All Forum Posts by: Dan Guenther

@Tanner Krall - welcome to the BP community! You'll find that the Colorado BiggerPockets community is massive and very welcoming. Do you get out to any of the local Denver Meetups? 

Come join us for a great opportunity to network and meet like-minded people! This is a casual and low-pressure Meetup where everyone is welcome. If you are interested in real estate investing or the financial independence movement in general, this is a great place to come meet others who are also seeking the same goals.

As always message me with any questions!

Dan Guenther
720-295-1082
[email protected]

Hey @Shannon Beahler - welcome to the community! 

There is a lot to unpack here! I'll send you a message and we can talk through in more specifics. 

1) Creative finance deals are going to be property-by-property specific, not necessarily neighborhood-specific. That being said though the majority of creative finance deals involve some sort of distress. Finding distressed properties is a great starting point (driving for dollars). 

2) Drive for dollars aka looking for physically distressed properties and then skip tracing those owners. I'll share some free ways to do this if you decide to reach out. Other options - buying lists on sites like PropStream, Deal Machine, Invelo (free version for BP pro members) etc. and then cold calling, door knocking, direct mailing those houses. 

3) This is where your education phase is going to be really important. Networking with other investors that are already doing creative deals will be really helpful. Also, you'll want to make sure to have a relationship with a real estate attorney who is familiar with these types of transactions. 

4) To my knowledge there aren't any specific regulatory/legal aspects for Denver. A big part of this side of investing is the ethical side. Making sure you are genuinely trying to help sellers in these transactions vs just getting a good deal without thinking of future repercussions to sellers is key. Again, this is where knowledge of the transaction is crucial along with making sure all contracts are legally sound.

5) If you haven't already checked out the Pace Morby YouTube page, this is the holy grail of creative finance education. Check out the Meetup app and Facebook Groups for meetups (there is one specific Creative Finance Meetup that I attend in the Denver area). 

This post could have been a novel but I hope this helps you and others out on some of the basics. Sending you a connection request now :)

Hey @Aedon Douglas - welcome to the BP community! You're on the right track with the house hacking strategy. Getting started without guidance or someone to bounce ideas off is overwhelming and leaves a lot of would-be investors on the sidelines. Local meetups are a great way to make friends and learn from others right in your market. 

I do a lot of mentoring and coaching for new investors, send me a message and we can get on a quick call to walk through some of the best first steps. 

Keep up with the education phase! 

Hey @Martin Munoz McGrew - 

Keep your options open for now as far as lending goes. If you haven't already connected with some investor-friendly lenders yet, start there. Reach out if you want some recommendations on that side. 

Once you have a better idea of where you're at in the lending timeline you'll have a better idea of your target purchase price and you can narrow down on specific neighborhoods and the strategies you can implement from there. 

Get out to some of the local meetups and connect with other investors/agents/lenders etc. that know your market. 

@Kale Johnson - welcome to the community! Are you looking to stay in California or would you be open to relocating to take advantage of low down payment owner-occupied loans? If not, then you'll be looking at investment-specific loan products which can be as low as 10% down depending on your lender connections. 

Let me know if you are curious about the Denver and Colorado markets in general. I'd be happy to connect you with some great lenders (not Colorado specific) as well if that's something you'd be interested in. 

@Neil Smith - I'll send you a message and we can find a time to talk :)

Hey @Neil Smith - congrats on joining the agent life! I'm in the Denver-Boulder market (I live in Longmont). Most brokerages will have experience with seller financing but some more than others. I'm not aware of any brokerage that specifically caters to creative finance deals. Reach out if you want to chat more about the pros/cons of different brokerages in the area, happy to give my 

Hey @Sophia Hartgrove - welcome to the community! 

I'm an investor/investor-friendly realtor here in Colorado. I'd love to connect and hear more about some of the projects you are locking down. 

Hey @Tre DeBraga - welcome to the community! 

Being an investor-friendly agent is a very different ball game from the traditional agent path. If you plan on being an investor yourself, this can really set you apart from other agents in your market and allow you to create a full-circle business. Send me a message if you want to talk through some of your questions/concerns. As a former teacher, I really enjoy the mentoring/educating aspect of real estate and don't mind sparing a bit of my time to help the future investors out there!