All Forum Posts by: Danny M.

 Thank you for your response Lucia, I appreciate all the information. I realize now I need to be upfront with my expectations when talking to RE agents (probably any professional I deal with). I was perhaps a bit too hyperbolic in my question about what I should expect from a RE agent, I understand everyone has time limitations. 

Best, 
-Danny

 Thanks, Logan I appreciate your response. I am happy to say I've found a great RE agent through Bigger Pockets since my original post. 

I grew up in the Novi/Northville area. 

Would be great to get your take on the market if you ever have time to chat. I am trying to learn as much as I can from experienced investors. 

Best, 
-Danny

 Great advice Nathan. I have just submitted a request to join the Metro Detroit RE Investors Facebook group, they have monthly meetups and I hope to start attending them upon returning to Michigan. I am happy to say I have actually found a great RE agent through Bigger Pockets since my original post! However I still would like to network with experienced RE investors in the area. 

Sorry for the late reaply, but thank you for the encouragement Andrew! Hawaii was amazing. I tried to keep it as cheap as possible, but it was a bit more of a challenge there than it is here in Buenos Aires where I am currently writing from (especially with so much delicious poke around). I am planning on going with the 5% down multifamily loan that came out in November, though if that had not come out I probably would have gone with a 3.5% down FHA for my house hack. Have a great day.

 Hi Jamiel, sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I would love to grab a coffee when I am back in Royal Oak in April or chat about real estate anytime. I am sure you have some great insights on that market!

@ken 

@Ken P. I appreciate you keeping me honest Ken! I am happy to say I am currently on the back half of The House Hacking Strategy by Craig Curelop. I have read all the previous books on my list. I am a little behind my book schedule because I read a novel and The Psychology of Money after I finished The Richest Man in Babylon. 

I have decided on a Multifamily property in the Royal Oak, Clawson, or Ferndale area. I have found a great RE agent and lender through Bigger Pockets. Currently, I am working on completing my pre-approval application, and I hope to have my pre-approval letter by next week. I am planning to use the new 5% down loan on multifamilies. I am practicing evaluating properties online, and I have secured renting a month-month room from a friend for when I return to Royal Oak in April. I am pending joining the Metro Detroit RE investors group and the Renegade Investors on Facebook. I hope to attend meetings in person when I return to Michigan. 

I am writing this from Buenos Aires Argentina. My travels to Hawaii in November, Peru and Chile in January and now here have all been very successful, and I have managed to save a good chunk of my income, while traveling, each month (although the only reason I was able to save money in November when I was in Hawaii is because of a timely bonus from that I spent very little of —man that place is expensive). I also flew to London from Chile last week for a productive work trip and conference that was free for me thanks to my employer. I do not recommend that flight as it is 14 hours lol. I head to Florianopolis Brazil on March 10th, then back to Michigan at the end of March. I am hoping the weather in metro Detroit has changed for the better by then, but April is always unpredictable. 

Best, 
-Danny

Hi Paul thanks for the response. I completely agree every real estate investor should have their WHY clearly defined. Especially new real estate investors such as myself. I am proud to say my WHY is very clearly defined. it is TRAVEL. I love traveling and visiting new parts of the world. I am currently writing this from Buenos Aires Argentina! I want real estate to fund my travel and also make it so that no boss can ever tell me I can't take off to some foreign land at the drop of a hat. That's freedom to me. Lack-of-Job security is insurance to me that I will be able to travel as much as I want for as long as I want whenever I want. That's my why. I have determined that my search criteria does line up with this why. I am currently on a 6-month digital nomad trip to scratch the travel itch now so that I can live in a house hack for the requisite year without going stir-crazy (well, maybe a few short domestic trips throughout the year if I find a good deal on a flight). Traveling has also been great for saving up money for my initial investment as the cost of living in the South American countries I've been traveling around is lower than the cost of living in the US. I have been able to save 5-20% more of my income per month than I normally do (depending on the country), and Argentina is the cheapest country we've been to yet! 

No real estate agent has asked my why I'm investing in real estate yet, but I think sharing my why with them could be a good way to let them know I'm serious about investing, even though my search will not be starting in earnest for a month and a half. Thanks again Paul, this was a fun opportunity to remind myself about my why, which you can't do too much in my opinion. 

Best,
-Danny

 I certainly agree, and one of my rules in finding a RE agent is that they MUST also be an investor. I am sure there are good RE agents who are not also investors, but I want someone who understands what it's like to own property in addition to buying and selling it.

I was thinking I should be cautious working with a RE agent who invests in the same type of property that I am looking for (ie. multifamily properties, which is what I'm looking for), as they might find a great deal and keep it for themself, and I can't blame them for that! I am shopping in the Royal Oak, Ferndale, and Clawson Michigan markets. 

@Michael Smythe, Thank you for the information, I appreciate the response. It is good to know service level typically is consistent across RE agent teams, and RE agents covering for each other is common practice.

As a point of clarification, that was not my expectation, that was a question I was asking. Thank you for answering my question though.

To answer your questions, I am not naive enough to expect this, but I am naive enough to not know the answer to this question, and ask it in this forum.

I do not do this at my job, but that's an apples-to-oranges comparison, as I work a salaried position that affords me a high degree of autonomy and flexibility in deciding when I work and working at irregular hours does not equate to more money for my firm or myself. However, if I worked a commission job, in which money could be made at irregular hours, I certainly would want to be available during some of, if not most of those hours (within reason), to increase my earning potential. I do understand and appreciate that it is unreasonable to expect anyone to be working at every minute of the day.

@Bruce Lynn  Thank you for your response and those questions! I will absolutely be asking them in future conversations with real estate agents. My big takeaway from making this post has been that I need to be clear with RE agents upfront on what expectations are on who I'm working with and when they will be available. 

You ask a good question about preapproval and my timeline. I actually was about to include some of this info in my origional post but deleted it because I wanted to keep my post relatively short lol. Here's that info if you're interested:

My RE journey began 6 months ago in September 2023, and I dedicated the rest of 2023 to just learning and reading RE content I could find and deciding on my strategy. My timeline for this year is to prepare as much as possible for my search from January - March. As I am currently traveling abroad, and will not be back in Michigan to start my search until April. I know I could be searching long-distance, however, for my first property I decided I want to be boots on the ground attending showings in person and do some driving for dollars to try to find deals (or biking in my case). Regarding preapproval, I am in the process of meeting with lenders, what I've been doing is having an initial conversation to ask questions and get more info on them, explaining to them that I will not be seeking preapproval until the end of March, as my real estate hunt begins April 1st (no joke). Because I'm currently traveling I have been trying to get as many pieces in place so that I can hit the ground running and start my search the day I return to Michigan. I have been transparent about this in conversation with RE agents as well as lenders so they understand while I'm off in the future a little, I'm not way off in the future. 

I totally see what you are saying about an agent spending their time with someone who is not immediately ready to buy and I will keep that in mind, thank you. Good luck with the international real estate investing that sounds very cool! 

Best, 
–Danny