All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Greene

Your approach is good, but you need to do it in person and after you already know someone for 3-6 months. You have to build trust to become a mentee of someone who has experience and is busy. Anyone can say that they are going to work hard for free and be an asset, but most people just say that to get advice. Build relationships at meetups and don't ask anyone for anything for six months, just ask them questions about their business, not for help.

Trying to do creative finance deals when you have never done a deal is like going to Italy to make the best pizza when you only have made Stouffers at home in your toaster. Describe what you mean by trying for 18 months and answer @Chris Seveney.

What have you done for marketing?

How many real estate investor meetups have you gone to over those 18 months?

How many real estate investor friends do you have?

Where are you learning about creative financing and who told you that is a good way to get your first property?

The forum replies here are an example of almost everything that is wrong with online real estate investing forums. The OP is at the very beginning of his journey, just looking for some encouragement, and what he has gotten is a ton of false welcomes (not all, but most) and misguided sprays of out-of-state market beggars. He didn't ask for markets and no one even has an idea of what his finances look like to even give him advice. @Frank Martinez, I bet a bunch of people slid into your DMs also to "help" you. Delete all the messages and find some local meetups where you can meet other new real estate investors who are doing what you want to do. Don't take advice from people before they know what your foundation for investing looks like. If your career feels like a dead end, that's not a reason to invest because you won't be able to build a runway with a career you hate. You need money to invest so finding a job that you don't hate and that has upward mobility is a key.

@Remington Lyman can point you in the right direction.

If your wife is up for a house hack, you should definitely house hack next. You wouldn't have to put 25 percent down to do it as you would be occupying the property. You will be making straight cashflow on your original property, but would be better served renting it to one party for a long-term rental to start. If you experiment with rent by the room without experience there, it could be a headache. You should definitely do all repairs before renting it so you reduce the calls you will get.

Ninety percent of agents have commission breath and are useless. Someone told them to talk to every FSBO seller without telling them that some FSBO sellers know ten times more than them and it will be a bad experience for them.

The real question is why are you listing your flips FSBO? It tells the public you are cheap in my opinion and don't want to spend on proper marketing or think that all agents are the same. Most are, but not all. A good flipper should have a good relationship with the best listing agent in the area and pay them a good commission so you don't have multiple flips for sale at the same time.

Redfin is a salaried agent model, so most agents are not as connected to you. If you list with them, you usually stick with one agent, but on the buying side there are a lot of hands in the bin. They run more of a discount listing model. Any agent at any brokerage can be great or terrible. It's not the brokerage, it's the agent, so general references are to the model itself of the brokerage. If you are considering Redfin to list, you are likely doing it because they are going to charge you less and you should be looking for the best agent in the area who can do more than just put it online and wait.

I think the best wholesaling book is If You Can't Wholesale After This, I've Got Nothing For you by Todd Fleming. Also, Jamil Damji has a BP book on wholesaling. Your why behind wholesaling is important because it's a very hard business model that requires a lot of capital. There are more charlatans selling wholesaling courses and mentorships than magicians at a magician camp.

The Book on Flipping Houses by @J Scott is a great one. James Dainard also just came out with a House Flipping Framework book. Both are BP books and great resources. When you read them, don't focus on any numbers because that is market-specific, focus on the process. Books are great, but the best way to learn about flipping is to know local investors who are doing and building relationships with them so that you can tag along on their sites.

Buying a class on arbitrage is like buying a class on building a class. Don't do it.

Arbitrage can be a really good strategy, but one that is better paired with experience in the STR game and ownership because then you are more of an asset to the landlord than some newbie fresh out of a TikTok class trying to explain why they should rent you a unit so you can re-rent it for mor.

If you are in Boston, you can go an hour in all directions and likely find cashflowing rental opportunities.