All Forum Posts by: Joshua Durrin

@Dennis Nikolaev

Wow! Nice dream you must have had. 😁 ...waking up to $1M dollar reality. I think I need to get a better mattress.

@Russell Brazil

I realize he’s not in your market... which tells me that it’s a conditioned response.

Best of luck to all.

@Russell Brazil

You’re wrong Russel. That’s just an easy cut on what you fear to be competition. I’ve seen plenty of full time agents that are just as incompetent as you’re trying to make him out to be, merely because he might be part-time.

I’d put my money on any part-time investor/agent over most full-time agents. And frankly, there is no such thing as full-time or part-time in this business. I do real estate ALL THE TIME. It’s what I eat, sleep and breathe. It’s what I’ve continued to learn about every day for over a decade. But I also have a family, a crap load of hobbies, and a second career. And I’m still successful in real estate.

I don't care how many FHA purchases a full-time agent has closed. I care about the creativity and problem-solving ability they bring to the table to make a deal work for everyone involved, how available they are (or they're strategy) to service my transaction, and that they're responsive to my calls and questions in a timely fashion... whether it be at 7am or 10pm. It doesn't matter to me if they're part time or not. That's such a lame deflector from having to address the actual question.

@Jesse Smith

I’ve seen it both ways. When I make sales calls I’ve heard, “oh, we have a friend who can help us.” On the other side I can also appreciate wanting to keep business separate from friends. I suppose it depends on what your friends are into.

I personally do that as well (I don’t look to my friends/family to carry my business). Doing business with a friend can strain the relationship. What if it goes wrong? What if there is a disagreement in pricing, staging, counteroffers? What if the deal falls apart while under contract? What if a buyer walks after a counteroffer or a refusal to fix a condition? In real estate, the layperson often blames their agent for such things, even if the agent had no fault in it whatsoever. When a buyer walks, it reflects poorly on the agents, rightfully so or not. It’s a perception, a feeling... and emotions are really hard to control even when in conflict with logic.

One approach to leveraging your friends and family is to ask them if the KNOW OF anyone else that might need your help rather than asking them if they need your help. Your friends, depending on how close you are, have seen the best and THE WORST of you. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that they might be hesitant.

Another thing you might do is have a conversation with your friends up front. Be 100% forthcoming and honest. Tell them, “hey dude, I don’t mind helping out but this is how I make my living. I typically get paid for the time I’ve invested in learning this trade and the services I provide, just the same as you do in your field. I’m happy to help where I can this time, but at some point in the next conversation I’d like for you to return the favor and let me help you sell your house/buy your house on a professional level so that I can earn my living too.”

I’ve had the conversation with friends as well about being a scuba instructor. Their first thought is always, “dude! You can certify me now.” And while I say yes, I can, I remind them that it is a means for me to make additional money to feed my family and that I can’t do it without having my expenses covered, including the time it takes for me to certify them.

Even encountered the difficulty of managing friends on a professional level... if you do business with friends or family, you need to have the conversations up front about what if it goes wrong. And then you need to stick to your guns and maintain the integrity of your roles if they try to take advantage of the situation... or you try to (or it’s perceived that you try to) take advantage of the situation.

Have the discussions beforehand. If you want to keep friendships separate, keep them separate. If you don’t want to, accept the risk that you’re going to be hurt if they don’t select you / don’t trust you and vice versa you risk losing your friends if things go wrong in a transaction.

Good luck. Great question!

I went straight for my brokers license over a decade ago. As such, I don’t need to hang my license under anyone.

I’ve been independent so that I could be investor friendly and have never regretted a moment of it. Unfortunately there are a lot of agents in the biz that just don’t know how to handle transactions that are out of the box (bank financing with standard down). Very often they get the deer-in-the-headlights look when you start talking about seller financing, trades, wrap-arounds, simple interest terms, balloons, or what have you. I’ve even been told that I was “using the wrong form.” (Slap the forehead here, 🤦‍♂️). (There is no such thing as the “wrong form”... you can write a deal on a napkin as long as both sides agree to the terms and they’re reasonable.)

