All Forum Posts by: Justin Owens

I pay about $1000 a year to keep my license and 400 to 600 per deal. If I do a real estate tranaaction every year or two it more than covers my costs and gives me access to MLS.

Welcome Heather! Love Arizona, been here all my life. 

I am looking for deals here too. Also am a firearms instructor :-)

Hey Jacob, welcome. AZ can be a good market depending on what property you are looking into. What direction are you looking to go?

hi Stacey, what kind of advice are you looking for? 

I have shopped at thrift stores since high school. Not exclusively but most of my clothes are second hand. Fashion was never my thing. 

After listening to 100 or so BP podcasts I had tons of books I wanted to read thanks to the famous four. Now when I hit the thrift store I'll browse the book section. Last time I found The Richest Man in Babylon and The Millionaire Next Door. Today I picked up The 4 Hour Work Week, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and Getting to yes for 10 bucks!

I also have been downloading audio books from my local library when I need a podcast break.

Discounted and free education is better than full price. 

Welcome Ben! Nice to have such a seasoned investor nearby.

Welcome David. Love the Prescott area but haven't explored Granite Mountain yet.

Lots of great content in here so you have come to the right pace for real estate investing. Dig in. . .

Welcome Johnquel. You definitely found the right place to learn about REI.

I think I heard it on a podcast that the books are great. The content however and more can be found on the forums. Why then would anyone pay for the book? Convenience. I am all for creativity in funding deals and perhaps even education in REI but with limited funds you might continue the video course, listen to 185 podcasts, attend the weekly webinars, listen to the 100 askbp podcasts, and review the millions of forum posts.

I made it through the video series, more than half way through podcasts, and am consuming the forums with ravenous tenacity.

Welcome Jody! You definitely found the right place to come and learn what will suit you best as far as REI goes.

And from Gilbert no less? Awesome.

Escrow is a broad topic but the basics are that a buyer and seller agree upon a trusted third party to handle the funds and processes of the transaction. The buyer will typically put an earnest deposit into an escrow account. An escrow/title agent will walk the buyer and seller through the process. To "open escrow" is to get a property under contract and to start walking towards a transfer. Upon acceptance of an offer generally the buyer's agent will send the contract and related documents and earnest deposit to a title/escrow officer of the buyer's choosing.

Generally on residential properties the buyer has 10 days to do due diligence (inspections and the like) to make sure they discover everything they want to uncover. If the buyer finds something not to their satisfaction, they can elect to cancel escrow (during the 10 days for just about any reason) and get their earnest deposit back. I had this happen just a few weeks back. Didn't like the information I uncovered and canceled escrow.

The escrow/title agent works with both buyer and seller as well as the lender, HOA, and any other parties involved in the transaction. They will prepare the settlement statements as well showing who is paying/receiving what monies. They will also sell title insurance and run a title check to ensure the title is clear. Generally people use a title/escrow service for the insurance and safety factor but it's not always the case.

Title/escrow officers receive a fee for this service.

Once the funds come in from the lender, the escrow agent will record the deed with the county and disburse funds to the seller.

There are nuances and things that can come up but in general that's how it works.