All Forum Posts by: David Dey

 Let's see if I can answer your questions in order.

1)  private lenders use various vehicles to lend their money depending on their sophistication.  

I have had lenders lend using their personal name, LLC or corporation, living or family trust, and of course many investors lend out of their self directed IRA.

2 and 3)  I never touch the money.  I would rather have the money with a third party as a buffer regarding any issues.  The closing agent is a sufficient escrow agent, but if I am not going through a closing agent I have the funds held by my Atty along with specific instructions that the lender and I both agree to in writing.  This includes a draw schedule for repairs as well.  (Kinda like that old saying good fences make good neighbors.  Well in this instance, good buffers make good relations between lender and borrower)

4)  lastly most of my lenders actually send me a receipt for the interest they've received and almost always it matches up to my records.  On the off situation where they don't, a 1099 should suffice... But disclaimer, don't take my word for it, check with a professional regarding this issue. 

Hope this helps 

you are going to have to find a company that specializes in a pre-NOD list. You can't find that in public records.

Your circuit court will only report once an action to foreclose is taken.  

Where the Pre-NOD list comes from is a company that can buy the list directly from the credit bureaus.

And Joe public can't do that.

@Mackal Smith I've actually used the opposite motto from yours and it has served me pretty well, "I do not buy only what I would live in, because everyone has to live somewhere."

More important than my bias is the viability to make money on a place.  

What I would do, ask for the property's rental history for the past few years and verify how the place has rented in the past.  If it has done well consistently, then it should do fine for you and is a good investment.  If a unit has not had a good rental history, you may want to ask why.  Has there been an on going issue that has made it unrentable?  

Also, check with neighbors, if they have been there awhile, they will be able to tell you if people have rented there consistently.  (Of course, you will have to dig through their color commentary to get to the pertinent information... They may have biases too.  But they could uncover some major issue such as a hidden defect or such thing)

In summary, make your decision on the numbers not your opinion.  Cause just like a certain orifice, everyone has one, and chances are.... They should not be used in the making of real estate investments!!  (well, that's my version of the saying💩)

Hope this helps.

@Lane A. who is an expert on money partnering with people all over the country and get some pointers from him.  

Hope this helps

Thank you for your kind words.  This part I can help with out here and if you want to work on your specific county and situation, then that we will work on individually.

Actually, your's is not a newbie question.  Most investors don't really understand public records, though it should be one of the first things they learn.  There is no more powerful tool you can have in your toolbox to be a successful investor.  No transaction takes place unless it shows in public records.  As a result, every seller, and buyer is right there at your fingertips, even all the money you will need to put it all together.  

Explanation: (deals) Every foreclosure, bankruptcy, divorce, code enforcement issue, probate, etc.. Takes place, (all problems that you can solve in exchange for equity) it shows up in public records.

(Buyers) Every time an investor buys a property, you can find them in your public records.  (these are not tire kickers, the only reason you'll see them is because they pulled the trigger.  Once you find them, you can present them with deals)

(Money) every time a private lender lends money, buys a mtg, satisfies a loan, it's all there in public records. 

(Not only will public records identify the lender, but in many cases will show you what they lend on and their terms)

Ok, so there's my quick soapbox speech.  

So the most important site you will need for this type of research is this.  Netronline.com  this is a portal site that will take you to public records for every county in this country. (And the best part, it's free!!)

Go to the site, click on the button, public records online.  It'll take you to a map of the US.  Click on your state, then your county, then you will see links to your county assessor/appraiser, clerk of courts/register of deeds, and tax collector, amongst other options.  The clerk of courts/register of deeds is where you'll find most of the info we just discussed.

Hope this helps.

 Hey Jay,

First, love the offer.  

Second, you said you made up your mind.  Can you share who won?

Hey Raquel

Here's my 2 cents:

First, regarding an FHA loan, the best thing you can do is go ahead and get pre approved. His way you'll know right off the bat what you qualify for and what you don't. (The best thing you can do in starting out is line up your money before you need it)

Second, the concept of no and low money down investing is really the art of "professional problem solving."(trademark pending😜)

Now I won't go into detail on the concept, but here is a link to a post where i covered it thoroughly.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/62/topics/243269-answer-to-those-calling-you-vulture-stealing-houses-from-grandma

Bottom line, whether or not you qualify for a loan does not disqualify you from investing.

Simply find problems you can solve and you will be well on your way.

P.S. I just looked at your profile and noticed your offer to trade services for mentorship. Bravo!!

I see from this post and the other one I responded to, your main concern is limiting mistakes. Well, the absolute best way to avoid beginners mistakes is to work with someone who has already made them.

