All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Greene

No brokerages are designed for investor agents as they would all be broke, but there are several that are more investor-friendly than others. You won't find the more well-known companies to be the best for this. Low fee, no desk, low overhead brokerages like eXp, HomeSmart, etc may provide less obstacles for agent-investors. This might help - https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/10015/64388-5-steps-to-finding-an-investor-friendly-brokerage

If you are doing the work to try to locate good investor buys, you are helping. That's a good start. You never want to rely solely on his guidance or else you will see all the properties he likes and he will cherry pick the best ones and give you the scraps. Best-case scenario for a new investor is to make a good friend who has a license. Even if they aren't an investor, buy them dinner if they show you a couple dirt traps. My bet is the guy is just busy and unsure how much value you will earn him in the future, which is fair from the agent's side.

@Brad Johnson I mean obviously it can work, I've spent my whole life doing it. But the finance dynamics and percentages are different. I think for a family partnership to work, everything has to be equal in all ways and this has many parts where it's not. No one wants to be on a mortgage for 5 years when her "live-in" obligation is over after a year. The thing is, yes, it's safer with lawyers and paperwork, but if you need a contract with family, it's going to be a problem later and for most, it will be bad. We just form LLCs and have never had to talk about anything, but we also grew up doing this. To get on the same page, you do have to be very clear about goals and roles, but it's just this scenario's inequality with splits and live-in and mortgages that I think will be the downfall. I love working with family, I am also very protective of the family relationship in the business because most people I know who have done it hate each other now. My sister is, and always was, my best friend.

Most people who will show up on that list with multiple properties held for 15+ years are going to be old school. They don't deal the way most people on here understand investing to be. Those guys, like the one you mentioned, who you call on one and then they have ten will do deals, but you have to have cash or be able to take something off their hands that is their worst property. There is one potential option with sellers like the one you are talking about. They are usually the most amenable to seller financing on lower deals because it's no skin off their backs and they don't need the cash and capital gains. Something to keep in mind as you develop that relationship. I agree with @Will Barnard that you need an outlet source, referral for the properties that are out of your cash range or skill range since you are just getting started.

The only people that can wholesale in the 1m range have been doing it for many, many years and have the cash to float the timeframe when it goes long. It didn't sound like from your post that you have been doing this for long. People who want to sell quick in that range want to see the money and often times when you try to wholesale it out, at that price, you will have the same issue. A lot of people will be interested, but will have to talk to some partners or something else. You will get stuck in an uncomfortable position. I wouldn't even walk it if you don't have the cash or contacts to close the deal for him, it could blow back on you as you start trying to wholesale. You don't know who he knows. Higher priced wholesale sellers may know others of the same.

A couple notes that I am sure have factored into the agent's communication routine. You say you are on the verge of your first house hack, but you have not even seen a property yet. That is not on the verge of anything. Depending how much money you have, in those areas you are going to need to see 25 properties at a minimum to get a deal. You have a long way to go and the agent probably sensed that you weren't as ready as you thought you were.

As an agent, working with new investors is a huge time-suck and little pay off. You have to look at it from their point of view. Most investors do one deal and quit so how does he or she know you are the guy who is going to end up doing 10 a year. You have to prove to him or her that you are worth their time to take you out, over and over to see dirt properties. How can you help them? One commission on deals that often fall through isn't that attractive for a busy agent.

That is not a good practice. Everyone will know you can't close on them all and agents will start encouraging the seller to accept on multiple deals to tie you in. What they mean is that you should be submitting a ton of offers, but procedurally you should have them in a hierarchy of which ones to go after first. And you are correct, if you aren't writing the offers yourself, no agent is going to write 10 offers a week for you on dirt properties when their commission will be 2-2.5% on a 100k buy. Later they might when you are doing a ton of deals, but not in the beginning.

If you have the funds to close on multiple deals, it makes sense to spray and pray, but not for new investors. Make an offer, let it get rejected. Make another and so on.

@Patrick Donovan Have I ever tried this strategy? I've done national speaking on content and tech marketing. I've done local speaking and over 50 classes taught on social media and etiquette, as well as targeted marketing. I am an expert in digital marketing and what works and what doesn't and why. I've sent probably 1,000 targeted text and email campaigns that convert the right way. I have also been a real estate coach and coached specifically on the right ways to use social media. I am not bashing you, I am trying to help you. Anyone who think that people want unsolicited reach outs on social media and text messaging is kidding themselves. It's the most grabby form of contact there is and NO ONE who receives it likes it.

Gary V knows a lot, but direct acquisition via social media SPAM is not the intent. Gary V's style is to go all-in and not give a crap about long-term relationships because he knows of the 1 percent that reply he is great with them. That is not what you are looking to do. If you want to build relationships, it doesn't start with an errant DM on Instagram. Any time you are offering yourself or your services for free in the hopes that you get paid business later you are losing. If you give free assistance as a value add and want nothing ever in return, then you will win.

Walk away. If you have never bought a stink house before, don't make it your first purchase. The smell could be from a number of things - animals, prior water leakage, mold, gases. It's not a good first time buy and from how you laid out your post, it does not sound like you have bought before.

If it's listed on the market as an REO a fair rule of thumb to expect is that they will not reduce more than 10% for at least 3 months and maybe 6 months. How long has the property been on the market? If the property was decent for a turnaround, an experienced investor would have already bought it. Beware.

Don't do it. That is a surefire family disaster. I've been investing in eight different LLCs with my sister for more than 20 years, but the power balance is always the same. It's always equal, we think the same, we have the same goals. You are starting this with all the wrong balances to make it work. You are the money, she is the body, it's ripe with disastrous tendencies. Also, you are trying to gain advantages of 3.5% down loans by a workaround, which also could spell issues later.