All Forum Posts by: Joshua McGinnis

I'm looking for a low-cost broker to hang my real estate license in California. I was previously with Keller Williams in Beverly Hills, but they require all members to be part of the Beverly Hills Realtors Association which has rather costly quarterly dues. Given that my wife is a full-time realtor and I only have mine for investment purposes, it doesn't make sense for me to continue to pay those fees.

Does anyone have a recommendation as to where I should hang my license so that I can keep it active?

Hi @Emerson Miranda - welcome to BP. As you've probably already noticed, there's a wealth of information here along with lots and lots of really great, knowledgeable local folk.

When you say you have a short sale on your hands, do you mean that you've found a homeowner who would like to short sale and you'd like to purchase the property? Do you know if the sellers have already qualified and been approved to sell the home as a short sale? If not, that's probably the first step in getting the ball rolling.

If they have been given the OK for a short sale, the next step would be to market the property and submit offers to the bank. My wife is a fulltime realtor and would be happy to answer any questions you have - just shoot me a PM and I'll put you two in touch.

Either way, welcome aboard.

Thanks for the info @Annunciata R.

Major kudos for investing back into Compton. I've been following the new mayor and I see big things for its future.

Keep us posted on how the permitting process goes with shipping containers. I'd be really interested in hearing how the city responds.

Hi @Annunciata R.

Welcome. I'm glad to hear you've been having some successes with real estate in the Los Angeles.

How did you do your due diligence with the LA Tax Auction. They publish a not-so-parseable PDF of the listings and then have a separate website containing the list of lots that are still available, which I and other investors have found to be a pain in the neck.

Are all of your lots in the LA vicinity? My experience has been that there is a lot of garbage lots (too small, unbuildable, etc) that end up in the auction often end up for sale on eBay. What steps did you take to ensure you were bidding on an equitable lot of value and how did you arrive at your max bid?

Also, since the idea of reusing containers for real estate development has become trendy in the past few years, there have been many studies showing how containers are not actually all that great as a building material. It takes a lot of energy to get a container to your site and even more to ensure structural integrity (they rust). A quick Google and you can find these studies. I'm not against it, but just wanted to suggest you investigate it a little more. If you find anything compelling, let me know.

Lastly, it'd great to hear more about your commercial property. Where is it? How did you find it? What are you plans for it?

Anywho - welcome to BP and hello from a fellow Angelino.

@Jay Hinrichs What is GFC? Global Financial Crisis? How did you find your partners?

@Phil Z. That's good advice. Still feels like there is a lot of room for risk though. Perhaps Banks make this work because there a bank and a contractor has a lot more to lose if they screw over a bank.

@J Scott Just moved from Marietta / Cobb County myself about a 1.5 yr ago.

@J Scott this was my thinking as well. No matter how you try and wrap your mind around it, if you're not going to be there, you're biggest risk will be trusting the other person on the ground, presumably your contractor, to ensure everything goes smoothly on time and on budget. Given my experiences with contractors, I find this to be a dubious proposition.

I flipped a home in ATL two years ago, was on site everyday and I STILL had an insane amount of contractor issues. Interestingly enough, I never had any of these issues with contractors I worked with in the Boston. I wonder if that is because of a cultural difference or that I just got lucky.

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Meanwhile, if there's anyone in Atlanta or Marietta / Cobb County area who can recommend a contractor or would like to partner, let me know.

I'm looking at several HomePath properties in more amenable markets than my own and many will require some degree of repair before their rent-ready.

My question to you guys is how would you best advise on how to approach assessing the repairs needed, finding a contractor, and then ensuring the work is done ... remotely.

My first hunch is that this shouldn't be done. I'm not keen on buying property that I'll never see, but I know that there are some scenarios where this totally acceptable. Perhaps this falls under the category of it shouldn't be done?

If it can be done, what's your advice? Are there trustworthy contractors who do just this? How would I find them?

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Sweet.

It's almost like a dating site for real estate investors. :D

Fantastic article written by one Mr. Warren Buffett on a couple of his earliest real estate investments:

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2014/02/24/warren-buffett-berkshire-letter/

One property he has only visited twice and the other he's never visited.

If you don't have time to read the whole article, here's the meat of what he has to say on investing:

"I tell these tales to illustrate certain fundamentals of investing:

• You don't need to be an expert in order to achieve satisfactory investment returns. But if you aren't, you must recognize your limitations and follow a course certain to work reasonably well. Keep things simple and don't swing for the fences. When promised quick profits, respond with a quick "no."
• Focus on the future productivity of the asset you are considering. If you don't feel comfortable making a rough estimate of the asset's future earnings, just forget it and move on. No one has the ability to evaluate every investment possibility. But omniscience isn't necessary; you only need to understand the actions you undertake.
• If you instead focus on the prospective price change of a contemplated purchase, you are speculating. There is nothing improper about that. I know, however, that I am unable to speculate successfully, and I am skeptical of those who claim sustained success at doing so. Half of all coin-flippers will win their first toss; none of those winners has an expectation of profit if he continues to play the game. And the fact that a given asset has appreciated in the recent past is never a reason to buy it.
• With my two small investments, I thought only of what the properties would produce and cared not at all about their daily valuations. Games are won by players who focus on the playing field -- not by those whose eyes are glued to the scoreboard. If you can enjoy Saturdays and Sundays without looking at stock prices, give it a try on weekdays.
• Forming macro opinions or listening to the macro or market predictions of others is a waste of time. Indeed, it is dangerous because it may blur your vision of the facts that are truly important. (When I hear TV commentators glibly opine on what the market will do next, I am reminded of Mickey Mantle's scathing comment: "You don't know how easy this game is until you get into that broadcasting booth.")"

Congrats @Cindy Fraielli

You're in one of the few careers where you are only limited by your own ability to work hard and overcome your own self to be the best salesperson in your area.

I wrote a pretty length post recently for someone who was thinking about getting their license. It contains a lot of things you'll need to start thinking about and touches on some of the things you should be doing: link to the post.

Have you already joined a broker? You need to do that before you can actually start selling anything.

I highly recommend Keller Williams for their academic approach to training.

If I were you, the first contact I would make is a title rep. They'll be able to get you all of the data you need to figure out where you want to farm (a geographic area of a 400-600 houses with annual turnover of 3%+).

Once you have your farm, start door-knocking asap! Hit all 400-600 houses each month and make your presence known. KW teaches that it takes about 8 contacts before someone decides to use you as your agent.

Welcome to real estate. I work in one of the most competitive markets in the country and my wife and I are both out there everyday doing everything we can to make ourselves successful. It's mentally hard to face so much rejection, but the short wins you'll encounter along the way will keep you propped up as long as you maintain the right attitude.

It takes a lot of work and the process will surely keep your therapist in business, but you'll sleep solid at night knowing that if you continue to persevere, the outcome of your life is almost entirely in your hands.

Welcome!