All Forum Posts by: Joe Aiola

@Andres Restrepo you should connect with @Sarah Hooff - she's an agent who lives in Newburgh and knows the area very well.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

@Kyle Knowles Great post and congrats on getting started so early! I would suggest driving around your market and look for houses that are under construction to find experienced investors. Stop by and try to find out who the owner is so that you can strike up a conversation with them. Explain that you're looking to get in the business and are extremely motivated. Then find a way to add value to them - offer to work for free, for example. This is a great way to get your foot in the door and to get experience.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

@Zane Steward You've got some great advice on this thread. In my opinion, there are several ways to find deals that will work. I would recommend choosing one that you feel will work best in your market and become a master at it. A lot of times people try multiple strategies but then only make a little progress in each area - I think it's better to make massive progress with one strategy.

One more thing I will add is to make telling people what you do / what you buy a habit. A deal can come from talking to an old friend at a grocery store, for example.

Hope this helps - best of luck!

@Nicholas Hamblen I agree with @Michael Noto - getting your license should be viewed as an investment that you're confident you can get a good return on. If you're going to hound the MLS for deals and use it to learn the market inside out, then get it. If you're buying / selling multiple properties a year and want to save on commission then get it. But if the goal is to just buy a standard rental once or twice a year, then it probably makes sense to just use an agent instead. Getting your license requires time & money, so just view it as an investment!

Hope this helps & best of luck!

@Hayden Done You've got some great advice from @Ben Zelenka @William Dinsmore and @Cody Barna. In my opinion, at this stage of the game, you should be focusing on learning every single day while working on putting yourself in a strong financial position to buy real estate. Work on eliminating debt, increasing savings, and earning more income while you learn.

Don't go to an agent blind. Study your market - research the towns, streets, and price points. Once you feel you know the market well enough, start to develop a criteria. Doesn't need to be perfect, but write it down and tweak it as you need.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

@A Xiong Congrats! My advice would be to try to shadow a top agent on your team and become the best student you can be. Find a way to add value to them. 

Another good idea is to constantly tell people you are in the business - you want to be top of mind when they need an agent. It may be months from now or years, but you want to be the first person they think of.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

@Waleep Alvi all good points made by @Tanner Sherman @Bjorn Ahlblad and @Sharlene Mulchandani. I would just ask yourself what kind of rental are you going for? Obviously glass looks nicer and is more appealing to a tenant, but not something that necessarily drives up the rent price. If you have a recently remodeled place then I would say go with the glass to complete the look. If it's just a standard rental, then go with the shower curtain. 

Never a bad idea to look at the comps - this should help give you some direction based on your specific market. Best of luck!

@Ryan Monty Great questions! I think the answer will vary based on the investor. For example, the number one has in reserves (for each property) needs to be one that makes the investor feel comfortable - this number could be very different for each investor. The amount of risk one is willing to take will also vary. 

BRRRR is great because it forces you to buy a great deal (if the numbers are right!) which means it gives you the flexibility to sell or bring in a partner if need be. These can be two options if you feel like you're scaling too quickly.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

@Thomas Hang A live in flip works really well when doing mainly cosmetic repairs, and if you plan on doing most of the work yourself. Since you'll be living there, you'll just have to nail down your timeline - you don't want to go long without a kitchen or a bathroom (always make sure you have a working bathroom, obviously).

Constantly moving furniture is a pain, so you might want to think about that as well. If you can dedicate the basement, or one area of the house as storage, that would help. Then you can go room by room fixing and finishing.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

@Kevin Nolan this will depend on which town you're in - you definitely don't want to over renovate and then not get your money back. Choosing how much to renovate on a home in Ossining is much different than in Bronxville, for example.

My advice is to look at the market to see what the ARV will be and to see what finishes the other renovated homes have. Other investors, property managers, or agents should be able to help you with this.

Best of luck!