All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Greene

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.

You can't buy a property on the market on your own, so unless you want to buy with the listing agent, who has first fiduciary duty to the seller, you will need your own agent. You shouldn't worry about turning an agent off, you should worry more about finding the less than 1% who actually know anything about real estate investing. This might help - https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/10015/64777-5-tips-to-find-an-investor-friendly-agent. When you find an agent who is also an investor they won't mind as much showing you properties if they are looking for themselves as well. It's regular agents who don't like spending the time and find it a waste.

There is no such thing as preforeclosure on the market. Maybe a short sale. If you are referring to something listed as a preforeclosure on Zillow, those are rarely real and most never come to market or foreclosure. Preforeclosure is only an indication that a lis pendens has been filed, nothing more. If they do end up as REO properties it could be 2 years from the time it is marked on Zillow and will still have to run through the cycle of courthouse steps (upset value is too high) before getting to on-market REO.

There are other ways to find distressed deals for you first deal, but usually with the help of an investor-friendly agent or straight through REO sites or auction sites like Hubzu. It just would not be worth marketing for just one deal. The only reason to market is to capture multiple leads and use them over the long-term.

I don't see the value in sending a bunch of mailers for yourself if you don't have cash or an establish LOC. It will just be a waste of time. The only reason people call us back on mailers and bandit signs is because we pay cash. If you need to get a mortgage, you need to either buy on the MLS or get on some wholesalers lists who offer HML finance as part of the package. I just don't think it would be worth your while to market like that if you don't plan on actually wholesaling and are just looking for a home.

Forget the math and the percentages. Investing requires reserves. Most homes that you will buy for 100k in most areas will have something break in the first year that will cost 5k. You need 5-10k reserves at all times when you own a property or else when something breaks, it's game over. And based on your income at present, it could put you in a precarious spot. As most other say, I think your income generation is the issue to spend time on well before you take any of that money and invest it in something that costs money to maintain.

@Cody L. talk to Bigger Pockets. I didn't even know the contact button was there. It comes with Premium. Selling something all the time isn't filling out your profile so that everyone can see you aren't BS.

@Allan Smith I add them to a list also. The list of those looking for swamp properties with definite upside. :)

Flipping first is the best way to lose your money by making poor decisions based on lack of knowledge or by making bad partnerships. You can house hack and mini-flip if you find a two-unit that you can rent well on one side and do some work on your own unit while you live there to learn a bit about renovation. Everyone I know who tried to flip first either overspent and got killed or underspent and got killed because they didn't know what they were doing.

@Mary M. I agree. This is one of my biggest gripes with OOS investing. Locals hate OOS investors because they rarely are trying to improve the block or neighborhood, they are just looking for cashflow or increase in value over time. If you want to be the best OOS investor, you have to go to the area, know the locals, and learn what else you can do to help them instead of just picking their good deals away from people who may need it. When you integrate, even when you are OOS, you will get everyone calling you when they want to sell because you actually care about improving the neighborhood instead of just parking your money in some town that someone on BP told you was "hot."