Getting Started

[Jeff Parkerson]

I've been reading posts for a while and I'm wanting to get started with my new career in REI. I was about to purchase the $15k course from Renatus, but I've read on here that it may be a scam.

Some of the investors I do know only want to pay me referral fees and not help me learn the trade. So if anybody can help me in the areas I'm currently working, please contact me.

Here's my two scenarios:

1) Huntington Beach, CA ~ I have a friend that has a $1mil beautiful house. She owes $541k on it and just won the home in a divorce. She can't afford the $4400mo house payment so she just filed to short sell it.

2) Kansas City, KS ~ a friend's $380k house is about to be foreclosed on. He has two mortgages on it and is willing to do anything to avoid foreclosure.

If anybody can help me with these two cases, please respond. I'm wanting to learn as much as possible. I'm okay with getting referral fees, but I need to learn in the process so that I can start working these cases myself.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Mike G.]

First, spending $15,000 on a course seems crazy to me.

As for the scenarios:
1) If she owes $541k and needs to do a short sale, then the house is not worth $1 million, it's worth less than $541k. If you are thinking there might be a deal there, it doesn't sound like it. She'll probably sell for market value or it will go into foreclosure. (Also, if she has to do a short sale, then what she "won" in the divorce is debt.)

2) Not enough info to give advice here. If he is underwater, he can try a short sale. If he's not underwater, he may be able to sell to an investor (or even via an agent). Depending on the value of the two mortgages, maybe an investor can buy one of the notes cheap and pay off the other note to get the house at a discount?

Generally, I'd suggest joining a local Real Estate investors group and reading up here on BP before you consider giving $15k to the toilet, I mean to the guru.