All Forum Posts by: Doug Merriott

Congrats on passing your exam. That can be tough, but it will look easy compared to building your business now.

I am a big fan of Keller Williams. Gary Keller co-wrote a few books about real estate investing. The company is highly training focused, you need to devote the time to it. The company mantra is that nothing is more important than lead generation, where I have I heard that before?

I could not possibly give you an unbiased opinion.

I personally do not think it is expensive to live in the Tampa area. You can find houses and apartments in all price ranges. It only matters where you want to live and what you are willing to put up with. We don't have many 2% rule properties but we have a lot of 1.5% rule properties that are just fine.

Brandon Turner posted today that Pasco and Hernando are in the top rental markets. I personally am not in love with the idea of having rentals in Holiday, but if the dollars make sense...

I received a quote from Mark DeLaquil at Eon Roofing and Window. www.eonroofing.com, He was willing to talk me through the repair I needed rather than charge me a couple hundred bucks for a five minute job. That is a perfect example of integrity in my book.

@John Knappmann nearly any image editing software (Paint, Photoshop, GIMP, etc...) will have the ability to watermark photos for you. You will then not have the annoying "addtext.com" on the image. If you do a search on the internet you key in "batch image watermarking + (your preferred editing software)" you will find a way to automate the process of resizing and watermarking your photos.

Hi Jason and Jessica,

My only addition would be an insurance agent. Here are my suggestions:

Mortgage Broker:

Jason Hands at Bay to Bay Lending

813-385-1109

jason at baytobaylending dot com

He has residential and commercial experience and has been top in his company for a couple of years now.

Inspector:

James Ward at Class Act Inspections

813-770-8459

classactinspections at yahoo dot com

I like that Jimmy has an AS in Architecture. He gives very detailed reports and is extremely professional.

Insurance Agent:

Thomas Trask at Dennis Insurance Agency

813-949-6480 xt 225

ttrask at dennisagency dot com

Thomas was able to save me quite a bit of money on my rental property. He is a very quick communicator, if you are like me and hate waiting for responses then he is your guy.

Doug

Welcome to Bigger Pockets! I

You are welcome!

Hi David!

Welcome to BP.

It sounds like you will have a lot to add to the community.

Talk to you soon.

Doug

@Sarah Hart you are right, there seems to be a problem with Realtors. I don't think it is even localized to specific companies or even our specific market. Our culture seems to have degenerated in to an "Order-taker" mentality with very little pride in a job well done. It is very good that you have found a Broker you can trust and happily recommend.

@Sergey Tkachev that sounds awesome! I would love to see you.

@Amy Davidson looks like you did buy yourself a little time. I cannot wait to see you.