All Forum Posts by: Jonathan R.

I get why you think an investor friendly agent would be valuable, it’s because you think they know more than you do. You need to educate yourself. And you do that by doing deals and networking. On my first investment property I used a realtor, and thank goodness he did know how to find off market deals (most don’t) or it would have been the blind leading the blind and I may have never gotten past my first deal. He went to a Facebook group and said I have a buyer looking for this... and a few wholesalers sent him properties and we went to those with the one or two mls properties that met my criteria and I bought one of the off market deals, because it was the best deal. Once I saw a realtor do that once, I knew I no longer needed a realtor. I knew I needed to be in that Facebook group. Then I learned I needed to be on every buyers list of every wholesaler I could find in my area so my email box has deals coming through regularly. Now I buy directly from wholesalers with no realtor, I sign their paperwork or I sign the title company’s contract they send out with the wholesaler. 
I’d still consider using my original realtor if I wanted to retail sell a property, after all I have no problem tipping waiters. With more than a handful of properties under my belt, I can safely say I know a lot more about what I’m doing than the realtor. Still a nice guy.

My guess is if you asked most of those realtors that have commented in this string if they have brought off market (non mls and non for sale by owners) to buyers, most of those even have never done it. Just because they sold an mls property to an investor does not mean they know what they are doing. Perhaps they can read my above comments and learn too and proceed accordingly, after all its BP. I’ve learned a lot from the site and enjoy contributing.

This idea of proving yourself to the agent is laughable. Realtors are waiters that work for tips. You should be searching for off market deals. You find those by going to local investor meetups and networking with other investors and wholesalers. Get on every buyers list of any wholesaler you can find. There are likely wholesale Facebooks groups in your area, send a request to join those and watch those posts for deals; again, reach out to sellers (wholesalers) and give them your email address to forward you deals as they pop up. If you get bold enough, drive for dollars and see if you can’t network with sellers directly and cut out the middle men, you are looking for distressed real estate. If you find a distressed seller or a wholesale property you want to buy you can fill out the one page the title company will have you fill out, just ask them for the form and they’ll email it to you, not rocket science.

If you want to use a realtor for something on the mls, cool, pick one but you have nothing to prove to them. You want off market though, you need to dig yourself because most realtors have no idea how to help you.
 

@Victor Moreno The best investment you can make at this point is in yourself through education. I would listen over the next year to every podcast, all of them. You’ll find the podcasts that speak to you, listen to those two or three times. 
Your biggest asset is your age! I don’t think I bought my first investment property till I was 32, I’m 36 now with a handful of rentals.  After you have listened to the podcasts, read Rich Dad Poor Dad, read Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, read The Richest Man in Babylon, read The Millionaire Next door, in no  particular order, you’ll be ready to buy your first investment property. I learn the most by doing, I’ve known that about myself since I was in grade school. I had to buy that first deal to know what to look for in my 2nd deal. The first investment property I bought had 100 amp service, needed a new electrical panel, and had no overhead line running to house. I know now that costs about 2k to fix all of that. It also needed new hvac, $3500 lesson there. Just get in and buy below market value and you’ll be fine. You’ll get better and get better deals as your knowledge grows. I wanted my first deal so badly that I didn’t care if I had to watch YouTube videos to learn how to rehab the property myself, it was mine. Best of luck!

I agree with a lot of what you said but want to note cryptocurrency does not need to take over the dollar. The two can operate separately. I think when the dollar starts to crash, which it will due to the irresponsible money printing, they’ll peg it to the price of gold again to create more trust among sheep with their head in the sand and then they’ll keep printing again, and asset prices (like gold, cryptocurrency and real estate) will continue to grow.

 I’m not sure how governments will react in the future, time will tell. It’s still very early days. I think a lot of hurdles have been met here in the US, cryptocurrency has been around for some time now. You can trade futures, and large institutional funds are offering several of the top 10 cryptocurrencies. I think a lot of people would be unhappy if governments intervened like they did when they banned gold for a period of time. It will drop at that point surely but it won’t be killed completely and will rebuild for there. The more likely outcome will be more regulation, which will be good. As for increasing the taxes on gains, that wouldn’t really surprise me. The dollar will likely lose value in the future, so I guess one could consider that a tax also to consider.
I like crypto over gold because it is easier to buy, store and trade. My mother told me once, “You either are a nerd or you’ll work for one one day.” I think the nerds are onto something. The public is losing trust with fiat currency. More trust is being placed on money of the people, as we are clearly seeing.

