All Forum Posts by: Jake Thomas

@Account Closed makes a good point about quitting I wouldn't do that just yet, you need to get your feet wet first unless its east to quit today and get rehired in the same position in 6 months if this doesn't work out. 

Either way good luck. 

@Drew Brown I took my in seat class at night in GR. Greenridge puts it on. 2 weeks long going 4 nights a week. 

@Adrienne Crawford First, it's a good thing you want to supplement or replace your current income with real estate as its a great way to build wealth. Personally, I am a part time agent and still hold my day job currently. Last year I sold almost $3 Million in Real Estate while working my day job. I do not suggest a sudden career change but more of a gradual one if your job allows it. Leaving the comfort of the consistent paycheck to be a Realtor is a scary idea. I only sold one house in my first 7 months but after that things started to move and I was able to get listings. Without that day job I wouldn't have been able to afford my bills and went deeper into debt. Now that I have been doing this for a while and I have figured out my system to generate leads and buyers I can leave the comfort of my day job which I plan to do this year at some point. You might get some training at Century 21 but they won't teach you how to stand out and be unique as an agent. They will likely give you a list of numbers to call for expired listings or FSBO's and say good luck. It takes time to figure it out, you need to go through a few transaction till you feel really comfortable.

This doesn't sound like anything special to me. From start to finish for getting licensed it was about $1,500 for me.  But you likely have to be under their brokerage for one year. Personally I am not a fan of larger brokerages as they take to much % of your commission. If $900 is incentive enough to start a new career you should think long and hard about it. If you can't afford the $1,500 to get licensed how are you going to survive till your first commission check which could take months.  

@Kyle Dee Do you not have any money to put down? Is FHA an option at only 3.5% down? I am not sure anyone will give you a bridge loan without and skin in the game or track record. I could be wrong though.

@Andy Albrecht the local REIA Meetup is the second Monday of every month I believe. It is held at the Buffalo Wild Wings on 44th in Grandville/Wyoming. @Brandon Krieg runs it and will have more info. 

We prefer Lowes then Home Depot for general stuff. We use local wholesalers for drywall, steel studs, siding etc. I will only go to Menards if I absolutely have to. Returns at Menards are a nightmare and the rebates are a joke. The last three times I tried to send in rebates I never get them back. @Andy Luick is correct about Lowes commercial desk. Make friends and they will give you discounts. The guy I work with will usually ships the stuff to my job site for free and give me a discount on all them while saving me a trip all together to the store. Once you get busy having the bulk stuff delivered saves so much time, daily trips to the store is no fun. 

@Demetrius Brickhouse I am considered a part time agent that has a full time job currently. I was able to close 27 houses in 2015 while holding my full time job. I would suggest a gradual change instead of just quitting your day job and jumping into a new career all together. You will work longer hours and 7 days a week but if you become successful as an agent it will have been worth it. Plus, it is difficult to get bank loans without a w2 job. My lender will not loan solely on my RE income until it has been two full years. Keep the day job learn the ropes as a realtor and invest. 

I always tell first time investors "There is always another house". 

Don't overpay for the one you said was overpriced, something always comes up for sale that's better.  Don't rush into the first one and make sure you offer where it makes sense for you and for the cash flow in the future. If the one that needs some cash up front to make it right has better cash flow and equity potential that is the one I would go for. Plus, if the one property truly is overpriced by $35K your lender won't loan on it anyways as it will not appraise for sale price. Good luck. 

I like the HELOC option @Account Closed pointed out. Also, with that much equity you can sell it and should be able to buy another primary and at least down payments on two other rental properties, maybe three depending on what they sell for in your market. It all depends on how fast you want to grow the portfolio and how much debt you would like to take on. The Dave Ramsey plan is great of having paid off rentals but one at a time takes forever. leveraging the debt is an investors friend to a certain point. We have a similar situation with about $120K in equity in our primary. We thought about selling this year because we are coming up on our 2 yr no capital gains tax mark but have decided a HELOC is the best option. This is so we can make cash purchases quickly with better clean offers, then the bank that has given us the HELOC can refi the same property within 2 weeks. Good luck, either way its a good problem to have.