All Forum Posts by: John McConnell

welcome. I'm sure you will get some great input on here. I would also recommend checking out local REIA and mastermind groups in order to have some face time with other investors. You may find a great deal there. Check FB and Meetup.

Nice! thanks for sharing all of this great info.  Place looks amazing and it looks like it was a tremendous success as far as learning a few things about flipping.  Im not sure flipping is my cup of tea but I really like what you did and how you broke everything down.  And less talking more doing..  all about that!  ...Its the power of the Home Depot. ;-)

I would say nothing is impossible.  You will have to do the research and see if it all meets your criteria.  That means you will have to have a criteria to meet.  I would also venture as much to say that you will for sure need local guidance and advice.  I'm sure you're not the first person to think of it.  Its all just a matter of figuring it all out.  I personally plan on one day purchasing property in Europe, specifically Germany.  Everyone tells me its a bad idea and crazy expensive etc etc but they do not understand my motivation behind it.  There are Americans all over the world who buy property.  Cut your learning curve in half and find out who has done it there and what they recommend.  The locals in the middle east do have a tight grip on the market but it is certainly not a closed market.

Completely agree with everything you said except for the masters degree. I feel the only thing you gain additional value add from a masters degree (besides a nice plaque to put on the wall for office cred) is the pure social aspect of it. Degrees are great and college is great, don't get me wrong, but it is not everyone's cup of tea. I factor in opportunity cost depending on where you are in your career. For someone just starting out in life and very early in their career it may be beneficial (and also depending if you are planning on staying in said field as you progress through life). For someone with 20+ years of military service who has been working in said field and plans on leveraging that experience for future "jobs" the only reason for a degree at that point would be job requirement. Not to mention that you can take most ivy league college courses online for free minus any book you may purchase to go along with the course. A lot of time and money for slight return on investment (ROI) doesn't make sense from a business standpoint. There are things you will have to learn through some type of specialized education program (ie. Real Estate Agent/Broker, Certified Financial Planner, Accountant or CPA) and I feel specific focus learning makes sense dollar wise and time wise. To put it in perspective, you are not going to put granite countertops in a $600 a month rental unit (maybe you will maybe you won't) because the cost doesn't justify the ROI. Same goes for education. I for sure am not spending upwards of 6 figures and 4-6 years of my life just so I can understand how to be a business owner in theory. I have personally learned more this year reading upwards of 90+ books not just on real estate but business, psychology, history, sociology, philosophy, math, finance and other real world topics that I can apply to my life right now in real time. Listening to not just all of the BP podcasts but other relevant podcasts and recordings reinforcing most of what I have read. I look for the patterns between topics and where those topics meet is where the real knowledge is learned. Even Kiyosaki says that you have to seek out both sides of the coin, the thesis and the antithesis, and then look for the true answer where the two sides meet.. on the edge of the coin. So I would completely agree with devouring every bit of knowledge you can from books (make sure they are good books from people who know what they are talking about). Devour as much info you can from the podcasts. Ask as many questions as you can on here to get specific help with what you are doing. Take notes. Don't just listen but take notes and regurgitate what you have learned so that it sticks. Lastly take action. Don't just try to do something, do it. Like @Michael Woodward said don't short-cut your education. Oh yeah, get out to some local real estate working groups and meet the local players in your market. Wealth of knowledge in just a single meeting (mentors).

What area of NH are you looking if you don't mind me asking.  I have noticed that the larger towns and cities have more concentration (especially in the south and east of NH).  So for my understanding a good way to judge it is to take the property and based off of local rents for that area get the average % of rent to value, subtract repairs and there is your comp value.  OR, adjust 2 or 4 down to the 3 in order to figure out market values.  Makes sense.

Great recap of info. This is for sure the way I'm going to get started. Already looking at banks and trying to secure pre-approval. Thank you!

Sorry @Ann Bellamy I just realized this morning when I was going over my calendar. Can't wait to see the new place. Hopefully the traffic will not kill me getting there. @Barbara G. I guess the definition of partnership needs to be clarified but yes, having someone go through the trenches with you is a huge motivational factor. On the days when things are not going so good you have someone there to push you along and vice versa. I'm all in favor of working with anyone in any capacity because whatever happens I will be continually learning. As far as a traditional partnership, of course there needs to be safeguards in place in order to protect each persons interests. I think it's all about connections and working with people doing things you love to do and sharing that experience with likeminded people. We are after all in the people business..the rental/sales/ownership/money is just the byproduct of how well you work with people and solve problems. 

kindof of in a similar situation myself and learning along the way. I have been heavily studying and researching since may of this year. Listened to all the podcasts and have read about 80ish business and real estate books (along with some inspirational historical books like Seneca, Ben Franklin, John Adams, etc). So I have been diving in head first. I have no desire at this point in my life to get my license. I do have access to the MLS through my agent and she is amazing. My brother offered to co-sign with me since my score is a little low. I am sitting on the fence about that. Even though I have been at it and have been looking at properties (physically as well) I am still not as comfortable with it as I feel I should be. That being said, Colin Powell said that during the gulf war the reason we were able to be so decisive was that they found the sweet spot between knowledge and action.. between 40-70%. So if you have at least 40% knowledge you should be able at that point to start making wise enough decisions to move forward with action. My actions at this point is like was mentioned above. Going through the process of crunching the numbers as if I am buying a property. I think you are fine with analysis and figuring out your own way of doing the math. The math is not universal for every market. There are similarities but also big differences. Especially here in NE. If nothing else if you ever want to learn more I would also hit up the local REIA meetings and masterminds. The Black Diamond meeting (@Ann Bellamy) is happening in Worcester tomorrow night at 6pm.  Event is on meetup if you need to find it or just search Black Diamonds on the web or FB. I will be there.  If you decide to some let me know.

Amazing find!  Would you mind going into your thought processes of that deal.  I don't need to know the specifics but if you wouldn't mind elaborating on what you were thinking before, during, and then finally after you made the purchase.  What led you to the deal?  How did you know it was a deal (what signs sent up red flags on the current property manager, what did you look for)?  If you could do it all over again is there anything you would do differently?  Thanks in advance!

STEVE!! you made it to the party!  Welcome! I was looking for your contact info and was unable to find it (or find you on BP) (lost some contacts when my phone broke).  Since I have been out of the loop for a couple months traveling and such all over the world.  Now I am back and looking forward to my next meeting on the 22nd @ Fody's in Nashua (its on meetup).  If nothing else hope to see you again in the future.  Enjoyed the last talk we had.