All Forum Posts by: Damon Bodine

Dear All,

We are one week away from the Brooklyn / Queens.   RSVP's are looking good.   If you have peers that may be interested please feel free to send them the information.   Every little bit helps.   

@Ryan Gross    @Michael Tranzilli    @Irina Balueva      That sounds great for all 3 of you!   Looking forward to meeting each of you!  

@Javier Perez-Karam

There are always deals anywhere in every market.   Anyone who is saying "there aren't any deals left in Bushwick and Bedstuy"  isn't seeing the whole picture.    People buy and sell houses in those neighborhoods  off market  every single day.  Often times the key is to get to the sellers first.   I've been able to facilitate the acquisition of 4 properties in those neighborhoods in the last calendar year.   

If I was you and just getting started I would do the following.    

#1  Pick a 15-20 block radius of residential housing.   For NYC you could easily draw this map using a department of finance   block and lot map.  

#2   Build your social reach within the neighborhood.   That includes knocking on doors, sending mail if you desire, talking to all of the people in the area retail.   I've gotten great information from people working at corner stores, nail salons, 99 cent stores etc.   I also helped some people organize a block party two years ago in Bedstuy.   I still get referrals from that event.     

#3  Don't get discouraged if you don't get a deal right away.  

#4   Remember most importantly you're trying to solve a problem.   The laundry list of problems that sellers I've met have is endless.    If you can humanize yourself to their situation and offer a unique and feasible remedy than people will grow trust you.  Building trust is everything when you're trying to turn a cold lead into a warm lead.  

From a strategic standpoint all of the ideas discussed here are good.   More equity is favorable,   larger housing is preferred (I would say houses with a minimum of 20 feet wide  x45 feet deep is preferable for fix/flip.    

Hope this helps.   

I think NYC and especially Brooklyn is ultra competitive.   There are so many people doing direct mail.     You'd be better suited door knocking.     I think there is a lot of opportunity there.  

Seth and Beth,

Welcome to BP!   I think you guys will find  a lot of nice and insightful people on this board.  Where are you looking to invest?   Locally?     

@Shmuel Harris Excellent sounds good.   Looking forward to meeting you too.   

@Paula Rodriguez   Absolutely   the meetup is open to people of all experience levels.  Would love to have you.  

@Benjamin Norris    You could definitely do online.    I know NYREI   where I got my license does online courses.     

Also i'm not sure how it is in Syracuse but generally you can find real estate licensing schools that have weekend classes.      There are people that do it at all different paces around full time schedules.  

Hey @Meghan Mack   Great to meet you and welcome to BP.    Real Estate in NYC is a great opportunity.   That's great you're getting your license.    Some thoughts.   

-If you're in the real estate licensing classes  definitely meet all of the other people training.  In my opinion some of the best allies in real estate investing are people that are new to the industry.   They are very hungry and motivated.   

-Go to real estate meetups in the area.   For bigger pockets users.  There is the meetup in Manhattan that Darren Sager throws.   I'm also throwing one in Brooklyn on Feb 8th.  

-Learn as much as possible. I think there is some very sound intelligent real estate education and advice to be had on bigger pockets. There are also REIA meetups and different meetup.com real estate meetups locally. The bigger you build your network the more success you'll have as an agent and/or investor.

-Spend some time figuring out which brokerage you associate with.   I interviewed with 8 different companies and i'm glad I did.   I was doing this while going to my class.  

-If you're looking to pursue full time work as an agent  think about what kind of business and where you would like to work.   I think in NYC especially you need a game plan since its so competitive on all levels.  

Overall I think you're in a great place on Bigger Pockets.   There are so my knowledgeable people here.   

Good luck on everything! 

@Ken Gayle   Welcome to BP.   It sounds like you have a wealth of experience in RE.   I would love to meet and network with you.