All Forum Posts by: Christopher Makestas

A probate list should be a good start. Just go get one from the county. And I would say 300 for 3 months or even 200 for 5 months. Attacking a smaller list with more frequency is the way to go. I learned the hard way a year ago by blowing my savings on one mailing. I have a few calls but not enough to distill all the way down to a deal. Had I hit a few more rounds im  sure it would have been a different story. Good luck.

Partnering with someone who is willing to work as hard as you is a good thing but like @Sean Edgar mentioned you should find someone that compliments you. Clearly define your roles and expectations up front and keep each other accountable. Go get some deals man.

@Kevin Drouillard Good luck finding someone to shadow. If u happen to land something of that nature if u remember, keep me posted! Curious how others are breaking into the scene. Im looking to do something similar here in Fort Lauderdale. From what I've been hearing and reading, you'll need to offer something and it sounds like your willingness to work for your education could be the ticket. Anyhow, hope ya find a gig that works. Cheers.

@Eric Li  Novice opinion here but it seems the opportunity cost of not acting now, would be far more expensive then a value hit on a property that- if purchased correctly (cash flowing)- you should be holding onto long-term anyway. From now till the potential correction your building credit, equity, relevance, expertise, and a network, all of which puts you in a better position to move on properties if and when the market drops.

@Russell Holmes Sounds ruff man. Looks like you've picked up the pieces and your rolling with the punches though. Glad to hear it. Being in the right position to act on the right opportunities is what were all striving for. Just when you think you have life all figured out it delivers a haymaker blow and your on your ***. But every time you get back up your a little more prepared for the next swing. Best of luck my friend.

@Georgui Kasaev Good stuff man..your doing your homework so you'll be good to go. Speaking on getting paid under the table, I can remember one of my older more established co workers (7 yrs ago) telling me I should be building credit and declaring income bc one day ill want to buy a home. To which I replied..psssh not to worry, ill buy cash $$$, ill be rich$$ haha. Being clueless was fun but man it set me back in terms of what I'm currently capable of. Anyway, time to get creative baby, where theres a will theres a way! And same to you, best of luck and feel free to reach out anytime!

@Cody Evans I think you'll be fine doing the part time realtor. You won't become a millionaire agent that way but it sounds like thats not your goal. Your just building capital for real estate investing while working in the real estate world on the sales side. Two birds one stone the way I see it. Your work load won't be quite as aggressive as someone aiming to clear 6 figures. Even if you only close say 30k in commisions for the year, thats a fat down payment. As someone else mentioned, if investing is your true goal, then don't lose the W2 proof of income. You'll want to be able to leverage yourself as much as possible.

I would seek out Realtors who specifically work with investors or who understand the value of working with investors. If a realtor gets the impression their wheels are being spun they tend to fall off, whether their impression was accurate or not. If you have a track record it might impress upon them that you mean business (im not suggesting this is fair, an agent should give you the benefit of the doubt)

If per chance the extremely qualified Racole is unable to work with you or you just need some more hustle feel free to contact me! I live in Fort Lauderdale which could possibly be a road block but who knows.

@Tyler Fuchs I would get qualified with an MLO so you have a number your able to work with. Then the agent can go from there. If you don't have a number an agent might be reluctant to scour the MLS for you. If you need a good MLO shoot me a DM.

@Georgui Kasaev this is great. I think learning the laws of real estate and immersing yourself in that world is a great way to get deeply involved and to produce capital for your future investments of which youll have cutting edge knowledge. There are some legal and professional concerns you'll need to consider such as disclosing your status as a licensed realtor even when you plan on entering a transaction merely as an investor. Do your homework to avoid running into ethical legal issues. Good luck!

@Nick Rutkowski Thanks for the RPR tip! Ill be looking deeper into this tool. I believe my board of realtors offers a few classes on it. Either way looking forward to exploring this.

@Russell Holmes

@Russell Holmes I like your strategy. ill be looking to brrrr myself. first things first..l need to work on getting qualified for a mortgage. I don't have a lot of declared income history dating two years back so im having trouble getting loans through the traditional means. best of luck on getting financially setup with your real estate pursuits!