New Member Introductions
Market News & Data
General Info
Real Estate Strategies
Landlording & Rental Properties
Real Estate Professionals
Financial, Tax, & Legal
Real Estate Classifieds
Reviews & Feedback
Updated over 11 years ago, 05/17/2013
New Member Here - Chicago
Hi everybody!
My name is Wanda, I'm a brand new real estate investor and live in Chicago. In fact, I am so new that I have yet to complete my first deal! (gasp!) ;)
I have always had a desire to get involved in Real Estate. I am currently a full-time student that has decided not to return to the "workforce" this summer and take full advantage of this opportunity. I will be diving head first into my new business and see where it takes me. It's all so exciting, I'm tying to keep all the information I continue to acquire from becoming sensory overload. I'm like a sponge right now.
I welcome any and all advise. Also if you are in the Chicago area and have a minute to spare, I am looking for a mentor or two I can bounce ideas around with.
Look forward to getting to some of you!
Welcome Wanda! I'm sure you will find many veterans and information here on the site.
Thanks Jason!
Wanda Cardenas welcome to BP! A fellow Chicago person/investor is always welcome. Do not be shy about saying you have yet to complete your first deal. I am not a big believer in the "Fake it until you make it" ideals.
There are many that attend the local REI Clubs that have been there for years, but have yet to complete their first deals. However, they act as if they know everything.
IF you truly want to do this, keep at it! Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Networking with those actually doing it will help keep your motivation high!
Good luck!
Welcome Wanda!
Wanda Cardenas welcome to BP.
Hey Wanda! I am a real estate consultant (not a licensed agent) and I started my business in Atlanta, GA, but I recently moved back to Chicago, my hometown, back in November. I have established some great connections with contractors, lenders, other investors, etc. Let's network! Send me your info, such as where you are looking to buy, how you prefer to work, questions about neighborhoods, or anything else you think might help us both. Welcome to BP! and Happy Investing to You.
[email protected]
Thank you everyone!
I'm thoroughly excited about the possibilities.
Looking forward to it all.
Chicago? Send me some deep dish pizza, please!
In the meantime, consider looking at options and lease options as your jumping off point. Done correctly, they are safe and relatively easy, and don't require you to come out of pocket to do deals.
Michael Carbonare, be glad to send you some deep dish as soon as I close that first deal! :)
I was looking at starting with wholesaling since out of pocket is certainly not an option for me at this time. I've read a few things on Lease Options, is it something that is do-able in all states?
~W~
A warm welcome to BP Wanda Cardenas! Try to absorb as much as you can from the forums and don't be afraid to ask questions!
Originally posted by Wanda Cardenas:
I was looking at starting with wholesaling since out of pocket is certainly not an option for me at this time. I've read a few things on Lease Options, is it something that is do-able in all states?
~W~
Do-able in all states? Absolutely! And while the general belief is that wholesaling is the best way to break into this business, I must disagree. Options and lease options are easier, in my opinion, and if you start with Cooperative Assignments your out of pocket requirement can be as little as a dollar.
Welcome Wanda Cardenas! I too am from Chicagoland area and trying my hand at wholesaling.
For all of you Chicago wholesalers, send me whatever properties you have. I have some wholesale properties as well, but they are really just in line until I'm done with current projects. I'm open to picking up more and showing them to other investors I network with.
Welcome Wanda Cardenas to the BP forums.
You may want to check out the free beginners guide under the learn tab above.
A cool feature here is the keyword alerts. You set up keyword alerts so when anyone mentions your keywords you get notified.
My suggestion is use your area, like "Baltimore" as a keyword. I also use my name "Ned".
http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2012/12/19/keyword-alert-system/
Since you mentioned a mentor you may want to check out my post here
How to Find a Mentor
Good luck - Ned
Welcome Wanda Cardenas,
Remain motivated, you'll be fine.
