All Forum Posts by: Jim Lally

@Christopher W. Welcome to BP! As others have mentioned this is THE site for those wishing to learn about REI. The resources for learning on BP are phenomenal (especially the podcasts). I would also suggest attending the local REIA meeting to begin networking and understanding the market especially if you are new to the area. The next meeting is coming up on 2/17 in Meriden. These meetings are great for networking but I don't really get involved with the coaching, seminars or workshops.

One suggestion I would make is to put your goals, both long and short term, in writing. This will tend to make you more committed to accomplishing them.

HI @Jesse Holmes I was just curious to know if you received any feedback from your original post. I've been looking for a good "investor friendly" broker to affiliate with for a few months now. Right now I've pretty much narrowed that search down to Keller Williams. I won't be doing traditional RE sales. My objective is to market myself as an "investor friendly" realtor as well as use the MLS for my own investing purposes.

Based on what I've seen in the forums on BP it seems like KW may be a good choice. Did you ultimately decide to go with KW?

@Sharon Tzib Yes there is no doubt that the best way to network and build solid business relationships is face to face interaction. The REI clubs are a tremendous resource for investors looking for agents that understand the nuances of RE investing.

Reputation and trust will be critical to long term success. Thanks for posting the link. Great information there!

@Account Closed I would agree that my approach is only applicable on a part-time basis. The pool of available homes as well as the number of investors is smaller. When I do eventually pursue this full time then my strategy will definitely change. I actually want to move into commercial real estate at some point but that would definitely require full time effort as well as a whole different midset.

Yes home prices are on the higher end here but you can find more reasonably priced investment properties for the buy and hold investor. It just takes more effort to find them.

Did you start out part-time as well?

@Zachary Taylor yes BP would definitely be another resource to market myself. There's no doubt that using this site will yield some results as well.

Thanks for your input and best of luck to you as a new agent!

I am currently in the process of getting my RE license and will be marketing myself as "investor friendly". I constantly hear people say they have difficulty in finding an an agent that is investor savvy. This will be my primary focus. I really have no desire to do straight residential as this will be strictly part time to start for me.

My primary concern now is how to go about marketing myself. Since I'm focusing on investors I don't think the traditional methods of cold calling, calling expired listings and canvassing neighborhoods applies. I do intend to use resources such as Craigslist, investor clubs and local property management firms. However, I'm sure there are a host of other resources I'm not considering.

Does anyone have a suggestion?

Welcome to BP @David Perry ! You'll find a wealth of info and advice on this site. I actually grew up in North Jersey and know the area pretty well. I would agree with what @Logan Zanki is saying about choosing a VA lender. The same thing happened to me. I had a VA refi loan in the pipeline for almost 4 months and eventually just switched lenders due to there incompetence. Just went with an FHA loan in the end. Too much hassle with the VA red tape!

If you should decide on rehabbing instead you should consider the HUD 203(k) loan. Good for multi-family up to 4 units.

@Kevin Gerace I would have to agree with the previous comments. Your margins are razor thin based on your numbers and if things don't go as planned you could be taking a loss on the deal. You have to be really confident of your ARV as well.

There is a great book put together by J Scott called The Book on Flipping Houses (http://get.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook/) that I highly recommend. It provides a lot of useful information on flipping as well as how to accurately estimate your rehab costs.

Don't become to anxious about finding that first deal. Patience and proper due diligence is the key to a profitable deal.

@Jeff Lundstrom

Welcome to BP! This is great source to learn and network in all facets of REI. I too am looking to do my first flip and I've found "The Book on Flipping Houses" by J Scott to be very helpful as @Mehran Kamari discusses above. Try to attend the CT REIA meeting if you can. They are greet for networking. I don't participate in the coaching or seminar stuff though. You have everything you need right in this site.

I may try to get a meetup group started sometime soon. It would be very informal but hopefully a good resource for networking. Let me know if you have any interest.

Best of Luck!

@Christopher Dittemore

I would highly recommend picking up 2 books by J Scott: The Book on Flipping Houses and The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs. They are excellent resources for learning more about the overall house flipping process. You can order right here on BP. He includes some very helpful spreadsheets for estimating as well as a sample rehab analysis.

I learned quite a bit from these books myself.