All Forum Posts by: Danny M.

@Wade Wisner, thank you for the insights. I think searching for agents by finding listing agents in the area is a great idea, I'm going to give that a try.

I'm not sure whether or not the agents I've initially been talking to (who are passing me off to other agents) are in the market area I am looking to buy. However, I assume they are because I contacted them though bigger pockets after providing the market area I am searching in. Definitely a good call to be cautions of agents who are investing in the same type of properties I am searching for. Will make sure to ask agents about this from now on. 

Thanks again,
–Danny

@Joe Funari Thank you Joe I appreciate your response. I will make sure to set communication expectations with all the realtors I talk to from now on, that's a great note. I've updated my original post to include the specific areas I am searching in as well.

If anyone who sees this knows a good real estate agent in the areas of Royal Oak/Clawson/Ferndale Michigan please send their contact info my way! 

Best,
-Danny

Hi,

I am looking to buy my first property this year (traditional house hack). I have found a contractor I trust should any repairs be needed, secured a cheap month-to-month rental in the area I will be looking for when I start my search in April 2024, and am in the process of interviewing lenders recommended by BP and friends who own property in the area. However, I feel the search for a real estate agent is not going as smoothly, and I am seeking some advice.

So here's the question:
I connected to a few agents through Bigger Pockets. I keep having agents reach out to me, explain their credentials, and then pass me off to some other agent they work with. I understand I am not the biggest fish, seeking my first property and all, but should this concern me? Is this a reason to dismiss the idea of working with the agents doing this? Or is this a normal thing to have happen when seeking an agent? At the very least it feels like the agents could be a little more transparent about handing me off to a colleague, often they don't even ask or tell me, they just set up a call with me, causing me to think I'll be talking to them, and then they are like "Here's my colleague he'll be handling this". I just had one of the agents I was handed off to hand me off to another person because I asked a question over the weekend and he was out of the office. The thing is, I like one of the agents I connected to in this way. Should I seek an agent who is available early in the morning, late at night, weekends included? Or is that an unreasonable thing to expect out of an agent?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

-Danny

Hi, 

I am looking to buy my first property this year (traditional house hack). I have found a contractor I trust should any repairs be needed, secured a cheap month-to-month rental in the area I will be looking for when I start my search in April 2024, and am in the process of interviewing lenders recommended by BP and friends who own property in the area. However, I feel the search for a real estate agent is not going as smoothly, and I am seeking some advice.

So here's the question:
I connected to a few agents through Bigger Pockets. I keep having agents reach out to me, explain their credentials, and then pass me off to some other agent they work with. I understand I am not the biggest fish, seeking my first property and all, but should this concern me? Is this a reason to dismiss the idea of working with the agents doing this? Or is this a normal thing to have happen when seeking an agent? At the very least it feels like the agents could be a little more transparent about handing me off to a colleague, often they don't even ask or tell me, they just set up a call with me, causing me to think I'll be talking to them, and then they are like "Here's my colleague he'll be handling this". I just had one of the agents I was handed off to hand me off to another person because I asked a question over the weekend and he was out of the office. The thing is, I like one of the agents I connected to in this way. Should I seek an agent who is available early in the morning, late at night, weekends included? Or is that an unreasonable thing to expect out of an agent?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

-Danny

Hi Nathan, I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me. 

I follow the spending advice in Set For Life and How To Invest In Real Estate, which is (paraphrased heavily by me) as follows: Don't forgo spending money on things that you really want, just know the costs. I am aware that I am delaying my financial freedom with every dollar I spend on travel, and I'm okay with that. 

I'd rather travel now when I'm young than achieve financial freedom a few years earlier. This is because if I achieve financial freedom, the first thing I would do with that freedom is travel! Also, once I buy a property I am prepared for that to consume a lot of my free time for a little while, so I want to travel now while I have time for it. 

Hawaii will be expensive, but I should still be able to manage to save a couple of hundred dollars that month, which is a big win in my book.

South America is an opportunity to save money, not lose it. The cost of living is lower in South American countries, so I will actually be saving a higher percentage of my take-home pay there (even with travel costs) than I am currently living in the US. 

 Thanks Michael, I appreciate the information. I will look into those groups, determine a specific deadline, and start thinking about a scalable approach to investing for my 2nd-3rd property and beyond! 

Hi, my name's Danny, I'm 25, and I live in Royal Oak Michigan. I finished reading Set For Life last week and it opened my eyes to the world of real estate, and I think I'm hooked now. I want to use this post to introduce myself to the community here on Bigger Pockets and tell my story. 

I make about ~$60-75K/year (bonus dependent) as a market research analyst focused primarily on the regulated US online gambling industry. I have been implementing a lot of money-saving strategies (from part I of Set For Life) for a few years, even before I read the book. This has left me with about ~$80K real net worth mostly in weighted index funds and money market funds. A little over half of that money is in a Roth IRA. I am working towards the personal finance goal of having $100K in real net worth within the next 8 months.

As I see it I am currently in a learning phase of my real estate journey. I am currently listening to the How To Invest In Real Estate audiobook, and taking notes. After that, I have created a pseudo-real estate course for myself which will consist of reading the following books: Rich Dad Poor Dad, The 4 Hour Work Week, The Richest Man In Babylon, The House Hacking Strategy, The Multifamily Millionaire vol. 1 & 2, and Buy Rehab Rent Refinance Repeat. With the goal of getting all these books read asap. Spending at least 30 minutes a day reading. part of my course plan is to do research on financing to determine how I will buy, and research in different markets to determine where I will buy (I work remotely and could live anywhere in the US, not planning on doing long-distance real estate for my first property). While I complete my course I will start building my real estate team and evaluating properties. My goal is to acquire my first property by July 2025. With the stretch goal being to acquire a property by the end of 2024. 

I plan to spend a total of 8 months doing research. While I am doing this research I will be working (remote) full-time and traveling. I am going to be vacating my apartment and selling my car in the next 2 months, and then I will spend 2 months living with friends and family, 1 month staying at an Airbnb in Hawaii, and the rest of the time traveling around South America. I am attempting to do all of this and save more money than I can living in Royal Oak Michigan. Running the numbers looks promising. 

The real estate strategies that have been resonating with me so far are house hacking, multi-family buildings, and the BRRR method. My current ideas are to buy either a triplex or quadplex and live in one unit while renovating it and rent out the others for a couple of years before flipping the property. I am also considering a live-in flip on a large single-family home, and possibly renting out some rooms during the renovation if I can find friends or tenants willing to put up with the renovation (I don't like the uncertainty of the cash flow in that scenario if I can't find tenants). I figure the single-family strategy will have more advantageous tax benefits to flipping, and I can flip it more quickly, possibly in just a year and a half. This would allow me to get into a bigger, more valuable property faster. However, I am keeping an open mind to all kinds of real estate investing as I learn more about it. If anyone has any thoughts on either of these strategies for a first-time real estate buyer please share them with me.

Lastly, if there is anyone in Royal Oak Michigan, or the surrounding area, who is interested in getting a real estate club going (I just need one more person, two's a club!), or anyone interested in just chatting about all things real estate and beyond, please reach out to me! I would love to hear from you. Thanks, everyone. Have a wonderful day. 

-Danny