All Forum Posts by: Marcel Theisen

Hi Jonathan, 

I haven't had to do this at a rental property but just some feedback from growing up and helping my dad with a large yard and lots of trees.  

The dead tree: depending on how large it is and how close it is to power lines you may be able to do it yourself. Another thing to consider is whether or not you are ok leaving a stump or need to completely remove it.  The roots can be deceivingly deep. 

Shed: should be relatively easy to remove, if there is a cement slab below it that can be the hardest part. If you don't want to break up the concrete, you could put some patio chairs on it or a raised garden bed to add something to the back yard.  

Yard: if it's just patchy you could reseed it. laying sod or using gravel is pretty easy project. I would do now in spring before the summer heat.  

The toughest project might be the tree, depending on how large...if so get a couple quotes from tree removal companies. If it's big and needs to be climbed and/or is close to electric lines it can get spendy (can be over $1K). 

-Marcel 

Hi Ed, 
Welcome to BP.  I started investing in Colorado Springs last year and think it's a great market to be working in.  I'm not a wholesaler but thought this might be a useful link for you (you may have seen it already but just in case, there is so much great info on BP you might have missed it). -Marcel 

The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Real Estate Wholesaling

P.S. Closing costs/legal fees are going to add up to about 10% on top of purchase price so important to work that into any analysis and will have major impact on short term (i.e. flipping would be harder here compared to US). Short-term rental market- 10 years ago was less competition, now more and more people are renting short term and lots of advertising sites for vacation rentals. In some areas the markets are saturated with offers. You can definitely still make money doing it but location and amenities are key since there is more competition. 

Hi Jacob, I haven't found any online investment community like BP specifically for Spanish market. 

For purchase prices and average rents you might find this site useful: idealista.com

There are some tax deductions and government subsidies for rentals, recently they started a tax break if you rent to people 18-30 yrs, there are others but I'm not an expert on Spanish taxes... 

Hi Trevor, welcome to BP.  Just to second the comments above, the meetup is a great place to connect. I live overseas but was back in Denver in Jan and went to the meetup. I had never gone to a 'meetup' before so wasn't sure about the idea...but it was a great experience and met lots of friendly people. My sister @Sylvia Theisen might be there tonight, if you see her, say hi ;) 

Hi Mitchell, Welcome to BP.  I think it's great that you are getting into real estate at 17! I wish I would have had the vision to get into it much younger so congrats!  Getting a mentor is a good idea but with any business relationship, not just RE, the other person is normally looking to get something out of it. You may get lucky and find a person that will take time to explain things to you but you will open many more doors if you have something to offer.  

You could try to specialize in something: digital marketing, social media, direct mail marketing (managing a mailing database, designing mailers), real estate software programs, etc.  Pick something, read as much as you can on the subject and become enough of an expert that you can solve someone else's problem. If I were 17, I would pick something somewhat technical, there plenty of people with lots of investing experience that might not know the tech side or be up on the latest tools, apps, etc. They might be too busy, so time you could save them is valuable, offer your services for free in exchange for chance to work with them.  I did this 15 years ago by just picking one lead generation software, learned it and then offered my services to agents. I was a simple task of logging in and responding to new leads- but they were happy for me to take something off their daily to-do list. Just an idea....Good Luck. 

@Pat Antonio  -I'm from the states (MN) but have lived in Sevilla for several years. Interesting that your family is from here.  Good luck with your investing!

Hi Geanson, welcome to BP.  I liked your post, building a better future for your children is a great motivation for getting into real estate. Lots of great resources here on BP, if you haven't seen it already you might like to start with this: 

Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing

I don't have experience in underwriting but worked in software support for many years so was curious about your post.  Have you thought of putting up a link with a beta version and offer it to some underwriters for free to test out...they could give you a lot more feedback than just watching the video. 

I don't know prices in the Houston market but I wouldn't get discouraged by his comment. The 500K seems like an arbitrary cut-off. What 'is not worth it' to him/her might be a great way to get into investing to someone just starting out and looking for their first deal. Rather than limit yourself to thinking you need to do a 500K deal, I would look for deals based on the financing you can get and find a property where the numbers work for you even if it is a smaller deal.  Unfortunately, this kind of advice often prevents many people from going forward with investing...stay positive and keep at it.