All Forum Posts by: Clare Martinez

Not impressed with Fast Track. Monumental waste of money.

I'm a new Real Estate investor so take my advice with a grain of salt. I've paid alot of people, alot of money to teach, coach and mentor me through my adventures in real estate in Long Island and beyond. First pearl of wisdom: beware of guru's who coach outdated "wholesaling" and creative finance strategies that are not relevant to you or your local market. Mr. or Miss I do deals nationwide and have sooo much experience often hasn't inked a deal in NY. They're not interested because it's harder. When setting up your business, find a business advisor that's not tied to the guru. You want a lawyer who is familiar with real estate investing and is an investor him/herself advising you on how to structure your business. Ask about asset protection, ask about legacy structure, ask about CPA and tax issues as you launch your business. Get super clear on what you want to do. Do you want a wholesaling business? Do you want a fix and flip business? Do you want a real estate investing business that uses wholesale and fix and flip to fund your buy and hold portfolio? Interesting factoid Jamil Damji, Key Gless Franchise Founder, CEO of AstroFlipper and now AstroBlaster was a Jerry Norton student. Pace Morby and Jami Damji collaborate on big business ventures. Don't pay for a wholesaling franchise. It's silly to pay someone 100K to split profits. Nationwide wholesale contracts average 8 to 15K. There are outliers but that's what they are: outliers. What's your niche? Pre-foreclosures are hard in NY. Buying wholesale and selling it retail is a lot easier. In Long Island there are local cash buyers who will pay 80% ARV less cost of repairs for a house in Long Island because most houses on the island are half-million and up. Cost of rehabs in Long Island can be six figures so can the return on the flip. In NY, you're dealing with bigger numbers. Six Figure Acquistions. Six Figure Flips. Six Figure retail. 5 to six figure return on your investment if you buy in the right zipcodes. There are some super sketchy areas in Long Island and we are also home to the Hamptons. Land deals are rare here but doable. Tearing down condemned homes and rebuilding is an option if you can buy the property for ten percent less lot value minus cost of demolition. Understand Clause 26 is standard in most contracts in NY. It is a clause that says contracts are not assignable. Make sure your attorney rules that out. NY is an attorney state. The attorney functions as a transaction coordinator. Contracts are tough to get out of in NY so think before you sign. Tax deeds auctions are tricky and you'd better be prepared for some hurdles to overcome when you buy that type of property. Stay away from homes that have been abandoned. Pipes freezing over winter in an abandoned home will be ridiculously expensive to repair. So you'd do well to have purchase the property at 70% ARV less cost of repairs. NY agents don't seem to want to work with investors unless investors are willing to pay near to list price if property is on MLS.

April 1 2023. The Fast Track Program with Jerry Norton is now 11,997 if you already have bought into his 10K Club, Lot Flipper and 100% Funding Programs. Each of those programs have about 8000 participants. They each have their own criteria. What you get in addition to all of the wholesale, fix and flip and Funding educational program you already paid for is "life coaching" from his wife (a mother of ten) who raises her kids and homeschools. You get Creative Financing Strategies from One Coach. You get Q&A sessions with Jerry Norton. Raise hand in Zoom. All Chat Q&A goes unanswered. You also get personal coaching from Jerry via Zoom. To date, none of his training material has produced any results in my market. His Sunday Coaching Calls are interesting. If you are in the 10K Club, Lot finder, or 100% Funding Club you speak with a man named "Coach Al". Phone numbers change every month. If you are a Fast Tracker you speak with Jerry Norton. The April 2023 Fast Track program will allow you to prospect for Jerry Norton and he will bring the cash buyer and you will do a 50/50 Joint-Venture with someone who's been super successful at Finding,Analyzing, Funding Deals. Interesting to see that the structure has changed since 2020. This new program allows you to JV for 12 months with Jerry Norton.

