All Forum Posts by: Chelsea Newton

Thank you guys! It's so good to have support in things you really dream of and believe in. And I like that @Account Closed  I will have to check out some of his work!

As an aspiring real estate investor, I attended my first REIA meeting yesterday and it was awesome! So many people came up and talked to me, and gave me business cards and such after the meeting. One thing I quickly realized is that I needed to start my business asap, even though I don't have the money to start investing at all! But I've learned that you just have to get something started now.

So I have been thinking about the kind of RE business I want to start and how I want it to be perceived. Now my end goal in this whole thing is to have a certain lifestyle and not necessarily all the money in the world. I want just enough money to maintain the lifestyle that I dream of. No boss, time with my family, comfortable living, and most of all to spend my work hours driving around seeing all of my properties grow into beautiful family homes. And lots of trips to home depot...lol I love home depot!

My point is my real passion is designing and creating a certain kind of home that I know families in my market will love. I want to wow them when they come in so that its one of those "we have to have this house" deals. So many of the house flippers I see in REI just want to get in cheap, get our cheap, get there money and run. But I want a reputation in my area of beautiful, functional, affordable houses that are more than the standard flip basics. So I want my business to reflect that in every way. Do you think that being a little decorative in my business will just be a waste of time, energy, and money? I think this is the exact thing that will set me apart from all the other investors in my area. I am also concerned that I may just have a woman's point of view, but in the end which sex is it that "falls in love" with a house...? So to be a one-of-a-kind decorative flipper or to do it old school, follow the rules, get in and get out?

....that is the question.

Thanks for all of the help @Martin Scherer  and @James Kobzeff it is very helpful! And thank you @Paul Timmins 

I am looking forward to attending the meeting for the first time today! I hope to see you there!

I am a young aspiring real estate investor in the triad area in NC. I am definitely in that first eager stage of soaking up everything I possibly can. I have been spending my lunch breaks driving around the area looking at houses, neighborhoods, and signs just to get a better idea of my market. Today I stopped by a house that has been undergoing renovation and it now looks completely flipped and has a "for rent" sign in the front yard. I got the number off of it and am going to call today to see if I can get in touch with the, hopefully, investor. I am so nervous!!! It is so intimidating thinking about how much more knowledge and experience they have in the business compared to me. Also I am going to my first REIA meeting tomorrow at lunch. So my question is what should I do or say? What do investors want to hear? I am hoping to just get my name out there, and maybe even find a mentor. I really just want to go through the deal with them and ask them a million questions about it but I don't want to be annoying or time consuming. Any advice?

Thanks @Ryan R.  I am currently using a desktop but still not able to come up with anything. @Joshua Dorkin anyone else have this problem?

Hi all,

I am pretty new to the site and am trying to figure out the whole messaging thing. BP has told me I have a new message twice. So I downloaded the feature to look at messages and both times now they are just gone. Do I have to have a pro or plus membership to view messages? Thanks in advance?

Hi, I am still in the education phase of REI but am really hoping that 2015 will be my year that I really break through. I am interested in starting out with fix and flips and wholesaling but I have an idea to kind of jump start things on the side, that I wanted to know if it was realistic thinking. Okay so here it is in a few steps.

Step #1: I just bought my first house; it is a small 3bd/1ba house out in the county with a USDA loan for $80,000. It is cute but in need of a few minor upgrades. It sits on 1.4 acres of land. The lot beside the house is an empty 0.75 acre lot with a large side of it having road access. I believe I can deed off this lot and sell it for $20,000. My boyfriend and I could then put $5,000 into the minor work that our current residence needs, put some aside, and pay off all of our debts with the rest. Raising both of our credit scores for the next step.

Step #2: Next I would like to find a good fixer upper in our area and buy and renovate it with a 203K FHA Construction Loan. (Never heard of anyone using this so any advice will be greatly appreciated on this) From what I have read the renovation part has to be completed in 6 months. So after 6 months we can move into the newly renovated fixer upper and rent out our current residence. We could then use the money from our rental house to finish paying off the mortgage on the same rental property. Hence, the renter would be paying off the mortgage on the house.

Step #3: As for our newly renovated fixer upper we would be owner/occupants living there for a while, so no foul done. However we could then take our new equity from the renovated house and maybe get a HELOC to help out with getting our first fix and flip property done.

So, do you think this is wishful thinking, or what? Do you think selling the land and losing some value on our current residence will be worth it? Thanks in advance!