All Forum Posts by: Scott N.

Hi Tyler, thanks for that! After listening to a lot of people a lot smarter than myself, it was time to determine what types of skills/knowledge I had and what value I could bring to the table. Home repair and maintenance is one of those areas, so I figured "what the hey, let's throw it out there and see what happens". I've got a lot of theoretical knowledge but little practical knowledge so need to dive in and get my hands dirty (potentially very dirty heheh).

If you don't personally need any work in this area, please keep me in the back of your mind if you run into anyone else in your travels who might need something repaired. Thanks!

No, I'm not kidding. Actually, I'd rather that you had a leaky faucet or dead ceiling fan or hole in the drywall or whatever, but hey if a toilet problem is what you got, then I'll do it. (You pay for parts; if you need help with purchasing or pickup I can help there too.)

I'm in the Denver area, looking to meet investors that are local here, or remote and who have properties here. I'm offering handyman services to active investors in exchange for possible future help/guidance to me through an initial investment property purchase. Just looking for someone who has occasional minor maintenance needs and is willing to trade a little bit of info. I have worked in construction over a lot of my life so will fix just about anything in a property that doesn't require licensing (heavy-duty plumbing and electrical).

If your pockets are TRULY EMPTY then you are not bringing one of the four items to the table that an investment needs:

 - Money

 - Time

 - Opportunity

 - Skills

If you can provide either opportunity or skill in some fashion, you can likely partner with someone with the money. If you have no money, no skill, no opportunity, but plenty of time - you still bring nothing to the table.

Offer some value to someone in some meaningful way; then they will likely be happy to reciprocate with one of the other necessary parts and you can start looking for the opportunity and be ready to strike! 

@Bill S.

You got carpet, paint, and appliances for $5k? Yes I'm sure they were rental grade but that seems like a very good price. Were you happy with the contractor and with the outcome of the work?

PM heading your way

Hi Ryan,

That's a pretty vague question. I'm super new to this game and I am in a small (tiny?) market. I'm struggling with the same question. My local market is limited and has weird economic dynamics that make me think about investing remotely every day.

While "YES" remote investing is certainly possible, I see that the only way to be successful is to have robust and redundant systems in place in your remote market. 

A few things that *I* would require before setting up shop remotely:

• Am I investing for cash flow, for rehab/flip, for wholesaling? While the foundation of any true money-maker is getting a motivated seller to sell you property at a discount, knowing your exit strategy can help determine how much of a discount you need. If you're holding and renting, you could (maybe) buy at 60% ARV, rehab, and still cash flow. If you're wholesaling, or rehabbing, your cost threshold may be much lower.
• Do I know what method will work well in my target market?
• What type of properties am I looking at?
• Do I have a reliable and trustworthy property inspector? ( Or 3) It's critical to have a SOLID understanding of what your prospect is worth so you actually end up profitable. And what it needs to have done to it.
• Do you have multiple teams of contractors in place, that will give you accurate bids, complete the job on time and on budget, and competently? 
• If needed, do you have the same type of redundancy in property managers? What I see people say on here, and what I've observed in my personal life, is that PM companies are highly variable.
• Same thing with realtors, if you're gonna sell at retail.
• Are you comfortable with the legal aspects of working in a different state from your home? And do you have legal advice as to that? Any laws that are different in your target market?

These are just a few of the questions I am working over as I decide to invest locally or remotely.

My personal answer is to start off locally, to gain some experience and an understanding of how the process works. I know people in my area, and I can see the property in person, and I've got some local connections I can work with on different aspects of this, from finding, to buying, to fixing, to selling. So while my end-goal is be in a different (and hopefully more profitable) market, my experience level dictates that the smart move for me would be to start locally.

As @Patrick Liska said, if it's a good deal, GO FOR IT. Just be aware that remote investment can carry its own set of additional, sometimes hidden, costs. That can turn a great deal into a loser. But you can also make tons of money elsewhere than your home, people do it every day.

Hope that helps in some way,

Best of Luck,

Scott

@Bryan O.

Hah well my 1/2 job is currently roof shoveling, that's a good guess on your part :)

Absolutely agree about the jobs problem. I work a scheduled 50 hrs per week (in 2 separate jobs) plus the side work. Working on getting that down to 1 job that will pay our bills. That'll happen within a few months.

If I can put the time I currently put into side-work (5-10 hrs per week) and we can scrape by without that immediate cash, I can turn wholesaling/REI/marketing/whatever into that 3rd or 1/2 job instead of shoveling roofs. Luckily, my other work is semi flexible and I can answer the phone.

We are not living beyond our means, unfortunately (that would be an easy fix). We have made deliberate choices, knowing that it would be tough financially. We know where we are now, and are in the process of explicitly defining how we want REI to be a part of our life and our finances.

The biggest goal of all this is to take some action and get some experience, and learn what type of systems I need to develop. Hell, I work enough now, what's another few hours a week? With a potentially MUCH better pay scale than currently have. If I sit around and read BP for another 2 years, I won't be any closer to anything.