Jerry Norton's Proof of Funds Letter has been questioned by every realtor I contact in New York. Most of them say his POF letter is not a typical proof of funds that anyone in NY accepts. POF needs to be an actual current bank statement or financial statement showing at least the dollar amount offered in purchase in an actual account. This is a letter from someone nobody knows saying he will give the funding. Also says "pre approved" which is actually a red flag here. Combined with no phone number with the address and email & a pre printed signature. It's impotent here. Meaning it just doesn't work in Long Island to be specific. When I contacted the email address on the form I was told Jerry will fund the deals that fit the criteria.

Jerry will not provide a Bank Statement Proof of Funds until the deal has been accepted by their Deal Review Team.

His team asked me to tell my agent, "My funding partner is unable to provide a bank statement proof of funds unless there is an executed contract. However, an easy solution is to put a contingency in the offer that upon receipt of an executed offer, I will provide within 10 days or the contract is null and void."

If the agent still is not accommodating, the agent can leave the property "active" until you provide the bank statement proof of funds so the seller doesn't lose any time off the market. These are common and reasonable solutions.

Long Island is a challenging market. It is blessed with an abundance of cash buyers with deep pockets so developing a buying strategy for your goals is key.  Market observations: retail buyers are over-bidding on as-is houses in certain areas on the Island. Using the term cash buy in a NY just means you will waive the mortgage contingency. Some folks are waiving appraisals and inspections. Inspections are necessary. Most houses on the Island are OLD and need maintenance. Things to be aware of: NY Landlord law favors tenants. Evictions are hard. Foreclosures can be delayed by around 15 years depending on how homeowners manipulate NY bankruptcy law. Think of it like they stopped paying one year and the bank files lis pendins/pre-forecloses then Spouse A declares bankruptcy first, which delays foreclosure then 7 years later Spouse B declares Bankruptcy which delays foreclosure another 7 years. That's 15 years of living "mortgage free " in NY. Short-sales are a thing in Long Island but it damages the "sellers" credit. Subject to existing finance deals are possible but hard. Attorneys often talk their clients out of it which is sad especially when that client eventually loses the home to foreclosure.  Homeowners sometimes damage the property before leaving it.  NYS is an attorney state. Realize some real estate attorneys on the island are more obstructive than helpful. Earnest Money Deposits are typically 10 percent but that can and should be negotiated down. Closing costs are about 3 percent of purchase price if paying cash, 5 % if financing. That's money above and beyond purchase price. Property tax varies across Long Island. Taxes are high. Labor costs for rehabs and maintenance are high. Every county assessor office monitors low-income areas on the Island. Every county has a plan for future development. If you own a home that is vacant that Suffolk or Nassau county assesses as unsafe, they can and will demolish the home and bill the homeowner for the demolition by placing a lien on the property. Buildable lots are rare on Long Island. Termite damage is a very real thing often revealed during kitchen remodeling. Long Island has both septic and sewer lines. Septic is more common than sewer. Septic laws have changed and must be placed in front of the house for new builds. Best low tax areas to consider in Long Island are closer to the Hamptons. Hope this was helpful. 

I use both Propstream and pin 5 and neither are ideal for the New York, FL or Texas Markets. Redfin, zillow, trulia and realtor.com have more current data. For example, All data for NY in Suffolk County and Nassau County on both platforms lags behind by about 7 months to a year. In those counties neither platform reflect current sales. Lis pendens in NY means absolutely nothing. Spouse A declares bankruptcy which delays foreclosure for 7 years then Spouse B declares bankruptcy for another 7 years so these families live mortgage free for upwards of 15 years. So, their pre-foreclosure data is useless. Vacant properties in the winter run the risk of pipes bursting so avoid those. Tenants in NY are almost impossible to evict even with a great attorney. PIN has excellent Everything reports that bank appraisers do use to assess the value of a property but you're better off working with agents in those markets and getting free current market analysis reports. Save you money. Use propwire. It's free. 

With what you've learned you could be running your own business. Never work with someone who cuts you out of deals. You have the knowledge, skills and abilities to create your own "astro-micro-wholesaling business." You won't need to prospect in New Jersey. You can prospect nationwide. Close deals for yourself. You're already experienced in Acquisitions and Dispositions, and you know that you don't want to work for someone who forgets to pay or doesn't honor his commitment to pay you. Let's talk offline. We might be able to work together.