All Forum Posts by: Kurt Charles

@Joshua Manning I don't know what you mean by minimize damage. But all I can tell you is that excuses is the master of those who fail in life. I had to overcome the 'excuse' mindset and develop a 'just do it' mindset a long time ago in order to get ahead of my peers. Today, I have few friends because I gave up most to live the life of my dreams. Don't be 'weak minded'. When you get out of college and into the real world it is a harsh reality that you will either be broke, just surviving with enough to pay the bills or thriving, living a great life. The great thing is you get to choose which category you fall in, so choose what's difficult now so you can live easy later. Set a goal to be financially free by a young age. If you can't build a business with 5 days a week available to you, then it's you, not the business. The good thing about real estate is you can create your own schedules, you work for yourself. Toughen up young blood. If you got big dreams, it takes doing more than the average person does, otherwise everyone would have their dreams come true.

@Iverem Rose Personally, it's just the route that I see best fits my goals. Others may feel like they don't need a license to just be an investor or wholesaler and that's cool, too. To each their own. I have always agreed with @John Thedford in his reasoning for going all out and doing things right. With the license, I could supplement my other income while building my investing portfolio and not suffer a loss in cash flow. My current income requires me to go out and get clients, so it's the same angle for a RE agent and so the license allows me to be totally submerged in the Real Estate industry from every angle, even the ones requiring licensing.

@John Thedford 100% agreed and thank you.

Hey man, this may take you 10 minutes to read but if you are a serious person, it may help you make your decision without further research, hopefully... I'm not in college but I was faced with the same dilemma last December 2016 when I first joined BP. I wanted to get into the industry but had no idea where to start and wholesaling is a big conversation on here, so I figured without a license I could at least wholesale and make some quick cash learning from BP members. It's not so easy as they make it seem though or maybe it's just my thinking, but...

After attempting some drive around, going through dozens of properties online, offline, exploring market prices, court auctions,  talking to people, trying to learn the game, learning how to find leads, utilizing BP, going to local Real estate meet ups, etc, I quickly realized that wholesaling takes A LOT OF TIME to find one good 'right' property and the expense to find properties also adds up with marketing, gas, vehicle wear and tear, etc. Not to mention, if you not making money looking for deals, you not making money anywhere else either, because your time is wasted looking for deals, the oxymoron of it all is staggering.

It seems like the 'big wholesalers' have other people finding the properties for them and paying them an illegal unlicensed 'commission' or profit split for every property that turns into a deal for the 'wholesaler'. In Florida (at least) they are called 'bird dogs', the ones that run around the streets hustling looking for deals for the 'wholesaler'. The wholesaler is the one that takes the property, and seeks out a ready, willing and able investor from their built up 'buyer's list' to buy the property. That game is playing on a thin line using one single loophole that exists in FL Real Estate laws, but it has been debated every which way. When it comes to wholesaling, every Tom, Dick and Harry has an opinion and I couldn't get a clear answer to questions like, is it even legal, do I need a license, what can I do or not do? Should I just get a license and say f**k it?

After time on here and participating in several conversations, I realized the most 'really successful' people on BP have two things in common, they have a license or their spouse has a license, some are agents, some brokers, some mortgage bankers and some have multiple licenses, and the second thing is that they believe in high moral standards and codes of ethics when it comes to how they do Business. (I'm not saying wholesalers without a license are bad, but many are simply hustlers, scavenging desperately to pay the bills, which can lead to, 'unethical' behavior).

I started doing research from those 'investors with licenses' to discover the pros and the cons, and if it is worth it, and would it fit in with my current lifestyle to get a license. Every investor with a license said it helped them in many ways, more than one. Either way, I already decided real estate was the next direction to build wealth long term and in general, after being a 'web developer, internet marketer' for many years. I figure I could combine the two industry skills if I got into Real Estate. At least I prefer it to excessive stock market 'wishing and guessing'. It's solid for the most part and if you do it right, you can survive any financial storm and build wealth for generations. 

I saw the biggest advantage to having a license is that, in wholesaling, you have one stream of income which is 'borderline' illegal in most states. With a license however, you have multiple streams within one industry. I like that idea very much after being an entrepreneur for some time trying to produce multiple streams from different industries separate to each other. In real estate there is wholesaling, selling for others, investing for yourself, the ability to legally do Real estate business local and cross states, etc. The opportunities to produce income literally quadrupled with a license compared to being an unlicensed wholesaler who if litigated, could lose everything potentially.

So, I decided to get the license, because I figure with so much 'opinions' out there, too, it would also be a great way to learn the Real Estate laws in my state directly from the lawmakers themselves. Now, how much would it cost me I thought? And man, the 'actual' studying I would have to do... F**k, LOL...I had become comfortable and lazy with my free time, but the idea of being just a 'drive around all day type of small time wholesaler' sounded less appealing, compared to some BP 'big players' talking about their latest plane :) 

So, license it is, to start in the game at least, even if I let go the license later on as my investing skills grow, it will be valid for at least two years once I got it, so I could make cash selling and build into an investor.

Didn't have time to sit in a classroom and wanted to study at my own pace. Found an online school called 'Real Estate Express'. The 63 HR Pre Licensure Course was $200. Found a groupon on groupon.com for the school for a $100 discount. Great, got the classes signed up online for $100. Did the course. Did the necessary fingerprinting, etc. Took me all of January to study the entire course 'part time'. School gave me 6 months to study, I did it in one month online in my 'free time'. I'm 37 married with 3 kids. I have limited f**ck around' time. 

