All Forum Posts by: Joshua Howaniec

Find your local REIA group (Real Estate Investing Association) and meet some good souls there.

Also, right here on BP! I have found people who have been willing to send me info, give thier numbers in case I have questions, one guy even sent me a book of his in the mail. I didn't necessarily say "please won't you be my mentor?" I just hung out on the forums, contributing where I can and asking where I need, and it kind of happens naturally. Someone will take notice of you and reach out. 

That is, in my opinioin, the most organic way of doing it because they have offered thier help to you rather than you tugging at their jackets for help. 

Best of Luck!

I'm wholesaling in Indianapolis and I would agree that there are more out there. 

But I don't think most of the run effective businesses so they don't concern me. 

I don't believe that bubbles are directly related to the number of people trying to get into real estate. If you had 100 real estate agents in a room 20 of them are probably accounting for all the sales in the region. So oversaturation of a profession doesn't necessarily mean there are to many performers. 

Much of the previous bubble was realted to fraud. So if fraud is on the rise then maybe there will be a burst but I don't know that either. It's not my expertise. 

As a practice I do not join these seminars because they ALWAYS have an upsell. They are giving away free info to promote their band (it works) and when they got an audience that is desperate for a change in their life they gut them with hope. Very crafty. 

Any way, I do have a friend who attended the free part of the seminar and then signed up for the coaching. When he realized that all they were going to do was get him to buy the yet next level he wisely bowed out and thankfully got his money back. 

He learned something else that was interesting. Most of these Rich Dad seminars have nothing to do with Kiyosaki. They are licensed to use his BRAND and BOOKS but they are not an entity he is responsible for. So they get attention by standing on his shoulders and he charges them a fee for standing there. 

I hope that this thread keeps people away from these seminars. The information is free online. There is this great site called Bigger Pockets that has all the information in RDPD plus more, way more. So why pay anything, much less thousands, for info that you can find by googling and networking here? 

Be a self learner, not a sucker

I should just leave it at that last post an shut-up but somethings eating at me...

I read all your comments on this thread and you don't sound like a dumb guy. You don't strike me as a guy to be taken. So I'm a little curious as to why you were almost seduced into this, could have something to do with your dad's condition or your own circumstances. Either way, I'm not writing to reprimand you but rather to point out that you clearly have the intelligence to make REI work for you in a good honest style.

Use some creativity and you can work your way out of all this mess. 

Good luck

The moment a guy has a plan that he needs to slid under to the table to keep the government and bank from watching is the moment you know something is up. It's a scam.

Is that budget monthly or a flat amount availlable till you are dried up? 

If that is something you plan on doing montly you can drive for dolllars, make lists of those houses, send letters to those homes on a bi-weekly basis (it isn't necessary to do it biweekly, it just helps keep you at the fore front of the sellers mind).

So find out how you will mail, to who, with what frequency, and then you should be able to break down the costs and see what the life span of your marketing campaign is. 

I was reading on the forums and I saw some investors complaining about bad wholesalers. Their reasons were mostly related to the wholesalers inability or dishonesty in estimating repair costs for the buyer. 

I have been in construciton the better part of my life so while I do have general ideas of what repairs could cost but I would like to hear from good wholesaers how they go about giving accurate estimates, or better yet, I would love to hear from buyers what they would like to see from a wholesaler. 

@Richard Miller I understand the importance of giving a good estimate for repair costs, but you want the wholsaler to actually bring all of the contractors to the locaiton of the home they got assigned and bid the job? 

I'm not being argumenative. Providing good numbers is the most important responsibility of the wholesaler to his buyer. I just can't see bringing all those people into someone's home since in most cases they dont want anyone in their home. 

But rather than objections I should ask, as a buyer, what would be the best way to do that? And wouldn't those numbers ultimately depend on the style and quality of the rehab the buyer usese? 

It really is a wonder to me that so many people will sooner pay thousands of $$$$$$$ before they ever just take action. Not saying that you, @Hampton Logan are one of them, I am just forever blown away. 

You don't need to take any of those courses, classes, or Guru bs. None of their information is proprietary, all of it vey general, and worse it is all overpriced. 

Instead, ask questions on the forums. Find the topics that you want to learn about and read everything you can in those catagories. Comment and learn; share and grow. This is probably the best site in the world for you to learn all about REI and by far a community more freely ginving of their experience than any I have ever met.

Save the edjucation $$ and invest in the people here.