All Forum Posts by: Jack Bobeck

Can you get a plumber to give you an estimate? Sounds like that is the road you are headed down, you could tear out the ceiling, save a few bucks and get the site ready for the plumber.....

Jack

I agree with Jon K! Rentometer.com is the best source. Of course, you can always drive around your area, and call the for rent signs to get the "true rent" information....

Jack

I'd fire my realtor if I did not think my wife would divorce me first. Of course she is my retail realtor, but I prefer deals that do not include her, as there is no emotion with her involved.

Life is too short!

Jack

Jason,

Go to the National REIA site and search for a local chapter close to you. Attend their events and learn from other buyers, sellers, investors, hard money people in your area. It is the best way to find the value of properties in your new profession. This information is invaluable when you go and bid at hud.gov or auction sites or on your courthouse steps.

Itunes features a number of good investors with good ideas as well, all free, and you can never discount the power of a good or free book for that matter. Amazon has a number of good ones. Learn as much as you can, when you can, and you will find that you have become an experienced investor before you know it.

Jack

Colin,

Never stop learning, invest in yourself. People poo poo the guru shows, but you know if you spend a few hundred bucks and attend and pick up 1 item to help you close a deal in real estate, what is that worth, at least 5 to 10x the cost?

Real estate is a simple business that is not simple. For that matter, we need to, as professionals, continue to learn and educate outselves, so never stop learning, either here or in a book or in the trenches with a mentor.

Ignorance is the most expensive lesson to learn.

Jack

David,

To each their own, Joshua brings up interesting points, but people with credentials after their name might as well be educated derelicts. I mean, what value do the letters after your title hold?

Find the investors in your area who are, well, still solvent, learn from them, learn from others who are successful. I know many people with "titles" who cannot balance a checkbook. So having credentials may mean you are educated, but ask your server at the diner how their law degree and credentials are treating them in this recession.

Go join the local REIA and get to know the people who are successful and find the people who have systems and those systems that work. You will know them when you see them, then repeat, repeat, repeat. If you have not read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, the Go Givers, I recommend them highly.

Jack

Jason,

I do a little bit of everything, even the multitude of investments in self directed IRAs, I am not a real-a-tor so no need to fear me, look forward to your comments and questions. Welcome!

Jack

Just an FYI, properties that sit on the MLS that are REO, once they go past 180 days, they are packaged and sold to the PE funds. You can sometimes get a better deal buying a few properties from the PE Funds than you can from your courthouse steps. I do not know what the fund names are in your area, but search, ask and you shall find them.

I attended Than's first event in Orlando, gosh 2007 maybe, it was a well attended event and Than was on top of the world with Flip This House. His mentor is Robyn Thompson, who was mentored by Ron Legrand. Than did attend some Lou Brown events as well, so you see where I am going with this. He is good as he has a system and follows it, just as you can be good in real estate or anything, if you follow the system and repeat it.

Than, Paul, J.D. they are all great guys and they do what they do very well, but they have practiced it, and repeated it many many times over. They did learn a few things along the way, just as we have all ourselves.

Jack

Brick or Block come to mind as exterior attributes. I do not like the asbestos shingles or siding, but if the deal is good enough....

Inside, most families look at 3/2 as a minimum, perhaps a house has a 3/1 with ability to add a 2nd bath. For my retail properties I always look to see if there is at least a 3/2 option for a new prospective family. Me personally, I like to find properties I believe will provide an investor with a 15, 20, or 25 percent return, of I intend to retail it to them.