All Forum Posts by: Christopher Stanis

Hey Bobby- Welcome to the REI community! Have you found any properties you'd like to purchase yet? Finding a property, and getting an offer accepted are the first steps. In terms of findings by money- there are a number of good strategies: 1. Talk to family and friends - find out if any have money and are willing to invest it with you/partner on a deal. 2. Hard money lenders. Just google the term, or search Bigger Pockets. 3. Ask the sellers to owner finance the property. (They can hold the note for the mortgage just like a bank). 4. Credit cards. There are a few services that can provide you with 100k+ of credit, at 0% for 18 months. I used a combination of 3+4 to purchase my first 7 unit property. Feel free to message me if you'd like me to clarify any of these.

Hey Roger, 

Thanks for the input! Yes- the original meetings for the Southern Tier REI club were at the Vestal Library. We've since outgrown their meeting space, and wanted our members to not miss having dinner to come.

This entire year, our meetings have been at Brother's 2 Restaurant in Endicott, the 4th Tuesday each month. 

Meetings start at 6pm for networking and the chance to order dinner. 

The Educational portion starts at 7pm. 

Many of our members come sometime between 6 and 7, depending on when their personal schedule allows. 

One of our members, @Zachary Smith will be running this month's meeting.

We'll look forward to seeing you there! And of course, our REI often attracts guests from Binghamton, Ithaca, Elmira, Oneonta, and Scranton!

Yes sir! Email reminders usually go out about a week and then a couple of days before the meetings. You are correct!

You MUST HAVE ALL these professionals on you "POWER TEAM" to Begin Real Estate Investing: 

1. Real Estate Agent      2. Home Inspector      3. Mortgage Broker     5. Attorney      6. Accountant     7.Contractor    8. A Buyers list   9. People from City Government   10.an Appraiser    11. A guru   12.Someone to help organize your long lists 13. Did we mention an agent? .......

WRONG!

The first  RE Investing class I took gave me what seemed like a list longer than Santa receives at Christmas of everyone I needed to get on board my team before I could go out and be a real estate investor. Have you had this experience too??

My first purchase was a 7 unit mobile home park. I didn't have a single one of these people on my "power team" when we made the deal. Was I doing something wrong? It felt like it based on what they told me in class. My partner and I found the property on Craigslist, inspected ourselves, and financed with credit cards. Only after we had the property under contract did we ask around for "the most competent real estate attorney in town." 

If you're new to real estate, go out and look for deals. Drive around the neighborhoods you like, and look for crappy homes. Use Zillow to see what homes have sold for before. Check out Craiglist, regularly. Check BP when you get stuck.  JUST DO IT!  If you can do 5th grade math (Calculators are accepted), and are reading this post, you are more than qualified of being a successful investor. Seriously.  Just stop using the need to create a "power team" as the excuse holding you back from achieving everything success!!

@James Colon,

The MLS is a useful resource, and there are a ton of properties listed there. In my personal investing, I've found that my best opportunities for creative financing come when I'm able to speak directly with the seller. It can be challenging to speak to the seller without giving the offer through an agent. And most agents are simply terrible at understanding or discussing non-traditional purchase options. A really good agent can be an amazing resource.

I've found great leads with several non-MLS sources:

1. CRAIGSLIST (search key terms such as "must sell" "owner financing" "needs TLC" "Make an offer" "Owner retiring") These are all key  phrases of a motivated seller you may be able to bargain with. 

2. Bandit Signs. BRIGHT YELLOW  "WE BUY HOUSES". I post these high up on telephone polls. Chances are good your local codes dept won't like these signs very much, and there is a risk they could fine you. I have a trac phone I use for these signs to limit risk with codes. The risk has paid off well for me, because I've purchased 2 rehab houses from calls I've gotten on the signs. 

3. BUSINESS CARDS. Same exact color and wording as my bandit signs, and I hand these out anytime a discussion about real estate comes up. I also post these up at any diner or hardware store with a community bulletin board.  

4, NETWORKING and word of mouth. Talk to everyone about what you're looking for. You meet an attorney, ask if they ever handle real estate closings, or estate sales. Then give them a business card. This strategy is how I found the 25 unit mobile home park mentioned above. 

Keep in mind, these are only 4 strategies for finding non-mls leads that I've used. There are probably several dozen more methods that other BP users have posted about in other forums. Good luck, and please connect if you'd like to talk further!

-Chris

Hey Ryan- Yep. Last year I purchased a 7 unit rehab project using credit cards. 0% interest for 18 months. I pulled 35k off of them in the form of cash advance and the check service a couple of them provide. (USAA and Barclays both have checks that come with some of their cards. I'm about to refinance that property now, with 140,000 more equity than I purchased it for. Responding to one of the other posters- sure, I could have tried saving for 5 years, before buying anything, but where's the fun in that? I want 500 units in 5 years, not to be buying my first one.

Nice job Oz! Pretty sweet deal!

James- you may want to try being more creative. Sure, Mahopac is expensive, but so what? Are you advertising with craigslist /bandit signs/ letters? You have the right motivated seller, you can create your own terms and opportunities. Example 1: My brother and I bought a 25 unit mobile home park last year. Park is valued at $617,000 at 10% CAP. We bought it for just over 500, with 30k down. The sellers are financing the other 95%. No bank closing costs, and a motivated seller. Example 2: On my most recent rehab- I made the seller two offers: one at 21k and the other purchase at 25k if he was willing to hold mortgage and wait 6-9 months to get paid. Moral of the story- check your limiting beliefs. Can you actually not get into a property with 40k, or do you believe that you can't? Good luck!

Hey David, 

Yes, we are meeting This Tuesday, the 23rd. Meeting starts at 6pm for networking and the opportunity to order dinner. 7 pm starts our speaker portion. Come join us tomorrow, and feel free to bring along others that may be interested as well. 

Thanks, 

Chris Stanis

Hey @Fiona Lam. Welcome to the Bigger Pockets Universe. We're glad to have you.  I have a somewhat similar situation as yours, since most of my rental properties are in Williamsport PA, a 2 hour drive from Binghamton. Where my side is easier is that my brother lives closer to our rentals. Still, I try to stop and see them or work on them 1-2x /month. 

Also, @Robert White is correct- we have a pretty fantastic REI club up in BInghamton. We meet the 4th Tuesday each month- next meeting is June 28th, meetings usually run from 6-8pm. Send me a personal message with your email, and I'll add you to our mailing list!