Austin Area Newbie

[Christian Sasam]

Hello world! I'm about to start my journey and I'm based in the Austin Tx.  Looking for fellow investors to bounce ideas.

[Michael Lee]

Hello and welcome to BP!  There is a lot of competition down there because this is so popular, you just have to be the best at what you do and enjoy it.  You must excel in some way to do well because of all the competition down there.  I live in Dallas County Texas and I have had several friends move down there but none of them is into real estate.  It's real estate geography is just one of the things that makes it popular besides the technology and the music.

There are several things you should do before you get started.  Form an office that does not have many distractions and your own place could be it as long as you can close it up and be formal so that it feels like an office.  Another thing you should do is to have a website that is entertaining and linked at various sites.  You also need some business cards that have a couple things for you to write in manually like your phone number but not your cell phone number.

Another thing you should consider, depending on your financial worthm, is to form some sort of corporation or a LLC, Expect that most banks are against doing a loan that not in your name, even a transfer. You might want to get advice from an attorney or a CPA (or tax accountant) to help you decide what sort of company you should form. Get your financing figured out so you can submit an approval loan letter with your offers just make sure they include how long it will take to close and the maximum amount you qualified for.

Do not try to do everything yourself.  Have a local and experienced Team to help you to get things done that they are qualified for aand will return your phone calls promptly.  Do not cut any corners to make something look better than it actually does.  Be patient and consistent with what you decide to do.  Be happy with the niche you select and know the market well too, especially the best locations.

Always remember to do a math analysis and try to look at all prospective properties before you make an offer or at least have a clause in the sales contract that gives you some time (about 10 days) to make a detailed inspection and possibly back out of the deal without much of a penalty that will hurt you too much.  Any practice time you have should pay off.  After you close on an improved property, get an insurance policy that will protect you if there is a covered loss.

The harder you work, the better you will probably do.  This is not easy.  Good luck to you!