent and ask about financing. I know it sounds odd. State farm gave me incredible terms on a single family rental a few weeks ago. My mind was blown.
Great tips Roger, that's pretty interesting about the insurance company. Also would you mind providing a link to KREIG's website? I searched Google and was only able to find KNOXREIA.
I appreciate it and it made me feel good to hear the insurance thing as I just added that to the "to do" list of things to research! I appreciate the advice and look forward to the next steps!!
Congrats on joining the BP community!! Welcome & what a very wise choice you have made for yourself. There are many different paths in REI. You need to educate yourself about each of them and find what feels right for you. It is true you need to check out all the website has to offer you. If you are looking into fix & flips or buy & hold (rental) you do need to have some money but maybe not as much as you think. In looking into the fix & flip you may want to look for someone to partner with on your first couple deals just to get started and build some cash reserves for yourself or even do a JV (joint venture) with a private or hard money lender where you can get 100% funded. There are plenty of ways on this site to educate yourself from webinars, articles, books ( I recommend books by both John Scott (fix & flips & estimating rehab costs) or Brandon Turner (Rentals), podcasts etc... If you have more specific questions on these I am happy to answer them for you. But, absolutely the best advice you have been given and I totally agree is to find an REI meeting, club or networking function and attend. It is the best way to get a true pulse of your market area and what is going on in it.
I have been reading. I have been looking and beginning to analyze deals. I will soon have someone to help finance deals. I have a supportive wife in this adventure. My areas that need work are property management since my regular job would not allow me to be my own landlord and how much insurance and what type for the property without going too far.
I am hoping to improve my networking capabilities as well as work towards the knowledge that will get me going down the road to success.