All Forum Posts by: Edward Dean

Unless you know people in other parts of the Country where you would like to invest, it is probably best to focus on areas close enough that you can drive to them. It will make the search easier (narrows it down for you), will make finding and vetting your team easier, and once you have a property, it will make it easier to do repairs, check on the property, manage it, etc. There are plenty of people who invest thousands of miles away from where they live but if you can swing it, you'll probably have an easier time if you can find an area within driving distance of you to get started. Luckily, there should be plenty of areas around NYC that are cheaper to buy in than NYC.

Also, you can check out books on the topic, like David Greene's book on Long Distance Investing.

Best of luck!

The main thing you are looking for is experience with handling that type of transaction. There are plenty of residential real estate agents that can help you with 2-4 units, especially if it is purely residential. If you start getting into mixed use properties (like the two lower units are retail space and the upper two units are residential rentals), or a commercial office space, then you really want to make sure your agent has experience in valuing that type of property since it will comp differently than a traditional residential quad. If your current realtor has no experience helping clients buy/sell 2-4 unit properties in your area, then it is probably a good idea to either use a different agent (one you find yourself by researching who does a lot of the 2-4 unit deals or it can  be a referral from your current agent, just make sure to vet the referral), or see if your agent has someone in their brokerage they can team with who does have experience in that type of transaction. Valuing 2-4 unit properties isn't rocket science but it is a little different than valuing a single family home which is why you want someone with experience helping you.

For 2-4 properties, the MLS is still the main way you will find them and where you want to focus your search. Most third party searches like Zillow, Redfin, etc., have options to filter for 2-4 units too. LoopNet is for larger commercial properties like 5+ apartment buildings, office buildings, etc., and it is for those types of properties where a commercial real estate agent would be more useful, not a residential quad.

Best of luck!

If you get the property, then during the due diligence phase you can ask to see copies of the lease(s), verify the deposit amounts, etc. You may want to go an extra step and verify that rents are actually being received by also requesting bank statements and P&L statements from the current owner. Someone may say rent is x but you have no way of knowing that the tenant is current on their rent or actually paying that amount unless you see that amount showing up in the owner's bank statements each month. You will also want to have the tenants sign an estoppel certificate which is where the tenant verifies the terms of the lease.

Talk to your real estate agent about what is standard as far as requesting this info up front or during escrow. In my market, you would generally get the estoppels, bank statements, etc., after getting an accepted offer but before you lifting contingencies.

Is the Nebraska market that hot that people are still submitting no contingency offers? Trust your real estate agent but generally not having an inspection contingency clause (what I assume you mean by "no walk away clause") is a risk that is usually unnecessary. Get a good property inspector in there if you do lock that one down with an eye on that basement/sub grade area of the home. 

Best of luck!

Depends on what your goals are. You can start looking around to see what teams there are in your area and start reaching out to meet with the team leaders. Your splits will usually be lower on a team but if they are productive you may get leads and training you wouldn't otherwise have easy access too. You can actually see and learn how a top producer runs their business and emulate that later down the road. However, you want to vet the team before signing on so you don't find yourself in a churn and burn situation or on a team that promises endless leads but in reality gives few or no leads but still expects a cut of the leads you generate yourself.

If a type of market is what you want to focus on, like luxury, small multi-family, starter homes, certain neighborhoods you know, etc., then you can start seeing what brokerage is dominating that area and start reaching out to those managers at that brokerage. This can be as simple as driving the areas you'd like to sell in and counting the signs you see in the yards and comparing. At the end of the day though, like Preston and Brandon said above, when you are starting out you will want to do your best to assess what brokerage can provide you the best training and support structure to get you up and running. Getting your first few sales can be quite difficult so finding someone who will guide you in that first year can be really beneficial, especially in this low inventory market. You can always jump to a different brokerage once you have learned the ropes. In fact, the more you sell, the easier it becomes and you may find brokerages will try to poach you to join their firm.

Also, start reading books now so you can start to decide on what lead generation activities might work for you. Books like The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller, Your 1st Year in Real Estate by Dirk Zeller, David Greene's agent book series, Ninja Selling by Larry Kendall, etc., are all good places to start. 

Best of luck!

Depends on a lot of factors that are unique to you. A big question I would ask myself is what is my current situation? Do you currently rent? Can you get a better return on an investment property than the amount you could save by buying a home and house hacking? If you don't already own a home, it may be best to start by using the money to buy a primary residence where you can rent a portion of it out. This should reduce your shelter expenses to less than what your current rent is while also building equity. Kudos if you can find a place to buy under market value for instant built in equity. But if you live at home with family or already own a home where you are currently renting a portion of it out, then that changes the dynamic of how you should invest to best optimize your returns. For all we know, you may have $100k in student loans or consumer debt with an interest rate above whatever returns you could realistically expect to get so paying that down is the smarter play right now. The good news is $100k in cash gives you options.

Best of luck!

Check with the municipality/county etc., of where they are wanting to buy. You can usually go in person or find a phone number for the zoning or building department. They would probably be the best resource to tell you what zoning is required for either a for profit or not for profit private school.

Getting your real estate license probably won't move the needle as much as you hope unless you are looking to make that your full time job. It takes time, money, and effort up front and you have to grind before you close any deals. A side hustle would probably be a better fit. Could be in a niche you know well like picking up marketing gigs after hours (whether that is building websites, graphic design, whatever you can easily do), or your more traditional night gig like delivering pizzas, bar tending, etc. Get the income up with the side hustle to pay down the debt without having to take on more expenses like RE licensing classes, E&O insurance, MLS fees, etc. Find the right side hustle and it might help bump your income up enough to qualify for a loan on something small. And of course, keeping hitting REI meet ups to grow your network.

Best of luck!

 No idea what the rules are in Canada on this sort of thing so speaking with an attorney could very well be worth your time to make sure you do it in a way that works best for you.

San Diego is awesome, the prices are high but there's a reason for that... so many people want to live here!

The biggest worry everyone faces with cash for keys from the landlord side is them giving the money and the tenant just does not move out. And the tenant worries about it from the other side, this person is promising me cash but how can I be sure they'll actually give it to me once I have moved out. So structure the cash for keys in a way that entices them to move without hassle and where you are sure they are actually out before giving them a bunch of cash.