I know what I want to do but don't YET know how to create a system to do it for me. In order to create a system, I need to go out and do it (well, poorly, right, or wrong) for a little while. Cuz I sure can't buy a system from someone else right now. As I go, I will document meticulously and start from Day 1 to systematize.  I wish there was a faster/easier/magic way to make it happen, but as far as I know, you get out of life what you put into it.

@James Wise,

You are correct - a good business requires lots of marketing which does require lots of money.

RE waiting and savings and all of that - screw that. I don't have time nor interest to wait around until everything is "ready". Matt Theriault says something repeatedly - "The best marketing piece is one you actually send."

I don't care if I have no money. I'll network around town until I find someone who is interested in partnering up and is willing to finance some marketing. Or else I'll find another way to pay for it.

My current market is small, limited, and probably not going to be a very good return. But if I do some driving for dollars, research probate/eviction lists, and handwrite a bunch of letters - at least I am doing something and the practice will do nothing but good. 

I've failed plenty of times in my life and have learned immense amounts from my failures in prior businesses and in my prior failures-to-start-ideas. Time to just do something, contact people, find new people - and somthing will happen.

@Bill S.

That's a great idea about practicing negotiate/buy/sell on CL. That's an area I could use a lot of practice in. Yes my market is small, and I don't really intent to remain here or invest here very much or very long. I *DO* need to take steps, however small, and get some practice in. Right around the corner is Farmington, NM. It's a much bigger town, with lower home pricing which should be less of a barrier to entry than Durango. Also, a major industry there is oil/gas, and as they're currently laying off like crazy, that may be a source of potential leads. A common cycle in this area is when oil/gas booms, so do home sales etc, and when they down-cycle, lots of workers are laid off and so needing to get out of their home purchases. Probably tough to find deals, but between Dgo and Farmington it's a good practice field where I can still drive to see properties. I intend pretty quickly to look into other markets, but I like the ability to meet people in person and see properties in person. Will prob help me while starting out.

As far as who I'm planning on wholesaling to, I don't have anything lined up in that area yet. I'll work on that (looking up recent cash buyers, talking to a few realtor buddies), but I feel it's more important to start mailing right now. Again to quote Matt Theriault - "If you really have a deal you will be able to sell it if you market it enough."

I'll also have to look around for hard-money lenders; but at the moment I don't have any systems set up for holding/renting or rehabbing. I could put those systems in place in a short time but don't have them yet.

Thanks to both of you for your replies, I appreciate the feedback.

So I'm trying to take a step, any step, any piece of action to get the ball rolling in the REI court. I've been reading and learning and lurking for far too long. Time to just do SOMETHING.

I live in Durango, Colorado. It's a small town, which probably equals limited "deals" available locally (if any). Work 2-1/2 jobs to feed the family and still barely keeping up with the bills.

Went on to ListSource.com. I plugged in a 15-mile radius,; SFR's 1-4 units, with mortgages originated from 1980-2009 and 70% or more equity.

Total === 190 results. Lols. Sean Terry's beginner guide recommends at least 1,000 leads to start.

So I figured "Ok what the hell let's just buy the list and send something." We are on a super tight budget - I figured we could afford $50 total for buying the list and sending some mailers. I tried to buy 100 leads from listsource for $18.

DENIED.... "Minimum Credit Card Purchase $50 required"

Dang. That's a bummer.

Thanks everyone for the input - I like the different methods and ideas put forward on this forum.

I've started a blog on BP as @Isaac Guzman recommended. Not so much for people to read and comment on and all that blather, but shoot, if I write it down and it's public, even if no one sees it, I will know it's there and won't want the embarrassment of failure.

And @Sam McPeek and @Troy Fisher - thanks so much for the very specific references on Dave Ramsey and the mindmapping / SMART goals - those types of things seem to suit me very well and are great, ready-made systems that I can plug-n-play and start creating results. I will look into those this week.

See everyone around the forums, best wishes to all and many many thanks for paying it forward with all the encouragement, support, and advice.

- Scott

Thanks to everyone - you all have very on-point observations.

@Ali Boone - I have read most of the Kiyosaki books several times, and taken one of his guru training programs. My mindset is where it needs to be, I am seeing the financial side of life from a "rich" person's perspective. Now I need to shape my daily habits into those of a wealthy person.

We've just moved to a new place (Durango CO), so will be seeking to connect with like-minded people here and that will help with accountability (as will posting here on BP).

Isaac and Rob, thanks for sharing your personal experiences - I like the idea of setting huge goals (that is my style anyhow) but need to incorporate the small changes that will make that a success, and I definitely need to step up on failing "in a good way", by trying new things, not just sitting around wishing. 

(You know what they say, Wish in one hand, sh*t in the other, see which hand fills up first).

Here's to new friends, new opportunities, and new heights in life!

Scott