All Forum Posts by: Greg Carr

Q: How do I break my buyer's representation agreement (BRA)?

A: The quickest answer? Don't sign one! Haha.

Seriously, though, I get a few calls every month from an unhappy buyer who signed a BRA in DFW. They feel like they signed some strong, legally binding document that will blacken their soul if they even think about breaking it.

The truth is that it is very easy to break (terminate) a BRA. First, read the document and it should contain language about how to terminate the agreement. It could be very simple and easy to follow. But if not, then...

Plan B: call your agent and explain to them how unhappy you are with their services, cite a few examples (3 or more is good) of what you are unhappy about with their performance, and if they refuse then call the broker. If the broker also refuses, then contact their local real estate commission or even the NAR.

If you ever need more specific advice on this, call another agent from another brokerage and explain your situation. particularly if they are from a rival brokerage, they will be happy to talk you through it.

The REIC meetups are great. Greg Wilson is very solid, but he will charge you. You can always find an older person who has done like 30 flips/rentals over many years and ask to just talk to him and if he can mentor you through your first deal.

There are so many meetups around DFW (especially in north Dallas). Roddy Roundup is excellent. I like the REIC. Just look up DFW real estate investor club in meetup.

Find a local wholesaler or investor to mentor you.

Use meetup.com and find local meetups on real estate investing. That is the best way to start learning, and it's usually free.

Wow, Richard. Great advice you got there.

Here is something I picked up recently to find local vacants...

Call up the local water department and ask for a list of homes with the water shut off. There should be a local water code stating that you are allowed to request this information. You'll pay a fee and should receive a list of all of the homes in the area with no water. Many of those will be vacant. Now you have thousands of homes to refine your search.

Sounds like you're trying to decide both for a place to invest as well as a place to live. If you want somewhere that is good for both, I live in Fort Worth and I am sure you have heard of this area. Cost of living will blow away CA.

Funny, I work with CA investors all the time. I just had a meeting with one, and my client asks "well, wait, what are your rates?" He almost blew up the phone, "WHAT!? That's cheaper than private money out here!" I was surprised myself, "wait...how much is private money in CA?" It is amazing to me that hard money could ever be cheaper than private money anywhere. Whoever is lending private money out there is banking hard.

Some other markets to consider are Atlanta, Philadelphia and I've heard a bit about Minnesota (Minneapolis/St Paul). I was born in MN and it's a decent mid western state in terms of living. Pretty safe and great suburban areas like Eden Prarie. Big growth potential in my opinion and solid demographics for starting a business. 

Funny side note: Someone from Dallas told me about how he's buying up all these properties in Detroit and I still don't see how that is a good idea, esp. when you live in one of the hottest RE markets? Still don't get it.

Here is a solid Forbes' list: 

I had a meeting with a married couple two days ago, and they told me they joined Phill Grove's program and spent $20,000 on it. Let me reiterate: Twenty thousand dollars! My jaw almost hit the floor.

That's $20,000 you could have actually spent investing. They said they were satisfied with it, and how he sent these videos to them and they have this weekly training online where they can ask him questions. But, seriously, $20,000 is a lot of money on anybody's scale. And apparently they have only $50,000 left.

I have seen a lot of these national programs that roam between major cities giving well-marketed presentations to get people in their marketing funnel. I cannot believe the money that people spend on these things. You can get better training by simply attending local meetups and training programs for either free or $500 or less. Simply meeting a local investor and shadowing them for a bit will teach you a lot more than some training program that costs as much as a college degree.

Here is my question: is this even legal? There has to be something illegal about charging people $20,000 for some real estate guru training program.

Phill Grove also teaches about assigning mortgages to people who cannot qualify for conventional financing and charging absurd assignment fees (like $50k). That sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Anybody want to chime in on this one?

I recently attended Armondo Montelongo's event, and that place was full of the worst salesmen I've ever met. They really didn't even teach anything, they just pitched their $1,500 program (a 3 day event...) as hard as they could. One of their salesmen was an old man who was flat-out disrespectful towards me. Another was a man who started investing in Nevada and actually seemed slightly intelligent, though. The rest had very questionable credibility.

My question is this: obviously, their job is to get as many people to sign up as possible. They surely get a commission off of this. So, if they were investors, why would they be here and not actually out investing?

Nobody communicates it better than this Forbes' writer: http://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2013/06/26/...

The only millionaires I've seen come out of these programs are the individuals ripping people off for $20,000. A real estate "entrepreneur" is a scam artist extraordinaire.

Seriously, I am very late here, but my mind is blown at this discussion. I'll respond for future readers. Everything that is offered in his ridiculously overpriced program is offered at reasonable prices elsewhere. I have yet to meet a millionaire who got there from Phill.

He is an excellent speaker and presenter. Definitely. But his program is a complete ripoff. A legitimate program should not cost more than ~$500. Everything else he offers, like an auto-responder etc., is easily found elsewhere on the internet and through talking to local investors at meetups.

His program is a sales funnel. Get you in for the low low price of $2500 or whatever, then upsell you for $10-20k. Rather than actually investing that money, because the individual is scared, they throw their money at someone who gets them pumped up because they feel like he'll make them successful.

Seriously, I've been to plenty of these events hoping to network and maybe learn something (especially a bit about sales pitches), and a lot of them have a very similar pitch. Let me ask you: would a legitimate investor need to pitch you on their program so hard? Or would a legitimate investor actually be out there investing? They make their money by ripping off naive, innocent people, not by actually being successful.

Here is my advice: get a real, local mentor, and attend local meetups (which are free or nearly). Find someone who has done it, and is doing it. Ask them questions, meet them at properties, watch them do their thing and ask questions. These guru programs are full of sleazy salesmen, not investors. You should have seen Phill's wife's face when I asked of her opinion about my company, and started trying to have an actual discussion with her. It's like all that confidence and "intelligence" she presented up front just went in the tank in about 30 seconds.

Nonetheless, I did get a picture with Phill on the last day.

Good points everybody, but I wouldn't buy a property in the historical district, especially if you're out of state. Way too many red flags and hoops to jump through...you someone on the NPO to approve of your renovations, you need a contractor who is familiar with the historical district requirements, and you need a friend out here to push it through the NPO (if it gets approved).

Not to mention the stringent requirements of renovating a house in the historical district, you even need particular building materials to work with.

Even if you live here, I've seen a project turn bad very quickly in Fairmount when a contractor made an addition too large.

For an out of state investor, this could very quickly turn into a nightmare. Do not even look at the historical district if you're out of state.

Lease options are legal, but the legal requirements are a bit too much for an out of state buyer to meet the "verbiage" and "disclosure" requirements. You will need to speak with an attorney and possibly spend a few thousand dollars to draw up the contract that meets the legal requirements.

Currently, if you go over a 179 days on a lease option without the title transferring, it's a $20,000 fee per day. Another nightmare not even worth your time.

What you can do is put a sign on your lawn saying "rent to own" and just lease it out to a good tenant who wants to buy it in a year. You will help them build their credit so they are capable of buying the property in a year if all is well. That way you avoid short term capital gains taxes when you sell it. A local man named Dennis Henson has a program with everything drawn up about this, and has had some great success with it. You can look him up if you want.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/duncanrolph/2014/06/16...

This guy has an extremely educated criticism of real estate investing.

Educated, as in he went to college but really has no idea what he's talking about.