All Forum Posts by: Emily Hill

Awesome thanks Jason! 

@Jeff Zimmerman Thought I’d tag you in this since you are a fellow Fresnan :)

Hi BP community!

There is an abandoned house in my area. I am still a newbie and not sure how to go about this:

I live in a lower middle class neighborhood in Fresno, CA. The neighborhood is central to everything and would classify it as a transitional neighborhood. Theres a lot of younger minority families and older people in the neighborhood. A lot of original owners are passing away. Flippers are coming in& remodeling the homes and increasing the value of the neighborhood. If you know Fresno, you know that it is a hot market right now! The abandoned home had renters living there for awhile. The renters were troublemakers and there was actually a drive by shooting in July. The renters got scared off and moved out (thank goodness). Since then, I have not seen any activity at the property. I work from home and have not seen a single person at the home. The yard looks terrible and the exterior of the home could use some updating. It’s a 1950s home, bungalow style. But it has potential to be a really cute home! 

I did see that the garage was open enough for someone to crawl under...I think there might be squatters living in the home now. The garage door has been shut the past two months so someone must’ve lifted it up (it’s an old school garage door that can lift up). 

Anyways, how should I go about this? Obviously I am not going to give out the address (or my address) because this home has major potential for the right investor. It’s worth around 200k and could prob rent for around $1,200-1,300.  It’s definitley not worth 200k in its current state...I’d say it’s worth around 160k-170k. 

How do I go about getting ahold of the owners? If the owner is willing to sell, i don’t have much money to put down right now so I was hoping to partner up or someone can pay me a finders fee? Or perhaps just pay me a flat fee and I will give you the address, so you can work a deal out with the owners. 

Thoughts?

@Jeff Zimmerman Hi Jeff! So cool to see that you are from Fresno as well! I've been wanting to participate in a Fresno meetup, although I haven't heard of any for awhile now. Maybe this is something we need to initiate! I've never listened to the Tim Ferris podcast, I will have to download a few podcasts from him and listen to it on my walks. I really enjoy walking/hiking near Millerton or in Bass lake, I find myself to think more creatively in those settings. I sometimes do conference calls near the river as well. The quietness and serene of the outdoors works best for me. 

I know real estate can be a bit hard to turn off, especially at night. I find myself analyzing deals and looking at properties until I go to bed. I've found that doing 10 min of yoga a night helps me relax and calm my mind so I can sleep better and feel refreshed in the morning. There are several 10min yoga before videos on youtube that you can try. Thanks for reaching out!

@Ned Carey Hi Ned! Thanks for the book recommendation, I will be adding that one to my list of must read's! The past few years I've thought about real estate investing. It wasn't until this past year that I started to get serious. Since purchasing my first rental property, it's like I'm a different person, in a good way. I've been taking more time for myself so I can be a better person, friend, daughter, real estate investor etc. Eating better, meditating/yoga, even lost some weight, just overall wanting to be the best that I can be so I can stay on my game and grow my business.

@Danielle Wolter

Hi Danielle,

Thanks for the tip about using spreadsheets. I definitely need to start organizing my markets and potential deals into an excel document. Analyzing more deals is something I need to work on, sometimes I get too focused on the financing part. But I know if I have a really good deal, financing will fall into place. Thanks for sharing! 

@Scott Rogers Hi Scott, very cool to hear that your from Fresno! Go Bulldogs! My sister recently moved to the mid west as well and she loves it! I like the idea of writing goals down. I write down grocery lists, errands I have to run, to do lists around the home but never real estate goals. I think that's a simple but powerful task that I can incorporate into my routine. Also congrats on your rental property! I'm fairly new as well so if you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

@Billy Linn Hi Billy, I'm like you, I always have my eyes open, looking for my next opportunity. It's sometimes hard to turn it off, but I enjoy real estate. I completely agree with you that it is harder to find good help than deals! I'm looking into diving into the world of fix n flips then keep them as buy and holds. But I'm nervous because in order to be successful at this, you need a good contractor behind you. 

@Justin M. Hi Justin! I usually just listen to the BP podcasts and read the forums. I need to venture out to reading the BP blogs and articles. The resources here on BP are gold. I'm a newbie myself and am looking into other markets as well. CA is so expensive and the laws here are getting a bit ridiculous therefore I don't like to invest here. Definitely check out the Midwest for investing!

