All Forum Posts by: Brad Kelly

I know a guy who works for Prospect Mortgage who has specialized in 203k loans for a long time and I just reached out to him and he said he is very familiar with the Fannie Mae Homestyle mortgages. It's worth having a conversation with him for sure. Shoot me a PM if you want his contact info. Thanks @Steven Tierney.

When you say "month-to-month" do you mean it's a tenancy-at-will? There is no reason needed for either party to terminate this type of lease agreement, but I suppose you would have to be able to deliver that notice to give them 30 days or one full rental cycle (I think whichever is longer). If the other tenants are listed as occupants on the lease then wouldn't you be able to deliver it to them? Definitely consult with an attorney. It may cost you a few bucks, but that's peanuts when the alternative is letting this go on for any longer. http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/docs/tenantsrights.pdf

@Steve Porcello, congrats on the license! 

What I would suggest is interviewing as many brokers as you can until you find what you're looking for. (Yes, you interview them!) Pretty soon, you'll start seeing your mailbox fill up with packages and flyers from local brokerages practically begging you to come work for them. Not all brokers necessarily care about what your goals are, but don't think that when you are doing your own deals that they won't take their cut of that commission. Every office is different as far as whether they charge desk fees, whether you're required to join the National Association of Realtors® (NAR - about $500/year), who pays for MLS ($87/quarter with NAR discount), etc. Keep in mind all of these expenses are tax deductible. If you're a good at negotiating then maybe you can even convince them to reimburse you for the costs you've already incurred for the license!

As long as you pay whatever office fees you're expected to pay, keep your license active, and act within the bounds of the law it shouldn't really matter that you're only in it to buy and sell your own properties because they are still making that, let's say, 30%-50% off of you. I do agree you should probably try and get some experience by working some deals, which is easier said than done. Many people try to avoid beginner agents and EVERYONE knows an agent in some way or another. Unless you're a ruthless savage on the phone or down to bust your *** door-knocking (or just have really good friends and family like I do), then it takes some time. 

In order to get your brokers license, I don't think you need points as @Amy Kendall said. Pretty sure you just have to take another 40 hour course, work under a broker for 3 years ("25 hours per week" last time I checked although this is not really trackable), and take the brokers exam. Follow this link to mass.gov for the FAQs on this and best of luck!

Brad

Hi @Kendra Shaver,

I took the test two years ago, but what I do remember about it was that it was split into two separate parts. One was for the legal portion and the other had the rest of the stuff you'll probably never think about again (metes and bounds, things like this). I had to pass each section separately, so definitely don't over-focus on one part or the other. 

With the law portion (all multiple choice I believe) they would usually have two options that both seemed like good answers, and two that were rather easy to eliminate. What it comes down to is that the laws are generally written to be fair and ethical, so when you are taking the exam just try to pick the answers that seem most reasonable to all parties. 

I also gathered, by talking to other people since then, that the version of the exam you get may vary in difficulty, so if you don't pass this time then don't let it discourage you too much. Study hard and good luck!

Thank you @Donna Genovese!

Hi @Ann Bellamy, that does make sense. I would probably be hesitant making offers that I think are ridiculous in order to maintain a decent reputation with other Realtors®. The last thing I need is for other agents to see my name and automatically assume my offer is a joke. At the same time, almost any offer is a good offer on a property that isn't selling so I guess it depends on the situation. 

And by the way, if you have a buyer agency signed with someone we have these little things called fiduciary duties (OBEDIENCE being one of them), so if they won't present your offer than "see ya later" agent! 

It also seems to me that if I were a non-agent investor I would learn how to write and negotiate my own offers, or just become licensed and work at a brokerage with low operating costs (low/no desk fees, non-realtor brokerage, etc). It's not very hard and I think from front to back my license cost me $500 or so and 40 hours of time. Thanks for the feedback! 

Thanks @Patrick Wheeler. I totally agree, the city and most towns around it are crazy expensive. I actually started my real estate career at a rental office in Brookline, only to gradually make my way back out this way. Glad I posted on here because the more I think about it the more I'm telling myself I'm just about to be in the market for my first multi. Looking forward to receiving a commission on my own purchase!

Hey @Cameron Small, I will check both out. I read the Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller a few years ago and I plan to give that another look as well as start regularly listening to the podcasts again. Thanks for the input!

Thanks @George Aitken! 

As of right now, my goal is to buy something within the next year, most likely a multi-family which I would plan to owner-occupy for a few years until I can build up enough equity to rent both units and move on. I plan on doing that through hard work and by continuing to build my name out here in the Metrowest as an honest, awesome, trustworthy, well-informed Realtor®. Depending on how many people I can convince of that will depend what my first move is! 

Seeing as I'm now in a pretty solid relationship with a pretty awesome girl, I'll of course have to run this all by her "haha". See, her sister and her husband just recently purchased their second two-family home and we often hear about the stress that they've been going through keeping up with those. (e.g. stretching their budget thin, always improving or fixing something, tenant stories, snow removal, etc. - all of which I believe will pay off in just a couple of short years so I personally think these are great problems to have.) 

The other option, buying a single family that's overdue for upgrades, and slowly chip away at things to add some equity. If done right, we could live in it for a few years and eventually turn a profit. I've thought about 203k rehab loan for our first primary residence if we're going to buy a dump, but I've also heard they can take some time and be a headache. (I do, however, take that with a grain of salt). 

Down the road, when I have some capital to play with (mine or someone else's), I'd like to get into flipping properties. I've become really interested in the general workings of a home (structure, plumbing/heating, electrical), and I consider myself to be pretty capable of doing certain repairs and upgrades on my own with the help of google. (I also have a ton of electrician friends and a few plumbers and construction guys if I need to exploit them!)

First things first: bang out some deals this spring/summer, stash away a few more bucks for a down payment, and continue learning as much as possible! Any suggestions or input is always welcome. Thanks!

Brad

What's up BP community? I just wanted to finally introduce myself and try to get a bit more active on the BP threads. I appreciate the camaraderie that's shown here and I consider you all "my type of people". I'm looking forward to see where real estate takes my future. 

So what's my story? Well, my brother first turned me on to real estate investment in my last year studying finance in college, so I started listening to some BP podcasts to catch up with him. It all sounded great, except the fact that many of the examples used on the show seemed to be in areas where the property values were a fraction of the price they are out here. Either way, I decided I should get my real estate license so down the road I would be able to manage any deals that we were getting into. 

Cut to about a year later, my brother buys a home for his family and the big-time real estate investor plan sort of fell onto the back burner. (At least he used me as his agent!) Given that I've always had an entrepreneurial mindset and never really wanted to work for someone else, it turned out real estate was actually not a bad route for me to take. I don't have to work with anyone I don't like, and the sky is the limit as far as income goes. 

After I had a couple of years experience working full-time in residential sales, I ended up joining the BP online community. I basically check in and skim threads when people mention Massachusetts, but I never posted an introduction. 

Recently I saw a post from someone looking for an "investor-friendly agent" and since I would imagine that all agents would be hungry to work with investors (i.e. investor-friendly), it got me thinking about what exactly that was and I read up on it here at BP.

So here I am, introducing myself, and letting you all know that I at least consider myself an investor-friendly agent in the early stages (yet to work specifically with investors). Looking forward to being able to provide some value to fellow entrepreneurs when possible. Thank you, and good day!

Brad