All Forum Posts by: Brad Jacobson

Hey Rod,

When I was starting out and needed mentorship, I found it through the local real estate meetups.

I attended a few groups regularly until I became a regular face.  Then I started offering to help the board members with the meetings (setting up meetings, doing attendance, managing emails, etc.).  Pretty soon I found myself on the board of my local meetup and I became a known local investor despite having very little on my resume!  

Volunteering and being consistent gave me so many connections that I can confidently say I have more mentors than I need.  The best investors in my local area are willing to help me with anything I need just because I was willing to serve them!

I'd recommend doing the same in your local area.  Find a good real estate meetup or two and start spending time there and offering as much help as they need.

Good luck!

I love the Dr. Phil example.  Recently I had a seller want to pull his listing because it hadn't sold in the first 30 days and he felt like a price reduction was unfair.  I couldn't help but feel frustrated as I explained that YOY, his home value was still way up.  If we look back two years, his home had appreciated about 25%.  Lot of Dr. Phil work needed to create that perspective. 

Maybe a focused effort on educating sellers is the key.  There aren't too many ways to push a listing but letting the market do its thing and keeping sellers in the right mindset is the key. 

With the rate buy downs, are you seeing buyers take advantage of those?  I've been surprised to see that most buyers are happy to take the concessions but often don't apply it to the mortgage.  I'm not sure how great the impact is on buyer's willingness to perform.  

I also love the seller financing options but I rarely find retail clients who are interested.  Most want the lump sum for relocation purposes.  The seller finance is typically an investor-only option in my experience.  Have you seen otherwise?

 Love it!  Virtual staging is so cool and I was shocked at how affordable it is!  Thanks for the feedback

Hi Fellow BP Fans,

My fellow agents and I have seen a massive slowdown in the market here in Utah.  Inventory is 400% of what it was at the beginning of the year.  I'm sure this slowdown is commonplace around the nation due to current interest rates.

Aside from simple price reductions, what are your favorite strategies you're implementing right now to help move listings?

Hi Brian,

If the lease is still in the original term, you can't do anything with it until the term ends.  However, if the tenant is month-to-month, you do have the option to remove the tenant and start over.

My favorite go-to strategy in these situations is to offer the tenant rent steps if they've been a good tenant.  If current rent is $900, pose as the property manager and let them know the property will soon be leased out at $1,700.  If they'd like to stay, give them the option to have rent raise $100/month every month for eight months until they're at market rent.  Use a new lease to do this.

That way, if $1,700 is too big of a burden, they can stay in the property a little longer, with only slightly higher rent, while they locate a new property.  And if they can afford $1,700, I think that's the most sensical way to allow them to ease into it while still protecting your bottom line.

Good luck!

Why not do both?

Heck, if you're 21 and have the means to buy, combine the "house-hacking" strategy with the "nomad" strategy.

That means you should buy a simple house or small multiunit (2-4plex) that will make sense as a primary residence.  House hack it (live in part and rent out the extra space) for the first year and then turn the entire property into a rental.  

In year two, buy another similar property and do the exact same thing!

That way, you're only putting down 3-5% on each purchase instead of 20-25%.  Commit to both these straggles for four years and you'll have 4-16 units in four years and will be set for life if you sit on those properties and get them paid off.

Good luck!!

As a Realtor, my advice always leans towards "no" on solar.  

Like Eliott said, solar doesn't increase the value of the home when reselling.  In addition, the seller has to foot the pay-off bill with their home sale proceeds because the buyers don't want the note to carry with the purchase.  Last year I had a listing that still owed $30,000 on their solar and demanded that the note transfer to the buyers.  It wasn't a good situation and made the listing much more difficult than it needed to be.

If you're planning on staying in your current property for 15+ years, you're fine to make the decision based on your electric bill but if there's any chance you move before then, I'd lean towards "no."

Good luck! 

The tricky part of most financial planners is that their compensation comes as a percent of the money invested in their offerings.  Therefore, their advice is almost always going to be to invest in funds or programs offered by their establishment.  The other issue is that they're not always well versed in real estate and don't have the RE license to steer you towards specific purchases or offer direct RE investing advice.  

Maybe there are financial planners out there that do both but I'm yet to find them!  My advice would be to make your personal retirement plan and pursue it like crazy.  Having both stocks and real estate is awesome but only you can make the decision on how to create your portfolio!

Hey @Myron Manley!

I'm a full time agent in Ogden and typically serve Davis & Weber Counties.

If you're still looking for a brokerage, I'm happy to chat sometime!  I know one or two dozen principal brokers in the area and am more than happy to point you in the right direction be it with me or elsewhere!

Good luck,

Brad