Some brokers are simply too risk averse to allow their agents to serve investors like they need, with creative terms and such. As an independent, I can write whatever deal you can imagine so long as it’s ethical and legal. I still need to work with traditional agents a lot of the time, however, and thus it can still be difficult to get even the best deal to stick if it’s non-traditional. Sometimes my job becomes to teach and coach, even on the other side of the transaction. So I always try to approach the deal with a collaborative spirit, not competitive... like good investors do too. In fact, I preface every offer I make with a letter, actually, that explains how fortunate we are as industry professionals to be helping two parties with complimentary objectives on such a large and exciting (and sometimes stressful) scale accomplish their goals.

Anyhow, I’ve always enjoyed being independent and would encourage the same. It takes A LOT of research, studying, learning, absorbing, trial and error... and courage and humility. But it’s been great so far and I just love what I do, and especially helping others along just the same. Hit me up if you need some help.

@Chad Urbshott

This is a great example but I’m not following it all the way. You mentioned that say I “purchased it for $50k” but then had a total outstanding balance in the $90k’s. You lost me there.

In the original hypothetical I used a loan amount of $100k.

Can you help me follow your analysis if I’m the original lender and funded $100k of purchase mortgage for a buyer?

Sorry for confusion.

@Christopher Chen

I tend to agree with Amit. I too feel as if the market here will continue to climb, especially in the long game.

I practice all over the East Bay. Recently purchased a duplex in the area too. The East Bay shows promising signs being the next hotbed of investor activity given it’s affordable and it’s in a commutable location to almost any of the rest of the Bay Area.

Feel free to reach out if you want to chat further on some opportunities around.

@Nathaniel Symonds

I’m really surprised by some of the responses here. It’s as if the trolls have infiltrated the forums or something. Let’s preserve the spirit of learning and keep the negativity and condescension elsewhere.

Some of the comments have centered around not doing it but have been somewhat condescending in their approach. Perhaps the advice still has merit though. I think some of the point is that there is a learning curve with investing in real estate and it would be ideal if you invest more locally and with less money while you climb that curve verses jumping right into out of state investing. Keeping your investment local will prove advantageous to you while you get your education in property management and set up your business. When you get that call from your tenant where she expresses concern for her well-being due to “mold” on the edges of her shower and you find out it was just mildew from poor cleaning... what are you going to do? You’ll have expenses tied up with sending a handyman to the property to address an “emergency” health issue only to come to find out it was a cleaning issue. Having your investment local to you, you’ll have a much less stressful time managing it and the services you contract with it. You’ll also be able to get out of it quicker, if/when it comes to that, being directly immersed into your market versus trying to find and understand valuation and risk factors remotely.

If you still want to invest out of state, build your team. Find boots on the ground that you can partner with.

Best of luck.

@Jeff C.

Hi Jeff,

Put best by Robert Kiyosaki in Rich Dad Poor Dad, you own a liability, not an asset. An asset is something that pays you. A liability is something that takes money from you. You have to feed this “investment” each month in order to keep it... thus it is a terrible investment as it stands currently... rather, it is a liability.

Investing for appreciation is a debatable topic in these forums. I personally don’t count on it but do factor it into my overall return on a property. So, it’s a piece of the whole pie, but I would never bank on it to keep the place. I need all pieces of the pie to work together, not against one another. Right now you are banking on appreciation carrying your whole investment growth while the cash-flow piece of the pie is performing horribly. As for principle-reduction, you are essentially paying for that yourself... not your investment.

I would strongly suggest that you sell this property and take your capital gains elsewhere to put into a PERFORMING asset... one that makes you money instead of one that takes your money.

Even in the Bay Area there are still properties to be found. It takes a bit of patience and a strong buying position, but you’ll be well positioned with the growth from this property to date to buy well. If you’re open to other markets out of state or at least further away in state, the sky is the limit for you. Perhaps take what you’ve learned about property management with this investment and organize it so that you can manage it well even with remote properties.

What you want in your mailbox each month is money, not a bill.

Best of luck,

Josh

Ah, as to areas, we were lucky enough to buy in Alameda. But I expect good growth over the long term in West Oakland and down by the Hayward area.