All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Greene

@Dave Charron - if you don't want training or need an office mentor (which you will need a mentor of some kind just to make sure you are doing everything correctly on the contract side working your own deal), don't go somewhere like KW. They will get you on monthly tech fees, training requirements, etc. If you don't need the branding of the big agency (which is really only relevant for higher end listings), find the best deal.

My best advice for this is to do what most of us do as investors - drive for signs instead of dollars. When you are driving for dollars looking for properties, see what agency is listing investment properties. When you see the sign three times and the same name on it, that might be your agency and mentor right there. Hope this helps.

@Ernest Chamblee - I have been investing since I was very young and learned everything from my dad who did the same. I went through two separate careers before becoming an agent and now I run an RE investment partnership with my sister and run a real estate team, so I am doing both hopefully successfully. If you look at what your goals are, and most on BP have similar goals, and they line up with passive income for life, you will find that being an agent is just a way to feed the beast for most investors. Quicker access, finding deals.

If I was going to choose between one or the other, it's a no brainer. REI all day long. You can create passive income building a RE team as an agent or just a thriving solo business, but it takes a lot of money in to get a lot of money out and you can't cash-out refi your RE team when you want to upgrade it.

@Patrick Britton - all online lead gen via Realtor, Zillow, etc. need some seasoning. You can't address it in 2 weeks, 2 days and sometimes not even in 2 months because the life cycle of an online lead is between 12-18 months. People start looking way before they are ready to buy. I find Realtor dot com leads to be closer than Zillow, but once you invest in the leads you have to do the work to close the deals and check back after about six months. It's not like they are going to let you out of any contracts anyway.

Are the numbers just out of state numbers or do they live out of state? My personal number is an old FL number on purpose so a lot of people carry their cell phones from state to state when they move without adjusting. If you got 7 leads in 2 days and connected on the phone with 4-5, something is promising. It's just a numbers game and response game. If they provide the leads they said they would or more, it's up to you to close them. Online leads will be looking for needles in a haystack, but I have been very successful with Zillow while also hating them the whole time.

Good luck! If you call all of these leads back within a minute, you will be closing soon.

@Emily Fraser - don't go with a big brokerage as they will charge you higher fees for things you won't use. Look for a small brokerage that lists investment properties. The best way to do this is to see what signs you see when you are driving for dollars. If you see those signs on properties in need of work, reach out to that brokerage. For what you are planning to do, you can find a 100% brokerage who will just charge you a fee per transaction closed and minimal other fees. You don't need the cache of the name of the brokerage since you are just doing it for MLS access. Hope this helps.

@Roger Johnson - to find something in the $50-$75k range, you need to look for some major rehab opportunities in Orange and E. Orange. They are out there with potential to do well, but they need work. Does that amount include rehab? Happy to help.

Up Down Duplex at 2942 Ewing Avenue South in Minneapolis.

Two 3 bed, 1 bath, 1500 sq ft units. Updated bathrooms and kitchens in both units, with the potential to finish the basement with a 2 bed, 1 bath unit. Basement also has a storage room for each unit and shared laundry. The garage has one spot for each unit and a bonus room for storage.

***Off-market and the agent is only planning to show this property August 11th to the 13th. Motivated seller!*** 

Steps away from a projected future Lake St SWLRT stop.

Most recently it was getting $2,000 up and $2,200 down. Owner was originally living on the main level but the renter wanted it. Main level is currently vacant due to sale. Lot is 55 x 128 of .16 acres.

*I know the agent with this off-market opportunity personally. Please direct all inquiries to  [email protected] and let him know you found the info on Bigger Pockets. I told him how awesome the BP community is!

Attached are some pictures of the main level and exterior.

I might know an agent who can help you with that. PM me for his info.

@David Ferrette - it's not unreasonable to expect a discount from an agent's top one-off listing percentage for giving them three listings at once. All of my investors who do multiple transactions get a lower commission percentage on the seller side in comparison to those that do one residential sale. This a fair volume tradeoff.

On the other hand, if you get the best agent who will get you the best price, they will be worth the commission either way.

@Mark Dresdner - are you looking to house hack? If so, then your determinables might be different than if you were looking for a strict investment property. As @Chris Masons said, taxes make it a bit difficult or riskier if you are not careful so you need to find an investor-friendly agent who can run real comps and give you real options for how the property will appreciate. In Essex Co. you want to stay as close to the train as you can to maximize your rental income. 

It also depends on how much you want to spend in regards to where you might want to invest in a multi in NJ. If you are looking to spend under 200k, you will have to explore towns under the radar or set to grow in 5 years. In towns like Orange and E. Orange, you can still turn decent rents at a low buy in, but you will have to wait on the appreciation a little longer.

@Francesca Baglio - it's a matter of self-protection because it's not like they are going to give you any repair credits. We have a lot of underground oil tanks (abandoned and in use) where I am and I just account for the money for a full repair (non-disaster scenario) into my offer as @Ken Otsuka said. You will be stronger as a player if they don't know you are doing extra inspections, but you will assume a bit more risk. If you are a newer investor, I would do one just so you can see how it goes and learn for the next one to see if you really need one or you can add the costs into your formula.