All Forum Posts by: James Propeck

@Viktor R. I've been struggling with how to respond to this. Jay and I had a long discussion lately. I told him I'm struggling to find a deal and get going in this business. Anyway, I've just been looking at two other properties, but walked away from both for good reason. If you haven't sold it to Jay, I'll send my private number and we can talk. Thank you Viktor!

You have my attention. Is this contract still available? Please forgive me, as I'm just getting into investing, but I'm a little foggy on the deal. Is this a rental that will change hands while the tenant stays or is the tenant moving out?

Thanks!

-James

I just found this post. I know it's a month old, but is it still available?

I'm interested in the Tigard SFR. Do you have pictures and a little more info?

Thank you, Michael! 

@Shannon Webb I did not have a family in '08, so I really didn't consider myself spread too thin. My days were long, but I grew up on a farm, so that seems pretty normal to me. Currently I'm working full-time, raising two toddlers while working opposite shifts from my wife and getting into real estate investing. Everyone is different, but if I can do it, you can definitely do it! My suggestion is that you look seriously at assisting a realtor or working in property management, if you need a steady paycheck right away. It takes awhile and seven long days per week to get there with commissions.

My team was working with a builder in 2007. When sales began to slump, he finished his subdivision and headed to Arizona, which left me struggling. Over the next year, I managed to sell a couple houses, was given a couple meals as "Referral Fees" and worked with investors, who were buying super cheap houses to turn into rentals or flip. That was a good time for them, but when you spend $1000/mo on advertising and only make $600/mo on commissions, you won't last long. What I saw was inspiring, though! With so many different angles, real estate is really a recession proof way to not only survive, but thrive. 

Hi Shannon! Your drive is admirable! I HATE being Mr. Negative, so it kills me to say this, but if you want to be a broker, you really need to be available full time. I was A licensed broker with Prudential in Oregon for a few years and what ultimately killed my dream was trying to do it part time. I was working with a couple investors, who bought cheap properties that wouldn't pay my ledger balance, let alone my bills, and struggling to list homes after losing the builder I worked with at the beginning of the bubble burst. So, I took a job and tried to sell dirt on the side. I still have that job, but I'm no longer a licensed RE professional. That was my experience. But the point is that you really need to pound the pavement, research and tour properties and make yourself available to clients at all hours just to survive as a broker. So many times I would tour a home with a client at 8:30am, go to the office and do some prospecting, meet with my team over lunch, research new listings and follow up on phone calls all afternoon, then go home only to have the phone ring during dinner because an offer was coming in at 8:00pm, so race back to the office or property and negotiate a deal, which may or may not close! That was a pretty normal day! Your goals and aspirations are wonderful and I wish you the best of luck! As a father of two young 'uns, I certainly know exactly where you are coming from. My advice, if your heart is set on working in RE, would be to look for a broker who needs a licensed assistant. Use that to make contacts and learn the market and inventory, while producing a steady income. Then start looking at listing some homes on your own. At that point you will have trusted partners who can help out when you are unavailable and will do more than buy you dinner when YOUR deal falls in their lap.

Hi, I've been a BP member for about a year. I'm a former broker and I loved what I did, but it came to an abrupt ending in 2007. Go figure. Anyway, I've been reading and learning for the last year and I'm ready to get rolling, so I went Pro on this site. My plan is to start out rehabbing and hopefully pick up a few cash flow properties along the way. Getting started seems pretty overwhelming, though. I don't know any private speculators to finance deals I find and I need to find a contractor who has the time and ability to partner with this venture. I still have several contacts in the RE world, but I'm not sure how valuable most of them will be. Any suggestions are welcome!

There is no park rent. As I said in the original question, the park has been purchased and subdivided by the residents, so each of them now own a mobile home on real property. There is a $35 HOA fee, but that's all they pay outside of their mortgages. My biggest concerns are the cost of disposal of the old unit and the cost of moving another unit to the property. I'm thinking I could get a couple of dumpsters and a handful of buddies with saws to go chop up the old house and have it hauled off. Maybe even make a little return from the metal frame. I don't know if there would be hazmat concerns in dismantling it or if I would need a permit. I guess the county would be able to tell me that.

Here's the situation: a manufactured home in a park across the street from the development where my home is located burned several months ago. It has been sitting vacant, with the windows boarded up, ever since. The home sits on a corner lot, which is probably the nicest in the park. I contacted the previous owner of the park and was told that the residents got together to purchase the park and subdivide several years ago, so each home is on real property now. The HOA has been unable to contact the owners and can't figure out who the lien holder is. I am currently waiting on a call back from the president of the HOA and investigating the lien holder. I believe it would be simple to track down with an address and/or tax lot number.

Anyway, my thought is that, if I can pick up the property for cheap from the owner or bank, I could potentially remove and replace the current home and sell for a tidy profit. I have no idea what it would cost to remove the current home, who would take it or if it would be cheaper to renovate and rebuild it. Does anyone have any ideas on this?