All Forum Posts by: E. Jacobs

Thanks for the reply,

any idea what I should search for to find what other people have said about the topic?

Hi all, I am currently taking an online pre-licensing class and I have a question about what exactly happens after I pass the state exam and what my options are. I have recently formed an investment company that will be purchasing several real estate holdings. I thought it would be a good move to get my license so that I can access the MLS, gain easier access to properties, and save on commission (or even make commission). I would prefer to spend minimal if any time having to field calls, attend meetings, etc. at the branch office of my broker because I want to be out searching for properties, managing investments, and raising funds. I do not really care about making commissions - I am more interested about the personal benefits that being a part of the local board may have in terms of my investment endeavors. Are there any brokerage firms that specialize in this type of thing or that would be beneficial for me to check out? Are no brokers going to want to sponsor me if these are my goals?

I would also keep in mind that even out of the 51,000 members, how many of them have been active? How many of them have any interest in rehabbing? How many of them are serious enough to spend money on something and how many of them are experienced enough to where they don't need to be buying other people's programs? How many people were available at the exact time of the event and how many people noticed that the teleseminar was even taking place? How many people would have signed up today and how many people would have signed up but for something less than $50? No matter how you look at it, 3 registrants is pretty pathetic. But it's also unfair to assume that everyone would be interested in or available for this event or even knew about it

I was really looking forward to this event, but as I went to sign up just now I noticed how the event had been cancelled. I couldn't believe that only THREE people had signed up, although I believe a couple others might have mentioned they were going to sign up today as well. Anyways, I also believe that the format could have been better to improve convenience. A webinar or video that could be watched at any time would probably make it a lot easier for everybody. This way, no one would have to clear away their schedule for tonight and sit on a phone for a very long time. It would also be much harder to take notes that way since you can't rewind, pause, etc. As far as you trying to sell products, I really appreciated the fact that promoted this as a real, honest lesson on rehabbing from a fellow BP member instead of a guru's sales pitch. That is why I was excited about this teleseminar and why I was willing to spend $50 on this over some other programs or books. Your word added a lot of credibility, and if you sell yourself out, it will no longer do so. I think you should definitely continue to create future events like this, except in video format. As the creator of such a fantastic site, I would definitely take your recommendations very seriously and trust that what I pay for is what I am going to get. One concern though is that since there is so much FREE content already on the site, you should emphasize things about it that would entice people to pay a premium. To me, the free book was definitely a good idea as I was expecting to get something real for my $50 even if the teleseminar wasn't what I expected. Keep up the great work and stay true to your word and I'm sure interest for things like this will increase in the future

Originally posted by Jon Holdman:

Code violations and fire damage are candidates.

Jon, how do you find properties with code violations and how exactly do you go about correcting those violations? I've seen someone else mention this tactic too and I'm interested in trying it.

Very interesting Peter. Can you elaborate slightly more though on how to make the deal work? Would your buyer only be someone who is looking to become a landlord? If so, does that make the deal easier if it needs less repairs? And how does that work with tenants in the place? I'm a tenant right now and personally I would be pretty mad if there were people coming in and out of my house doing work. Lastly, wouldn't you have a tough time selling the property to someone if they know that there are problem tenants and thats why the original landlord sold it in the first place?

I'm going to be buying a list of absentee owners off of listsource soon but I had one question first. Are these properties usually occupied by tenants? If so, this seems like it would have a huge impact on the deal. It will be harder to inspect, the value of the leased fee estate would differ from the value of a fee simple estate, and the tenants would be in the way of rehab work. When you get calls from absentee owners, do they usually call when they don't have tenants and don't want to fix the property up in order to find new ones?

If you're looking for quick cash and just to wholesale the deal, I would just keep looking for a cash investor to take it off your hands before you ever close. Assuming no or minimal repairs, the deal should make sense for someone with the cash to buy this property outright. You could also lower your assignment fee a little if you're having trouble pushing the house- 15K on a property worth 88K seems like you might be taking more of the cake than your end buyer who's the one taking all the risk. I'm not sure what your current buyers list looks like or if you have one at all, but if you don't have many then you might be able to build more interest in the property and better relationships by offering a better deal

I'd assume it's all about negotiating. Try offering a 50/50 split first and then take it from there

Well, there is nothing "wrong" with wholesaling right? Should I really need to worry about the HUD? Do you still attend the closing and if not, do you explain to the sellers why someone else will be there?