Sparkling New from Tallahassee!

Sparkling New from Tallahassee!

Tallahassee, FL · Member since 2013 · 10 posts · 0 votes

Well, I've been lurking here sporadically, and with the new year I said I would actually make my presence known, so here I am!

I'm a soon-to-be college graduate from FSU with degrees in both Creative Writing and Classics (as my father puts it, "Pretty Words and Plato"), and I currently own my own web design/marketing company. This past year was my first year and I've learned a lot, but still just barely broke a profit, and not a big one, either. But sticking to my resolution to be an optimist, I'm chalking it up to a year of how NOT to make money. :)

I've always wanted to get into rehabbing, and while I have no real estate experience (does watching DIY or HGTV count?) I am looking forward to learning as much as I can here. The passion to get into real estate came a few months ago, when I went to a Fortune Builders seminar. It was informative, but being still in college, I couldn't afford the fees to get into the program. I felt defeated, until I stumbled onto Bigger Pockets, and as many people say here, why spend thousands of dollars when I can spend significantly less and have a whole community to support me? That seems like the smarter way.

My goals in real estate are to start out in wholesaling, then move onto rehabbing. Rehabbing is something I KNOW I'll love, especially from a design perspective. Eventually the goal is to move to New York City, where I'm hoping to buy a 3-4 unit multiplex or multifamily home, keep one unit for myself, renovate the whole thing, and use the rental income to pay the mortgage, and maybe a little bit extra. Right now, with school still the primary focus, I'm mostly just reading and absorbing, especially real estate terminology I'm not familiar with, but as soon as I get that diploma, I'm going out like a shot from a cannon!

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Lexington, KY · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
13y

Look on the bright side, many people are graduating with well over $100K in student debt and no plan...see, now $43K doesn't sounds so bad!

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  • Lexington, KY · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    13y

    Welcome to BP and congrats on your upcoming graduation. As someone who has been rehabbing for a little bit now I can tell you a enjoy it even more that I thought I would. Even better, I have learned a ton from BP and am starting to expand and purchase a few properties to keep as rentals.

    Good call on saving thousands...I believe there are too many other sources of information out there! Definitely get involved in the wholesaling and rehab forum areas, because in my opinion the two require a lot of the same knowledge:

    1) An understanding of the local market
    2) How figure out ARV of a property
    3) How to estimate rehab costs

    Those are just a few. There are some really helpful wholesalers here who really understand the marketing aspects and how to find motivated sellers and end buyers.

    Anyways, welcome to BP and good luck!

  • Tallahassee, FL · Member since 2013 · 10 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    Thank you James! Very much looking forward to graduating, but not so much that $43k bill that I'll have to start paying off 6 months after :( The more I look at wholesaling, though, the more it looks like something I could actually jump on now, even while I'm in school. I'll definitely be looking into that one more :)

  • Lexington, KY · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    13y

    Look on the bright side, many people are graduating with well over $100K in student debt and no plan...see, now $43K doesn't sounds so bad!

  • Tallahassee, FL · Member since 2013 · 10 posts · 0 votes
    13y

    James Vermillion- That's true, in a perfect world I'd love to have that all paid off before December.

    I have a question (one of many to come, I'm sure): I keep seeing something called "yellow letters", and when I looked it up, it looks like handwritten letters on yellow legal pad paper. Why the handwritten note approach? Does it make the interested party seem more approachable? It seems that this is a common starting point, so I'm very curious.

  • Peoria, AZ · Member since 2012 · 51 posts · 10 votes
    13y

    Elizabeth, from what I understand, yellow letters work for two reason:

    1. Lots of people throw away almost all mail that looks like 'marketing' without even opening it (I sure do). But I always open a letter that is hand-addressed to me. It gets people's attention and they will read what's inside.

    2. It does make the offer more approachable and personal, like you said. Some people will be curious and less intimidated than by a printed letter or flyer.

  • Investor · Tallahassee, FL · Member since 2014 · 246 posts · 89 votes
    12y

    @Elizabeth Cody Welcome fellow Tallahasseean and Seminole! Have you tried that Yellow Letter approach yet?

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