All Forum Posts by: Matt DuSold

Welcome Steven!

What kind of properties are you putting offers on Condos or SFH? Where in the city? (you can be vague if you want)

Don't get discouraged by losing out, this market is crazy in the city, the first question the brokers ask me when they come to see a property is if we have an offer yet. Stay at it and one will pop just don't get caught up in best and finals if your numbers dont make sense.

Hey Wendy,

Welcome to the site! Ill admit I am bad at coming on this site but feel free to shoot me a message with your email. I am a real estate broker in the city and have actually formed great relationships with wholesalers here on BP and created win-win scenarios for everyone. Depending on what areas you are looking to target I am sure we could really help eachother.

Hey Carole,

I have been told WCRT is the best. I have yet to go but will go at the beginning of August. It is in Elmhurst. I know that isn't exactly close but you are closer than me!

Let me know if you go and we can meet up!

Like Brian said, there are a lot of variables here.

I've been to Kansas State and spent time in that area a bit and know I could never do it. With that being said if I made the money there that I do in Chicago I could live like a king, at least for being 25. How different is pay? Will you get sick of Kansas? What type of investing are you looking to do? A lot of questions.

Let me know if you need help in Chi though!

Hey Ken, I think what Joel said is smart. Knowing your market is key.

I am in pretty much the same situation as you just turned 25, good job, and real estate is starting to finally take shape. Honestly, part of the reason I bought was because I didn't want to commute (in Chicago were talking 3 hours of windshield time a day). But I knew the good areas of the city that will never go bad (at least we think). I was lucky enough to find a 2/2 in my price range. I rent out to someone now and all but $400 is paid for my mortgage. I addition to that, I have been looking at my place and it comps out, on the low end, with 65k in equity.

If you are going to be somewhere for a while and can rent part of it out to cover your payments I would buy. Just buy right, if you can look at it as an investment but it is nice enough to feel "home" I wouldn't pass it up with how cheap money is right now.

Thanks for your help fellas!

@Daniel you say it as an investment, what about when talking primary residence? I would not think of this as a flip but definitely holding for several years.

I'm in very initial stages of looking at a property that is non warrantable but obviously don't have all the cash to put up for it. So I was trying to think of some ways around it. I know there was a post on here over a year ago about these but I didn't know if anyone has had experience with them lately? I hear that loans are getting easier to get for them.

If anyone has had experience with these types of properties I would love to hear about it. This is actually a very nice property but the amount of forclosures in the building has killed it. I believe the status of the building can change if it passes the whole check list to become warrantable although I may be incorrect about that, which would concern me about retail value.

Obviously I don't know too much about non warrantable properties but wanted to look into it. I didn't know if it really is that bad and something I should run away from or if no one has that much cash to come up with in order to make the purchase. Any help is appreciated!

If you are looking to be a realtor full time eventually, there is really nothing better you can do than be an assistant like @jscott said. I would find a top producer in your area and try to get attached to them. Doing so will help you gain relationships as well as learn the game, which will help you out down the road when you are ready to make the jump and do it yourself.

Glad to see this thread pop up this is something I have been thinking about A LOT lately and even spoke to a member here on BP about it not too long ago.

The only debt I have is my car and my condo. So I guess it is concerned "good debt" if there is such a thing. I can pay my car off today if I want to but I want to keep it towards flips right now. But the question is what do I do when they close and now that I have my license the properties I am a broker on close.

I have a pretty decent corporate job and a roommate right now (who knows when he could leave) and I have figured it out that I could pay it off or come darn close to having it all paid off by the end of next year. The appeal of that is awesome, but then I think to my long term goal of passive income.

For me, and I would like to hear from the experienced guys, the question is, do I pass up this great time to buy rentals and become debt free or do I buy rentals and worry about that later. I guess my worry of paying it off now is that we may not see a market like this for a long time, but I guess none of us can predict the future...

Andre, I know exactly where you are. When you are starting out it is tough to find money. It sounds incredibly simple but tell EVERYBODY you know what you do. You never know who may be interested.

There's a lot of information here about how to raise funds, talk to people you know with retirement plans or even CDs. With the amount you are looking for it makes it a lot easier than someone who needs several hundred thousand.

Have you been to your local real estate clubs? Don't over look simple things like better memberships on BP either. I can say that it helped me gain interest of other members for deals I have going and while it didn't come through, I'm sure those partnerships will in the future. Starting out is the hardest part just keep grinding.