(Full disclosure, instead of rewriting this out, I am reposting my response to @Merlina Rodas who is in a very similar situation. Which by the way, she is in your age range as well and has the same aspirations, I recommend you touch base with her, you guys can become accountabilibuddies (also trademark pending)🤑

I believe the real estate industry is one industry that truly needs to go back to the tradesman/apprentist system.

My recommendation would be to do exactly what you are proposing to do, seek out a veteran investor in your area, (Not a guru) offer your services as a birddog, assistant, partner on deals, etc. in exchange for the education from doing these deals.

Let them know that you are willing bring them deals to review and even help with the money (Since you said you're saving up money to do deals) and will partner with them, just for the experience.

So where to find these professionals, go into your local public records and pull up deeds from the last month or few months and weed out only businesses or obvious investors from the deeds. (Obvious investors would be when you see the same person on multiple deeds in the same county. Chances are they are not picking up multiple second homes in the same area)

When you have pulled up a number of investors, do a name search on them to make sure they have been successfully doing deals for awhile, (this would be seen by the second deed on the same property going out at a profit) and that they aren't in any lawsuits and stuff.

Once you've identified the investor you want to work with, find their contact info (not difficult to do, try googling their company name or their personal name and many times you will see their name associated with ads to buy or sell property)

Well, it may not be the sexiest advice you've gotten today, like "just do it," or "have a positive attitude," (all of which is very good advice) but I promise you, if you would rather not make your own mistakes then learn from someone else's.

Hope this helps!!

P.S. If you need help actually doing what I recommended. Feel free to PM me and I will walk you through it. (The system also works for finding deals and buyers for wholesale deals, etc)

Buy smart no matter the market.  That is my advice.  I bought during the boom and I bought even more during the bust.  I made more mistakes during the boom, not buying based on the ability for the property to support itself but speculating on the fact that the market would never stop going up and would be the exit.

When the market crashed I lost big because of that but when I regrouped, I learned how to buy in that market and those are the investments I still consider my best.

 Merlina

Good for you for wanting to get started.  I will say, as far as the original question, mistakes happen.  Just remember, no one deal will make you and no one deal will break you.  It will be the cumulation of business habits that will either cause your business to flourish or falter.

As for limiting mistakes, the absolute best way to avoid beginners mistakes is to work with someone who has already made them.

I believe the real estate industry is one industry that truly needs to go back to the tradesman/apprentist system.

If you've been reading the forums here for any length of time you will have heard complaints from the veterans regarding "wholesalers" and the like.  Most of these issues would have been non issues if they had learned the business from a professional in the first place.

My recommendation to you would be to seek out a veteran investor in your area, (Not a guru) offer your services as a birddog, assistant, partner on deals, etc.  in exchange for the education from doing these deals.

Let them know that you are willing bring them deals to review and even help with the money (Since you said you've saved up money to do deals) and will partner with them, just for the experience.

So where to find these professionals, go into your local public records and pull up deeds from the last month or few months and weed out only businesses or obvious investors from the deeds.  (Obvious investors would be when you see the same person on multiple deeds in the same county.  Chances are they are not picking up multiple second homes in the same area)

When you have pulled up a number of investors, do a name search on them to make sure they have been successfully doing deals for awhile, (this would be seen by the second deed on the same property going out at a profit)  and that they aren't in any lawsuits and stuff.  

Once you've identified the investor you want to work with, find their contact info (not difficult to do, try googling their company name or their personal name and many times you will see their name associated with ads to buy or sell property) 

Well, it may not be the sexiest advice you've gotten today, like "just do it," or "have a positive attitude," (all of which is very good advice) but I promise you, if you would rather not make your own mistakes then learn from someone else's.

Hope this helps!!

P.S.  If you need help actually doing what I recommended.  Feel free to PM me and I will walk you through it.  (The system also works for finding deals and buyers for wholesale deals, etc)

 I have looked at many versions on personality profiling and I used to teach it myself (hence the 4 types on my version) 

There are many more thorough profiling systems like Myers-Brigs system, or DISC method, but most of them require a quiz or survey to determine personality types.

The color method, I have found is the simplest and most user friendly system out there to determine personality types from actual interaction.

I can usually determine whether a person is an open or closed personality within the first 30 seconds to min of meeting someone, then can further determine which personality with just a few keys.  

Also, the way one dresses or carries themselves tells a lot about their personality.

Bottom line, just remember, this is a people business.  As such, anything that you can do to increase your communication skills will be helpful.