All Forum Posts by: Christopher Beale

Best advice I can offer is just always be looking. When you are driving for dollars keep your eyes open for any FSBO, and watch the for Rent signs. You might call people with rentals and see if they have any they would be willing to sell. Advertise that you are looking, and put yourself a website to start building a web presence.

@Janice Cruz  Welcome to Bigger Pockets.

@Michael Morisseau  Welcome to BP.  I think the best place to start is @Brandon Turner ultimate beginners guide.  After you read through it, start small in your local area and start to identify areas you want to invest in.  Best of Luck to you.

I think it depens on your municipality.  Here in KC you can buy a condemned building and halt the demolition order, but you have to meet stringent requirements.  I would check with your code enforcement agency for a better answer.

@Frankie Lowe  I'm in the KC metro as well.  The Pitch question is rather loaded.  You should always have a pitch ready and practiced.  Should you always lead with it, probably not.  I find its much easier to just talk to people naturally and as the conversation progresses swap ideas and propositions.  The best advice I can give you on talking to a seller is be an active listener, so you can pick up on some details they are giving you and you can repeat it back in your answer.

I follow his blog, and have read his book.  He has some good ideas but his mentor program will cost you $10k.  His book on amazon is pretty cheap but he does give you some places to start if you are new to RE. 

http://www.amazon.com/Automated-Real-Estate-Invest...

Not sure if that is the answer you were looking for, but its the best I can give you.

Welcome to Bigger Pockets.  Best of luck in your endeavors.

Easiest thing to do is go to the county tax records.  If the billing address matches the house address it is owner occupied, otherwise take down the owners information (not sure how much you get from your county) and send them a letter, or if you are very lucky and get a phone number, give them a call.

I would like to attend.  22nd AM is better for me.

So I have finally made my first sell.  It seems easy to me to talk with sellers and negotiate the pain points to get a better price, but I had a block finding a buyer.  The block has finally been broken.  I managed to sell my first wholesale this weekend.  The house was one that I had given up on selling, it was a complete mess, in a less than desirable neighborhood.  But I had built rapport with the seller, a very unique old man,  and he was willing to let me keep trying to sell the property for him.  I had the property listed on several sites, as well as doing craigslist postings several times a week.  It has been ongoing for most of 2 months and I would get a hit here or there, but no bites.  I even offered it to another investor whose signs I called on for a mere $500 more than my contract; to no avail.  Well I had steadily dropped the price on CL, but had forgot to update my listing on zillow and trulia.  Then one day last week I got an email inquiry about the property.  The man simply asked if the property was still available.  I told him it was and he asked if owner financing would be acceptable with $6000 down (I still had the property listed at $12000 on these 2 sites) and payments of $1000 per month for 6 months.  I couldn't believe it, he didn't ask to go in (I did have several pictures posted) nor did he try to drop my asking price.  I was stoked, but I had to ask my seller if the offer was agreeable to him.  He agreed to a contract for deed on our original asking price of $8000, and said I could take the difference out of the down payment!  I immediately replied back to the buyer and said that his offer was accepted.  He wanted to close the next day, and he named a notary firm.  I drew up a contract for deed and met him and my seller at the firm.  They both signed and I walked away with a check for $4000!  Talk about an ecstatic afternoon!  I guess other than to share the story, my point is, for all newbs like myself, persistence is key.  Never give up even if it is a crap hole property!