I used February to run through notes here and there allowing the info to sink in. I scheduled my FL state exams last week and did it yesterday and passed. So in 2 mths, 1 week, I got the license. Am I rolling in success now? Not yet, but now I can create a Real estate Business that generates multiple streams of income without having to do too much diversification for 'income streams'. There are so many different smaller 'niche' Business models within the Real Estate Business industry itself, it seems most logical as the avenue to build wealth for anyone and create massive retirement cash flow, especially if you start young.

As you are in college, a license could benefit you and you can build a Business that carries you for a long time if you do it right and start now. College is the perfect place to be. What do college kids do once they go into the real world? They start life. Car, house, investing, family... many of them do that at least, even single people invest in property. Who do they need? A licensed realtor, no?  Another avenue, is you can invest some of those commissions you make. As a licensed agent, you have access to the best deals in town without seeking out agents, because you are one. You can buy them for yourself without paying commissions, you can sell them to other investors, you can wholesale, you can fix and flip, buy and hold, etc, etc. Multiple streams, you can say yes to practically  any deal of any kind if it is within your means.

But, can't you do all that investing without the license? The license seals all avenues of Real Estate income, you have the ability to sell, even sell back your own fix and flip properties, saving commissions, etc. Sell properties to other investors, etc. Think about this, when you market yourself to the public, do you want to be only able to make money one way, or all ways, increasing wealth building potential?

In the end my friend,  this is a long story post, but just to end...I figure for $250 or so (Course, plus finger  printing, exam fees and license application form) then 8 weeks of studying part time at home and I have a real estate license now . Not bad in my opinion. Now I feel ready to start building my Real estate Business and already have an invite from an investor savvy Brokerage to join their team. Last December I was just dabbling with the idea, now I have a license with an 'investor mindset'. Seems, like it's a win, win, win to just focus two months and get the license either way. Should be easy for you in college, as your brain and cognitive processes are already attuned to studying?

Good luck. If you read it all the way through, I hope it makes you confident in whatever decision you make. This is your life, not a hustle. Build it right from the first time and you'll do more than anyone in your family ever did.

Best regards man.

@Rickey Wiley . Even though I am a newbie to REI, I must confess, I have a skill. I have a website and I am also an online marketer. I generate leads online.

However, there are many other ways. MLS, bird dogs, (people who hunt deals all day long and you buy leads from them) , buying public records from local court houses in your area of interest, records on divorces, foreclosures, etc. Driving around, bandit signs on the streets (I'm sure you see them), mailing letters, etc.

Meeting people on BP is great, but attending local RE group meets up is better to make real life connections and get all the info AND help you need, because you will meet other investors right next door to you already know how to play the game.

@Rickey Wiley . Right now I am building my network through BP and local meet up groups. Google local REIA meet ups, or look for a local BP meet up group and start networking like crazy. By participating daily on BP, answering questions, posting etc is how I meet people from all over in different areas of REI.

I do not have a huge list yet, so when I find deals, I ask people I already met for help or to put the deals to their buyer list and we will split the profits. Eventually I will have a strong buyer list of my own, just takes time and patience and continuous networking.

@Rickey Wiley . You are welcomed.

I myself I'm fairly new, but I am learning very quickly that the fastest way for a newbie to get in the game in any direction, is by focusing on building a huge network of investors, cash buyers, JV partners, etc. With a huge network of cash buyers, there is no deal you cannot find a way to net some money from. And if you don't have a network and you find a good deal, you can partner with another investor who does already have a huge buyer list and share the profits with them. BP is the best place to network imo.

@Rickey Wiley From my layperson research, hard money lenders are the alternative to traditional banks. You still need some credit, it varies, but typically in those I research at least a low 600s is needed, you also still need income to debt ratio to be what they need it to be, so the requirements are still a bit high. Interest rates for hard money lenders are also usually between 8% to 12% and in some cases even higher.

Private money lenders can be friends, family or strangers. The rate offered should typically be the same as hard money lenders. The difference is if you are borrowing from private lenders you do not need much credentials, like credit score, etc. However, if the private lender (accredited investor) is not family or friends (strangers) and are single, the SEC requires them to be making $250k or more for the last 2 years or have a net worth of $1 million or more. If it's a couple, they must have an income of $300k or more for the last 2 years combined or a net worth of $1Million or more. If the private lenders don't meet this criteria, it is considered a violation by the SEC.

If you are borrowing from 'family or friends' also called 'sphere of influence', then the income and net worth rules mentioned above don't apply. 

In all 50 states, regardless who is your private lender, you have to sign promissory notes, etc. 

I would speak to an attorney as I am not one, but this information comes from a multimillionaire investor who gave me this information directly. It may be right or somewhat inaccurate, but this is my layperson research.

If you are wholesaling, you might want to look into short term transactional funding if you plan to flip the property right away to another buyer.

Hope it gives you a good starting point. Good luck. 

@Jerryll Noorden Indeed! I am always open to networking with like minded people. My website will be up next week and I will be starting to put together some test marketing campaigns to figure out what will work best in my area and attract leads fast.

However, I am also in the process of getting me RE license because I am uncertain if real world rules apply to online (probably unspoken, but I believe they do) , meaning connecting buyers and sellers, advertising properties etc. 

As far as I see, all the big players with websites marketing online are also licensed in RE to advertise property legally, except the low level wholesalers with YouTube videos and half done sites. 

Have you considered this legality regarding your website advertising properties as well as soliciting sellers and buyers online etc? 

@Jerryll Noorden I'm not sure about the laws where you are, but anything I post will more than likely be specific to FL. If your attorney says it's ok, who knows better than an attorney, right? 

Personally, I like to play things safe, RE is already a high risk Business regarding financial loss, so the more risk I can mitigate by doing things the right way, the better for me, mentally.

Are you an internet marketer as well? You don't sound like the average throw up a website person who just happens to know what split testing even is, lol. I ask because I am developing my own website currently too, which will be very involved above the average website in online marketing.