All Forum Posts by: Carl Schmitt

To add to that, metal roofs really aren't true lifetime roofs. They may not leak, but they will rust, fade, and possibly dent. If aesthetics are important to you, I wouldn't call that a "lifetime" roof

If you have a contractor that can do inexpensive asphalt roofs, the material should only cost you about 120/square. A 1000 square foot ranch probably has 12-14 square depending on the pitch. A good standing seam metal will run you about 1000/square installed. I sell metal roofing, and if it were me, I'd put the asphalt on. Even at 250/square installed, that's 4 roofs you can put on for the same price. If they last 15 years each, you're good for the next 60 years.

I don't know much about 1031 so I could be way off. However, is it possible to take the 1.5 mil, buy a property all cash using a 1031, wait the year to meet seasoning requirements, and then cash out refi the property? You wouldn't be able to take 100% out obviously, but 75% out with 25% equity is better than 50% to Uncle Sam.

Sorry, must have skipped your post about bird dogs sending you leads...

Dean, could you explain how you get swamped with leads without spending any money on marketing?

Do you have a car? When I turned 18, I went to my credit union and asked for a car loan. They told me as long as the loan amount was less than 75% of the book value, they'd loan to me. No down payment needed. I was in high school making $150/week. They also said, since I already had a car that I owned outright, they'd loan me 75% of that cars value. So there's two options depending on your vehicle situation. A little advice... They use the dealer retail price as their value, so if you buy a car from a private seller, you should automatically be below the 75% figure. It only took a year to go from no credit to a 675. For FHA, you need a 620, 3.5% down, and a year of on time rental history.

Sean, if you spend 6-8 hours a day cold calling, you'd be up in running in no time, If you ask me. When it comes to door knocking(canvassing), the hardest door to open is your car door. Not many people have the self motivation(myself included) to get out there every day. In the business I'm in, the average guy makes between 60 and 80 a year. The guy I know that goes canvassing every day, made 210k last year. My point is, if you put in the hours, good things happen. If you do quit your job, you have some serious motivation to succeed at wholesaling. What about an accountability partner to make sure you are out there at least a few hours a day, rather than sitting at the bar or going to the beach? It's easy to convince yourself you'll start tomorrow. Not so easy to convince someone else that wants to see you be successful

That makes sense. Long term, do you want to be a landlord or a rehabber? My concern would be this.. People say it takes a good 6 months to start generating solid results from marketing. If you're spending 1k a month marketing, you send out letters, put up some signs, ect. With no job, and no deals in your pipeline, what will you do the other 20 hours a day? I can't see direct mail as being an 8 hour a day job. Being in sales, I know a lot of people say they're going to pound the pavement, cold calling, knocking on doors, ect. but I only know one guy that really does, day in and day out. As much as you dislike your job, is it worth living off the money while you're waiting for the marketing to get traction? What if you started marketing for 3 months before you quit, and spent 2k rather than 1k each month?

Why wholesaling? With that kind of cash, I'd assume their credit would be pretty good too. Why not keep you're job, partner with someone who has experience and rehab a house?

Tamara, I know what you mean. I used to live in Manassas. You can't buy a parking space for 30 grand in Vienna. Then I moved to Massachusetts and I could buy a 4 family for 75k. It's amazing the difference a little traveling makes. The difference is, I had a customer in Arlington who bought his house in 1978 for 85k. Today's it's worth about 850k. In these 30-40k neighborhoods, in 20 years, they'll hardly keep up with inflation.