All Forum Posts by: Mark Podolsky

I really like Michael Lauther's answer to you. My advice is to decide what you "like" about real estate. Do you enjoy marketing, construction, interior decorating, financial analysis or are you a people person. Certain niches lend themselves to certain skill sets. For example, I was an investment banker before I quit my job to start flipping land full time. It's been 11 years and I've only flipped one home and even though I made money when I factored in my time and frustration I probably broke even or lost money.

I'm not handy, and I have a hard time giving up control to someone else so not being on site and fixing up a home made me miserable. Raw land is a perfect fit for me since it requires no maintenance and I focus on the aspects of real estate I enjoy such as deal hunting, marketing and relationships.

Best of luck to you, but really take a deep breath and figure out what your skill set is prior to jumping into any niche. Then learn as much as you can!

Josh-- you will love this site! Tons of free information available! Good luck with your investing!

I know this isn't formal education, but one of my favorite sites to get inspired with big ideas or learn more about a particular subject is TED at http://www.ted.com/. They have a fantastic iPad app and the people range from authors, inventors, scientists, artists, actors, etc. and you can choose video lectures from Technology to business to global issues. After listening to these ideas, you can always take a bit of this genius with you and start using it in your real estate business. As always, knowledge is power.

Does anyone have an experienced real estate attorney in the Phoenix area they have worked with to structure partnership deals? Also, since I've never taken on partners or investors what is the typical split if I do all the work and they're just looking for a nice ROI?
Any advice would be appreciated. Plus, my margins are crazy high on land flips and land notes and it seems like if I could promise a 16% return for an investor they'd be happy instead of say 50/50? Am I being naive?

I have been investing in tax defaulted property for over 5 years. What John said above is correct. There are tax-deed states and tax lien states. There are a lot of excellent resources online to learn more about this topic. Generally speaking, tax deed investing is easier to get started in, but the due diligence is extremely important. You have to make sure the deed issued is one in which a buyer's title company will insure. Some do, some don't. The auctions pay for the back taxes and you have to be able to gauge value prior to the auction which can be tough if you are a beginner. Anyways, I prefer tax defaulted land as I don't like to deal with homes or taking someone's home. Hope this was helpful.

Mark