Dave
Ned Carey, Thank you! I actually just downloaded the beginners guide and have already started reading. Your mentor article will be next. :)
Welcome! I just joined the other day and I'm located out in the western burbs. Good luck and I look forward to hearing more about your journey!
Welcome......
One quick note is that I'm not sure that lease options are allowed in all states. I thought Texas and maybe a couple other states had put the kibosh on those in most forms. Maybe there's ways around that but from what I remember, they were not allowed there.
That being said, they are definitely allowed in Illinois. :-)
Just curious but what strategy do you see yourself pursuing in terms of wholesaling? Short sales?
And, in case you missed it, there was a real good article recently on the north side and the lack of affordable housing. Thats code to me that the area might be a good one to target for wholesaling to investors looking to do flips.
Lease options are permitted in every state in the US. Some states just have more requirements to comply with the uptight stupidity of the lawmakers who probably have good intentions but with each passing law continue to muck up the works.
"Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself." Mark Twain :-)
Mike H. there is definitely a shortage of affordable housing here, Thanks for the heads up, do you happen to recall what publication that article was in? Short sales and pre-foreclsures interest me. How did you get your start? And what would you recommend to a beginner with no cash but plenty of time and motivation?
Michael Carbonare, Ive only read a few things on Lease options. I may have to look into this a bit further since you seem to be a big proponent. :) Any suggestions as to a good source of instruction or info would be greatly appreciated.
I got my start with a home equity line of credit. I almost got stuck on my first house because I put down the 25% and paid the rehab out of pocket and then couldn't refi because of my balance on my line of credit. I told the bank that if you give me the loan, I wouldn't have such a large balance. :-)
They said no and then I negotiated that I would do a 10k 6 mos CD with them. They agreed. When I closed, no mention of the CD so I never did it.
As far as what I would recommend given your situation.
I think I would probably recommend the wholesale route. Its a great way to learn how to find deals and its probably the only way you can make money off real estate if you have none.
But its a skill that you'll be able to use quite a bit later on when you do start buying for yourself. You'll be able to find your own deals. If I had to suggest something more specific, I would consider looking into the short sales process.
I think right now that would be one way that you could get away from having to compete with the banks. If you can find people that are upside down on their mortgages, you might be able to help them with the short sale process AND put the house under contract so you can wholesale it.
Being able to explain the process to a homeowner probably isn't going to be easy. But I can definitely see the value. Just saw one story where an individual had a 2nd mortgage that apparently was not negotiated off as part of the short sale (they agreed to release the lien so the sale could go through - for a fee of course - but apparently not the debt) and now the person is being hounded by collectors.
Thats a perfect example of why someone that is educated on short sales could really provide a valuable service to these people. Plus I think the banks are a lot more amenable to short sales these days since it helps them speed up the sale of the house and avoids any foreclosure red tape that they're having to deal with.
I would guess that your best bet though would be to check with wholesalers and see where they're getting the most bang for the buck in terms of strategies.
Thats the key. You have a unique resource with BP that you can go out and get some real advice from people doing exactly what you want to do - for any phase of your investing.
Instead of wholesaling, maybe you want to look at buying with seller financing (although I believe thats very hard to do these days and is pretty tough to get things to cash flow). But there's a group of people that are doing it on here and doing it well.
Wholesaling? There's a group of people on here that are doing it and doing it well. They'll share a ton of advice and tricks with you. All you have to do is follow their path and you should be able to start building the skills you need to becoming successful as an investor.
Just takes a little more time and lot more effort when you don't have that initial capital fund. But you'll learn a lot more that way too and those skills will only help you in the future when you do get the cash.
Good luck.
Mike H., wow with every passing day, I love this site more and more. Thank you so much! I find myself saying that a lot on BP that I hope it doesn't come off insincere.
Too bad Manteno is so dang far for me. If you're ever in the city and have a few minutes, I'd love to buy you a cup of coffee and chat a bit more. :)
Originally posted by Wanda Cardenas:
Michael Carbonare, great! I'll look into it. Thank you!