All Forum Posts by: Joe Odere

OK Rick thanks for that input. Like I said, I'm just spitballing. Don't know all that goes into it.

Is 12% interest standard in this sort of thing? What are average holding costs?

Hello,

I have an idea for my first deal to be one that helps my family out. My uncle in Georgia just passed away, leaving behind a house that is paid off. His kids (my cousins) are college-age, and are still waiting to see what is in place in terms of estate. But I'm positive he left everything to them, as my uncle was divorced. I don't think they are going to want to deal with the property at all, but it's way to soon to run my idea by them. That's why I'm here:

My idea is to enter into a contract with them, where I put up holding costs (taxes, insurance, utilities, etc.) until I find a cash-buyer for them. Once the house is sold, they get a cut of what it was sold for, minus my holding costs. I'm thinking my take would be 52%, and a 24% take for each of my cousins.

I don't have a ton of capital, which is why I ruled out paying my cousins something up front. But I do work full-time, and hopefully could budget holding costs out of my salary. Also I'm based in Chicago, but my cousins are in the Atlanta area. Listening to the Low (or No) Money Down audiobook is what got me thinking along these lines. But I need to run this by you more experienced folks out there, to make sure there isn't something I'm grossly overlooking.

Feel free to tell me that this is the dumbest idea you've ever heard. Just please spare no detail as to why!

Hello,

I have an idea for my first deal to be one that helps my family out. My uncle in Georgia just passed away, leaving behind a house that is paid off. His kids (my cousins) are college-age, and are still waiting to see what is in place in terms of estate. But I'm positive he left everything to them, as my uncle was divorced. I don't think they are going to want to deal with the property at all, but it's way to soon to run my idea by them. That's why I'm here:

My idea is to enter into a contract with them, where I put up holding costs (taxes, insurance, utilities, etc.) until I find a cash-buyer for them. Once the house is sold, they get a cut of what it was sold for, minus my holding costs. I'm thinking my take would be 52%, and a 24% take for each of my cousins.

I don't have a ton of capital, which is why I ruled out paying my cousins something up front. But I do work full-time, and hopefully could budget holding costs out of my salary. Also I'm based in Chicago, but my cousins are in the Atlanta area. Listening to the Low (or No) Money Down audiobook is what got me thinking along these lines. But I need to run this by you more experienced folks out there, to make sure there isn't something I'm grossly overlooking.

Feel free to tell me that this is the dumbest idea you've ever heard. Just please spare no detail as to why!

Thanks guys! This resolved for me. It was taking a few days for my iTunes to sync (I have a pretty old computer).

Wow! This is all great feedback! Based on what I've heard, this is the plan for my first baby steps:

-compare and contrast geographic areas using MLS

-from there, I'll look into sites like Realtor.com, assessing properties in terms of list price, sale price, and time on the market

@Patrice B. I haven't decided what would be best for me to invest in. I'm gathering that most people start out with flips. But I barely know how to use a screwdriver! I'm going to spend the next year or so paying down my credit card and student loans--and learn as much as I can along the way. Wholesaling sounded interesting from the book, but the difficulty in wholesaling is not lost on me; it sounded interesting to me because of all the options for creative financing. And the concept of buy-and-hold I still don't understand properly. I hope that answers your question!

Thanks to all of you for being so supportive and helpful!

Hi Everybody,

New to the site, and just finished the book on investing with no and low money down (paraphrasing the title). My main takeaway on how to start (besides just getting out there and talking to people) is to get as educated as possible, and learn as much about your market as you can.

The book mentioned some property listing sites like Zillow. Any other tips on ways to research my market (which in my case would be Chicago and Northeast Illinois) on the web?

Hi All!

So I bought the audio version of the The Book on Investing in Real Estate with No and Low Money Down.

I really like it so far and I have it in my iTunes. But for whatever reason I can't migrate it to my iPhone. Is there something I am just neglecting to do? Or do the files have to be a specific format (ie Audiobook or something?)