All Forum Posts by: Jason Pinkerton

Thanks everyone! I am leaning towards the local assistant, given my current business structure and inability to communicate very well while at work.

Any tips on do's and don'ts placing an ad? I've never hired anyone for a job, let alone a real estate assistant job, so I want to avoid pitfalls like Craigslist scams or something. Thanks for any advice.

-Jason Pinkerton

Hey BP World!

Like the title says, which is better, a VA or real assistant you see semi-regularly. Here's the backstory...

I recently got serious into REI. Started my education 9 months ago when I realized renting out my house wasn't adding up the way I wanted it and figured there had to be a better way, thus discovering BP. Once I finally made the commitment to do this, I bought 3 properties within a month of the jump while selling the home that wouldn't rent well enough to be worth it. I quickly found out that was more than my "system" could handle. You see, I work a full time job in which I am virtually disconnected with the world for 8 hours a day, Monday-Friday. No cell phone, no e-mail, barely reachable by work phone. A bit of an issue when you're needing to send documents back and forth and be reachable for questions regularly. While I can step away from work for a short bit to check my phone/e-mail, this system is far from productive and leads to many individuals getting frustrated.

So, I need someone who can fill out paperwork (shy of signing), review it, manage the deals, do bookkeeping, and compile each day's happenings where I can quickly go through it and make sure everything is order. I have a hard time turning over every bit of my life to someone I've never seen or met (yes, I've read Tim Ferris's opinion on the matter) and hope they don't screw me over down the road. I feel like a local assistant, though maybe more costly, would bring a sense of security (to me) as well as reachability during east coast business hours. Any thoughts/experience on the matter? 

Also, I live in the Tampa Bay, FL area, so if anyone has any recommendations, I would be most appreciative. Thanks!

-Jason Pinkerton

Looking for either a partner to complete deal or someone to take it off my hands. I'm under contract with a wholesaler but it appears my hard money lender is not coming through (stopped returning e-mails, calls and texts several days ago) and I close on Aug 24th ($200/day for extension). I don't want to lose this deal because for one, it's a great deal and two, I already put $5,000 down. 

If someone wants to partner on it, they would have to fund $80-$90k (total $107k purchase - my $5k down and the $12k-$22k I can put into). The main house is vacant and needs $17k in rehab which I would fund. The estimated rent after rehab is $1k/mo, totaling $1750/mo rent, which is a 14% CAP rate (in an actually decent area of town)! ARV is $140k, though I intend to hold it for rent.

I simply don't have enough time to turn to another hard money lender.  I won't bad mouth the lender here, but needless to say I won't be doing business with them anymore.  I have the full packet on the property for interested partners/buyers. This is NOT the way I was looking to find a partner, but to save the deal, am willing to go outside my comfort zone. Hoping for the best.

-Jason Pinkerton

Hello BP World,

Bottom Line Up Front: Can I sell my home and owner-finance the down payment or rest of the asking if the appraisal won't allow the full asking price ($180k), but the buyer wants it and we needto get rid of it (to start investing elsewhere).

Backstory: I am selling my home in Fayetteville, NC (28306). The last contract we accepted (now cancelled) used a VA loan through USAA and the appraisal came back WAY low, $159k on a house we paid $175 for in 2013 and put $20k in upgrades to it. We were pretty annoyed with the way USAA sent an out-of-state appraiser who would ONLY do comps in that exact neighborhood, which is a rural-ish subdivision and definitely did not have any good comps. My REA offered better comps within 1.5 miles, same country and area but he wouldn't budge. Since it was a VA loan, which is a HUGE portion of the Fayetteville market, we're screwed for 6 months on that appraisal unless we challenge it (in the works). So, if a buyer can only (or only wants to) do VA, can I lend them the rest of the money to make the deal go through? I'm not sure this is really what I want to do, but I really need the capital to start investing in Tampa, FL. Any advice is appreciated.

Caveats: Yes, I know I did not make a good deal when I bought but I was not really an REI at the time, just buying a home for the family. Only after attempting to rent and seeing I would not make a profit in renting did I discover BP and therefore a much better way to invest. Also, if anyone here is interested in buying the house, PM me and I can give you more details. Would be willing to make a good deal if it worked out for everyone.

Jason Pinkerton

Hello All,

I am starting my real estate business in Tampa, FL. Even though I am just getting started, I wanted at the cornerstone of my real estate business to give back to the community. As I build my wealth to provide a better life for my family, I want to stay rooted in my foundations of servitude and community. I have a soft spot for the homeless, and being military myself, particularly homeless veterans. I want to start (or join, if something like already exists) a non-profit organization that helps homeless (particularly veterans) individuals find employment by providing them apprenticeships with local contractors (and eventually other career fields) where they receive training and after an agreed amount of time, the contractor can hire them if they have done well. I want to help those who are willing to work at getting their life back on track. I want this to be connected not monetarily, but ideologically to my real estate business because as I work with contractors and other real estate related business I can network and connect homeless vets with career (or at least job) opportunities. I say all this to try and find like minded individuals that want to become apart of something that gives back in this way. I already have a ton on my plate being military, starting a real estate business, and of course with a family. However, with the right team who is passionate about this type of community service, I feel we could do great things together. If there is anyone out there who has any advice or is interested in helping, I would love you to reach out (reply, PM, or colleague request). Thanks in advance!

Jason Pinkerton

Hello Everyone,

I've been listening to BP for a couple months now and am ready to start my first deal. I live in Tampa, FL (33621) and am trying to stay in the Tampa, St. Petersburg, or Brandon area. I grew up here, but have been away for 16 years in the military. I'm stationed back at MacDill and discovered real estate investing when  trying to rent out a previous home I owned at my last duty station. I am looking for people to connect with in the Tampa area. To be honest, right now I just want to get a little more knowledge. I'm not trying to sell anything. I'm looking to build relationships with people like the ones on BP. In the future, I'm definitely interested in doing deals and such with someone, however, I'm being cautious no to overextend myself (I'm still active duty military...kind of takes up some time). 

I guess some questions I have are:

1. Any good contractors, wholesalers, or lenders, real estate agents in the area

2. Any areas that tend to be great investment or (kind of more importantly) terrible investment areas

3. Just any other "good tips" you have for the area.

Thanks for any information.

-Jason Pinkerton

Rent Ready Tampa, LLC

Great podcast. So far my favorite, so I have only listened to about 30  have your podcast. PLEASE hurry up and make an audiobook version, just don't let Brandon narrate it (sorry buddy, your vocal skillset is better served in podcasts vice audiobook narration).

I'm sure many of you have been here. YOU are getting into real estate investing and are very passionate about it. You become so passionate about it, you talk about it a LOT. You want your spouse to be passionate about it as well, however, they don't see things like you do. You feel like you "get it" and see things differently (likely attributable to a book like Rich Dad, Poor Dad) and that they would get it too if they just gave real estate a chance. But alas, they want to play it safe and think your wild ideas are dangerous. So obviously having the support of your spouse is very important, especially since it will involve both your finances, positively or negatively. So how does one get their spouse involved and even excited about real estate investing? Just as important, how does one prevent turning them off from real estate investing (i.e. doing it the wrong way)? Thanks for any feedback!