All Forum Posts by: Jay Orlauski

Welcome to forum Edessa , it's always great to have new members. Sometimes when just starting out , it's good to see that other people are having success at it - makes it seem like maybe we are headed the right direction. There are many very experienced investors here with much to share. I look forward to seeing you come along.

I think I asked this question quite a few years back and the answer I got was that because the agreed selling price is the exact value of what someone is willing to pay for it - therefore that becomes the new value - unless it is actually turns out to be worth less because of any of several factors like area, comps, condition and all sorts of other boogey monsters.

I don't know how true this is , but it

Hello Idena - welcome to the forum. This is definitely a place for dreamers, movers, and shakers. I hope to hear about your ventures into real estate. Just out of curiosity , what type of property are looking to buy ? Are you looking for rentals , wholesales, foreclosure.. etc. See you around the site

jay

wow .. where do I start?? lol to keep it simple , I will say this. I wish that I would have never walked away from real estate to start a completely different business. I had 6 rental properties plus my own house and l liquidated all of them to start up a new business venture that could not possibly fail ( until it failed).

The flip side to that is that I sold my houses at the top of the market just before the market fell - so I looked real smart to people that knew I had real estate. Unfortunately I lost all my money at the same time everyone was losing their money in the stock market - so I lost it like every else - guess I had a lot more fun losing it - rather than watching little credits go down on a screen everyday - i was operating a business and enjoying making customers etc. Though it didnt last , I feel like I could have lost the money in worst ways I guess.

I have started over from scratch again and my main focus now ( aside from writing real estate software for Android) is to stay focused on real estate and not turn my back on it again. I Would have been a multimillionaire by now if I had held on to my units. I am now seeing all sorts of investments that I could have purchased for cash - but have none now :(

in summary, BIGGEST REGRET: leaving real estate

excellent point about info that your partners might be looking for - I hadn't thought about that. To extend on that - if you do have partners - find out if they are using anything in particular - this may save you some time right there.

Most people hit it on the head when they said Excel - I have used excel for many years - I started turning my excel spreadsheets into mobile apps.

The best part of it is how customizable it is - but it takes a while to build it up at first , however , once its set up - they can be just as effective as any other income/loss calculator. Don't forget to lock your cells afterwords!!

A lot of times Real Estate agents can make sure that all the legal aspects are covered for you. ( meaning all the right documents signed and submitted) Since this is something that they a used to dealing with regularly - you may benefit from their experience and knowledge. My agent always goes out of his way to make sure he is getting the best deal for me he can - getting them to cover closing costs - pay for FHA stuff, and fights for things I might otherwise let go , but he stays strong - sometimes in the middle of "battle" it feel good to have an 'experienced warrior' on my team.

I once heard a joke about a mechanic and a car. The punchline is something to the effect of - the value is in knowing WHAT to fix - not how to fix it. I guess basically saying that having the knowledge is what your really paying for. To someone who is inexperienced or even very experienced , an agent can be a great asset while navigating unfamiliar waters. As with any occupation , you are always going to have shady individuals - but that does not apply towards to your typical Realtor. Sometimes people won't make a move without someone to hold their hand - to them these services would be invaluable considering that a deal may never happen if it weren't for them to begin with.

Soooooooooo I guess depending on who you are and what your comfortable with - you may not necessarily need an agent - but are they shady? generally speaking , I would say no.

I've used "RentBoss" for keeping track of units repairs maintenance and the like. There is a lot of parameters you can enter about your property - it creates a lot of reports - they have a free 30 day version online you can try.

Also if you have an Android phone, try looking up "FlowCast Pro" to find a cash flow app - doesn't keep track of income/ expenses but can help make quick calculations about cash flow potential when looking for new properties to buy. just a disclaimer: I'm the developer of the FlowCast Pro app so I'm a little partial to it.

Hi Tony - you don't need a series 7 license to solicit real estate investors unless you plan on selling REITs which open up an entirely new can of worms.

I held a Series 7 for several years working as a financial consultant. It's required if you are getting paid to give advice about securities or are selling securities covered by the SEC ( securities and exchange commission)

As long as none of your business involves selling or advising people about stocks, bonds, and other 'securities' , then you should be OK .

By the way - good luck on your strategy - hope you do well. Could be a good market to look at on my end too.

I was going to say - I bet this strategy went over really well during the anthrax scare - but what you just described actually sounds like the worst case scenario that could happen for type of marketing ( whats good is that you did not end up behind bars)

one question - did it not cross your mid that someone receiving a package with a pill in it would trigger any red flags , given the hysteria going on at the time?

Hi Jimmy, welcome to the site. I have been finding all sorts of really good info. I am in the middle of a deal right now and when the dust settles, I may brave a short sale or foreclosure of some type. Welcome again .. hope to read about your progress.