All Forum Posts by: Lacie Morris

Hi @Thai Le! Oh gosh, that's the tricky part isn't it? Don't take my words as the gospel truth, because I think there are so many ways to do this. I am all about beating the learning curve that's for sure. I know there are some quality people out there that have courses and coaching, so they are out there. 

I just think that you need to be sooo careful with that. I would be wary of anyone who is not completely up front with their program. Like in sweet Debbie's case, it wasn't like they asked for $41,000 all at once. It was $5,000, then $10,000 (or whatever it was, I'd have to go back and read through the posts for the exact amounts). I'd want someone to list out specifically the cost, and what I was getting for that cost, and if they had other programs and what their costs were so I could compare. It would be nice if they handed you a sheet that said these are our products, this is what they do, and this is how much each of them cost. Then maybe you would get all of them, heck I don't know. But, I feel like by them being shady there is something wrong. Gosh for $41,000 I'd fly to where you live, personally take you out property hunting for a month AND cook you dinner (I've been told I make a great lasagna)! Hahaha.

But seriously, 

I would also not wait too long after deciding I want to invest, to actually invest in a property. Like I would be gathering information online about my local market very soon, and figure out what my niche was, then just start looking at places in person. Even if I didn't buy anything (and I wouldn't for a couple months at least to really do my homework), at least I would be learning and growing and figuring things out. I would be testing out real estate agents and seeing who I'd like to work with long term. My agent is a good friend of mine now that we've done so many deals and spent so much time together. Haha! 

Then I wouldn't want to drag it out too long before I purchased my first property. The longer it takes for you to pull the trigger,the more doubt creeps in and then you probably won't buy anything. Don't get me wrong, you can move too soon, and that's also dangerous. But there is something empowering about following through with your first deal. 

So I guess I would answer with that I think you should be doing both. Ideally you could find a mentor and be looking at deals, hopefully they could help you with that. But I wouldn't put all of my success into my "mentor". It's honestly not their job. I have to be the one that is planning to do the work to make my success happen, but the mentor is like a coach. The coach helps the quarterback get better, but he doesn't throw the football for him in the game. Does that answer your question, Thai?

Oh my gosh @Debbie Lee, this breaks my heart. 

***********NEW INVESTORS*************

Please, please learn from Debbie's story. I know you want to believe these tricksters when they tell you they have all of the answers and can guarantee you are going to be successful in real estate, but they can't.

I have my literal blood sweat and tears in my first couple of properties that my husband and I did. It is true that someone else can teach you a whole lot, and I do agree in theory with mentors. Heck, we've "mentored" several friends in real estate for fun (because we have a sick sense of fun, haha).

I know that you don't want to hear this, but someone else cannot teach you everything you need to know. You are going to have to get out there and do a lot of things yourself. You will fall, you will stumble, you will fail. I think the reason why we have been "successful", is because we have always had the attitude of "we are going to make this work, this is going to work". We had nothing when we started, but we worked so hard because we wanted to provide a good life for our son.

$41,000 is sooo much money. I have bought deals for less than that. Please be careful, and for goodness sakes, if it sounds too good to be true, then it is! 

Debbie, I truly pray that you are able to figure your way out of this horrible situation, and learn from this mistake and don't give up on real estate. You Can Do It!

I understand what you are saying here. I came from a very poor area, and my husband and I had our oldest son when we were college students, so we were broke for awhile. That's when we bought our first property, and have steadily built up over the last 11 years. We used to do everything on the properties, my husband and I learned any skill we needed to as we went and we did all of the work ourselves. Now, we hire the majority of it out. The truth is that we have grown our business more in the past 3 years (when we started to hire things out) then we did in all of the time before that. I'm not saying it's "wrong" for you to do everything, it's just not probably the best use of your time. I know it's hard, but maybe just start hiring a few things, build relationships with good people. I know that once we had established some good relationships with some quality people (construction, plumbing, accountant, etc.) that's when things started to move fast. We were able to put people we trust in and we are freed up to do other things. 

Hi Dustin! I see that you're from WV as well! I actually have some friends from Follansbee and we go up there occasionally. That really sucks that you lost that amount of money. You have to be so so so careful in this business. There are a ton of scam artists out there, but there are good people as well. You just have to dig to find them. Best of luck to you!

HI Andrew! I'm from Montana originally, but my husband is from WV and I love it here. I think its a great opportunity for investors! I have a lot of family that has gone to school at Shepherdstown. Great college town! Do you specialize in college rentals there? 

So, I would say that I would be hesitant to get into a deal so far from home. Are you from Chicago? Do you go there often? For something that would require this much work, I would like to monitor it in person. Also, how well do you know your potential partner? I like the idea that he's a contractor...and I don't like it. Will he be doing the work? Are there some ulterior motives there perhaps? No one here can tell you to do this deal or not for sure, because we don't have all of the information, but I feel like you don't have all of the information as well. If you can't see the place in person, can you get a video? You need to see the exact layout. Don't ever become obsessed with a deal, there are always more. I live in a super small town and we find more deals than we can even do all of the time. You need to ask yourself some serious questions, and don't be afraid to walk away. 

Great info @Eric Fernwood! As you said, it is also dependent on what area of the country you are in. I'm in the mid-Atlantic, and the majority of the homes here are not new construction, so I think ours kind of straddle the line between A and B properties. We also live in a much smaller community than Las Vegas. I like some of your observations as well. I have noticed that even where we live, some of these apply. I have to be very picky about how the rooms are cut up, and I agree with you on how the bedrooms all have to be on the same floor. 

Thanks @Jamal Atwell! I like to say that property is my strange addiction, haha. I always have a Homes and Land Magazine with me, and like to scope out property when we are on vacation, just for fun. 

Hi Guys! I'm Lacie and I have been involved in Real Estate for 11 years. I started with my first property when I was a broke college student with a baby and now my husband and I have over 30 units. I love real estate and hope to learn a lot and give out some good advice!