All Forum Posts by: Blaine Alger

In my opinion, it's going to be really difficult to wholesale that property with an agent involved. It kinda sounds like he is trying to wholesale the property to you and thinks you are the end buyer.

Most wholesale transaction will involve you going straight to the seller opposed to a broker.

Have you disclosed that you are trying to wholesale the property?

-BA

I like to use the rent-o-meter app on my phone to get a range and then I go to facebook marketplace, zillow, etc to find actual comps and compare that to my #.

I love it JT! Nothing against the stock market, I have money invested as well, but I love to see when people come to the realization the power of RE. There is just something different about owning real hard assets that you control opposed to owning some piece of paper that some 12 year on reddit in the Wall Street Bets forum can dictate the value.

Atleast you have already figured out to stay away from the BS Tik Tok wholesalers, that stuff makes me cringe. Other than that, I would advise you to continue to dive into all the great resources BP offers. Between the podcast, forums, blog post and books that they publish, there is enough knowledge to gain a college degree. 

Best piece of advice I can give you is, don't be afraid to fail. In Real estate, I feel people will use their lack of education as an excuse not to get started. They are afraid to ask questions or don't want to get embarrassed when they face something they don't know, don't let that stop you from getting started. Ask a million questions, don't be afraid to get embarrassed and continue to educate yourself. If you do this, you will slowly build more confidence and knowledge and will be able to take down anything you see. 

Feel free to reach out, if theres anything else I can help you with. I am always happy to talk some RE. 

-BA

Check out the BiggerPockets Podcast. 

They have 2 about real estate. One is specifically geared towards people starting out and the other is more high level stuff, but they both provide alot of value.

Here is the rookie one:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Here is the original:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

They both come out with new episodes each week!

Congrats on such an early start! However, it is a little tricky to get actively involved in RE at your age because many transactions require contracts and as a minor you don't have the capacity in a legal sense to enter into a binding-written agreement.

Don't get discouraged though, there is still plenty of other actionable steps you can take in order to set yourself up for future success. I would start with reading   this: https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

This is BP's guide for beginners who are thinking about REI. This will give you a good overview of the industry and will give you some more ideas of what you can do with RE. After you read that, continue to take advantage of all the free educational resources that BP has to offers. There is endless content through the podcasts, forums and blogs that they offer.

I would also encourage you to reach out to local investors in your area and see if there is anyway you can help them in their business. There are endless ways that you can bring value to them and it'll be a great way for you to build some practical knowledge while on the job.

Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions. Good luck!

-BA

Get the rent-o-meter app on your phone and it'll allow unlimited searches. But just be conservative with he number it gives you. 

You can then double check those by going to zillow, facebook, etc and see how the number you got compares yo what is currently on the market.

-BA

So it sounds like you want to put the house under contract but your agent doesn't want to write the contract until the money is ready and you don't want to wait. 

If this is the case, then i think the answer is fairly simple. Go talk with the seller, print out your own contract and get it signed. I know there are different laws and regulations in each state and I don't know the IL specifics but unless this is a some super complex deal, a simple PSA should do the trick. 

And you don't have to put down $10,000 EMD. That definitely shows you are serious and if there is a lot of competition for the deal, then i might consider it but otherwise I would stick to 1% of the purchase price. You could probably get away with less if you really wanted to, I usually put down $50-100.

I have a 4 page contract that I use that I could send you but you would have to change the TX stuff out of it.  You could also go to your states real estate commission website and download one of their contracts. I have used the TREC (Texas Real estate Commission) contracts a handful of time and it has all the state specific stuff already included, so you don't have to worry.

Feel free to send me a message if you want me to send over the contract I use.  Best of luck!

-BA

Don't be afraid to get involved and reach out to other investors in your area (bigger pockets is a great way to find them). Once you find someone, try to find a way you can bring value to them. This is the best way to find a "mentor". Never go asking for a mentor. Just find a way to help someone else and they will return the favor.  

In the mean time, continue to educate yourself by taking advantage of all the resources BP provides (podcast, forums, blogs, etc). There is so much knowledge to be had and it is amazing what you can pick up from just been active.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Always happy to help!

-BA

Don't be afraid to get involved and reach out to other investors in your area (bigger pockets is a great way to find them). Once you find someone, try to figure out how you can help them and bring value to the relationship. This will allow you to get some practical experience and learn while doing. 

I would also encourage you to continue to educate yourself by taking advantage of all the resources BP provides (podcast, forums, blogs, etc). There is so much knowledge to be had and it is amazing what you can pick up from just been active.

 Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Always happy to help!

-BA

Well it's not gonna be easy but with a little bit of ingenuity, you could figure it out.

The biggest hurdle for you to get over is financing. I don't know what your finances look like but there are not a lot of 18 year old out there who have the financial credibility to get approved for a loan on their own. I would suggest you talk to your parents, older siblings, etc and see if any of them would consider co-signing on a mortgage.  You are gonna need a place to live anyway so you might as well save the rent money and put it towards a mortgage payment. I think that is a pretty good pitch. 

If a co-sign is out of the question then you will have to look for owner finance opportunities.

Even if you aren't able to buy an investment property, doesn't mean you cant get into RE. I spent my college years educating myself by listening to the podcast, participating in the forums and reading RE books. This set me up with a good fundamental level of knowledge and prepared me for when I became more active in REI.

Feel free to reach out. Im always glad to talk some RE!

-BA