@

@Dave Thomson Hi Dave, I will definitely look into doing the 90 day journal I keep hearing good things about it.I also like the idea of a goal tracker using Excel. I know a lot of investors use excel to track and analyze deals. I will have to try listening to a podcast at 1.5x, I'm all for anything that saves me some time! Great idea! I appreciate you reaching out and taking the time to share.

@John Teachout Hi John, sounds like you stay pretty busy! My goal is to leave my 9-5 job to pursue real estate full time. Also, that's really cool that you are able to work on your investment homes. I am a newbie so I heavily rely on youtube and google to help me out with how to fix things around my primary residence but I'm learning as I go. Not sure if I will ever be able to lay concrete or do sheetrock but my DIY skills are improving! Thanks for sharing!

@Joe Fairless Hi Joe, first off congrats on your podcast! That's an amazing accomplishment within itself. Second off I love the idea of having a death clock! Lol...I've never heard of this but sounds like a good reminder to let you know that every second counts! I admire that you are educating yourself to be a better speaker by reading a book on the subject. I think that's why I love real estate so much. Seems like the majority of people in real estate enjoy learning more and are always educating themselves. I really enjoyed business school and learning all the different strategies of business. I would study with peers and after we were done studying, we would discuss our plans for the night. I felt like such a nerd because I would tell my peers that I'm going to go home (Mind you this is a Friday night) and read a book on business that isn't even part of our school curriculum. The faces on these kids were priceless, but I enjoyed learning more about business. I cared more about making money than going to a frat party. I love that you mentioned a vision board! I tried to do a vision board with my 5 year old nephew a few months ago but it kind of turned into a Christmas list for his parents and well needless to say I won't be babysitting him anytime soon...Vision boards are a great idea and I will definitely be creating one by myself this time! Thanks for sharing.

Hi BP,

Just curious to see what everyone does on a daily basis to progress their real estate journey. 

I’m a newbie, I have one rental property under my belt and am looking to scale. I’ve caught the real estate bug and cannot quit!

Everyday I walk my pups along the river and listen to a real estate podcast. Sometimes I do my conference calls by the river, I tend to think more creatively in this environment. I look at the forums everyday and read real estate related news everyday as well. I then surf the internet for potential properties, make connections with people, set up conference calls for the following day and repeat. 

Right now, I’m trying to figure out creative ways to buy homes with little to no money down. I’m looking into owner financing, hard money lenders, partnerships etc. I’m trying to talk to as many people as I can and soak up as much info as I can.

I also recently started doing yoga every night to keep my stress low and keep my mind sharp.

So with all that being said, what does everyone do on a daily basis to keep progressing in their real estate journey?

Hi BP,

Just curious to see what everyone does on a daily basis to progress their real estate journey. 

I’m a newbie, I have one rental property under my belt and am looking to scale. I’ve caught the real estate bug and cannot quit!

Everyday I walk my pups along the river and listen to a real estate podcast. Sometimes I do my conference calls by the river, I tend to think more creatively in this environment. I look at the forums everyday and read real estate related news everyday as well. I then surf the internet for potential properties, make connections with people, set up conference calls for the following day and repeat. 

Right now, I’m trying to figure out creative ways to buy homes with little to no money down. I’m looking into owner financing, hard money lenders, partnerships etc. I’m trying to talk to as many people as I can and soak up as much info as I can.

I also recently started doing yoga every night to keep my stress low and keep my mind sharp.

So with all that being said, what does everyone do on a daily basis to keep progressing in their real estate journey?

I visited Nashville recently and could not believe how much it has grown! The last time I visited was 10 years ago and don’t remember it being that busy and developed. While I was there I noticed there were quite a few buildings going up downtown and that an amazon center was soon to be opening up as well. I definitely want to get into the Nashville game in the next year. Just saving a little more for a down payment. 

@West Wiggins Hi West, thanks for reaching out. Let’s connect and keep in touch. 

@Jerry Padilla Thanks for the tips! Yes I think I’m going to wait until I do a cash out refinance to pull out money to use for a down payment. I’m impatient lol so I’m trying to find other ways to fund the down payment.

@Luka Milicevic TN is definitely much cheaper than CA. I am considering myself moving out of CA because of how rediculous it’s getting (taxes, cost of living, laws). Nashville or Montana would be my top picks to move to. I plan on doing a cash out refinance on another rental in 6months and using that money as a down payment for an investment home in Nashville. I would definitely be interested in owner financing so that I don’t have to put down as much but I think those are hard to find. 

@Brian Boyd Awesome, thanks for reaching out. Let’s keep in touch.