Bitcoin doesn’t need to be a medium of exchange. It can do well simply as a store of value. All money is is trust. And right now people trust Bitcoin is worth about $19,500 and the time of this writing. Don’t get me wrong, I love real estate because it produces cashflow. I have a handful of properties that I am sure will appreciate as time goes on and they will continue to produce cashflow. I do, however, think exposure to the cryptocurrency space belongs in the portfolio (1-20% of net worth). I am using it as a wild savings account that I will pull from from time to time to buy more real estate, though I won’t completely liquidate all my crypto, ever. I have converted dollars to cryptocurrency for the long haul. The world is screaming for a one world currency. Cryptocurrency is the people’s money. Central banks are creating less trust in government fiat by the day. We’ll see, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. I agree that the middle man might not like getting cut out. Some governments may ban it and we will surely see more volatility as we go. Though, this guy loves the volatility, it gets my blood pumping. 10-15% swings a day don’t surprise me anymore. When it goes down 15% I buy more and when it goes up 15% I hold on for dear life (I sit on my hands) or sell some to diversify into other asset classes, like my preferred asset class, real estate. I would only allocate a percentage of your net worth and trade cryptocurrency as you see fit in the meantime. The cryptocurrency space needs regulation. PS- I like Ethereum at it’s current valuation over Bitcoin. 

I’m split on this one. On one hand I get the entitled millennial argument posted above; one should help out their parents for free and atone for their childhood. On the other hand, this kid did not ask to be born. I have three kids of my own and realize that my job as a parent will never end. 

My parents had to help my grandparents on my father’s side a couple years ago so I managed the buy and rehab of a rental property for   them for no equity. The rehab took 5 months and I was there working alongside my handyman almost daily. I still property manage that property for free and cover costs as to shield my parents from the nightmares we all experience in real estate. I’ve told my folks I’ll do another one for them anytime, and I know if they asked, another. But eventually watching them drink fine wine while I take tenant phone calls and refinish floors would be ridiculous.

I have several rentals of my own. When my kids get old enough I’ll gleam with pride when they want to get in the game. I’m sure the split won’t favor me, and that is okay. I knew when I had them I was responsible to help them. Also, by the time my kids are doing deals the old man will be wealthy. The kids are going to need to know how to eventually inherit or they’ll lose it.

Take the above in mind and proceed accordingly on this deal. Perhaps zero split early on, but as time goes on I’d let Dad know what is more fair.

It’s not accurate. Very high demand for real estate throughout the city. Not many signs for rent in yards.

Move to Wichita, KS. I’ll show you how to put 35k to work. My first deal I purchased a 2 bed 1 bath for 18k, I put 14k into it (all new hvac included in this) and it rents for $695 a month on Section 8. All in for 32k cash. 4 years later and the tenant is still in there. Cash cow baby. Use the cashflow to get your credit sorted out. Once you pay your creditors, the money is gone. Pay yourself first. Settle debts for a fraction of what you owe from the cashflow, let your tenants pay for your life. After you get your credit sorted out and you are an experienced real estate investor with a few deals under your belt, then use leverage and learn about infinite returns. Think this sounds impossible? Impossible is possible, I’ve lived it. Rinse and repeat.

Ultimately though you need to fix your spending habit. Beans and rice and rice and beans. 

I think Wichita is by and large pretty darn good. No where near Chicago. I primarily by in what I would call D class and have had a good experience. We try to do everything through Section 8 housing. Credit Union of America does some sub 50k loans but yeah, 10 years is as good as it gets for a commercial loan. I buy in cash, so no mortgages for me. In the beginning I got a 10k unsecured loan from Credit Union of America, 5k interest free for 6-12 months from Home Depot and borrowed against my 401k. Now if I need money I just partner with someone and we both put up half the cash.