All Forum Posts by: Larry Turowski

@Account Closed I have this same issue.  I am prepared to keep some flips, but I don't always know which one.

Talk to your accountant. My accountant advised me to buy and rehab a flip in an S Corp, and then if I keep it, deed it over to the LLC and do an asset transfer in QuickBooks.

Do you think the BiggerPockets podcasts are awesome?  Taking another investor out for coffee is like your own little podcast.

Going to your local REIA meeting is a start. But it is not enough. You need to meet one on one with other investors.

Make a point to meet for coffee with one new investor per week. If your local REIA meets once per month, schedule four coffee dates before the next meeting. If you do not have a REIA, call up landlords and flippers and introduce yourself.

Put together a few questions just like you hear on the BP podcasts: How did you get started in real estate investing?  What is your niche?  What is a deal for you?  How do you  find your deals?  What is your favorite real estate investing book?  And talk about yourself too.

You will be amazed at how productive these meetings are.

Here are just some of the things that I have gotten out of these coffee meetings that have both motivated me, and saved or made me money:

• Other people are doing this and succeeding.
• Different strategies that are succeeding in my area (many different ones).
• What are the best areas in my city to invest in.
• A great, reliable, reasonably priced contractor.
• A local credit union that does portfolio lending at good rates.
• My accountant.
• My realtor (though I don't find all my deals through them).
• A buyer to wholesale a property to.
• Huge motivation!

Keep in mind that I did not have a specific agenda at these coffee dates.  I just networked.  And I cannot tell you how many times I have come away thinking, "Wow, that was great!"  I just met someone today who is one of the really big successes in the area.  We have a coffee date for next week!

Thanks for the advice all, and thanks for the Joe, that helps.  It still looks so...60s-ish.  I'll take it out.

I have a flip coming up in an A neighborhood (solid middle to upper-middle class, nice neighborhood).

I hate paneling.  But do I paint it or remove it and put up drywall?  Maybe one of you wizzes can show me in photoshop what it would look like painted.

Several have already said it but the best thing to do is either an open house or a bundling several appointments at once.

This will work fine 19 out of 20 times.  That one time something gets stolen, the door is left unlocked, they track mud on the carpet, or they give the code out, or whatever, you'll wish you never did this.

What I have done is, once I had a few hours, on average, of busywork per week, I hired an assistant--simple as posting an ad under Jobs.  One was retired.  Her time was her own and she was happy to have a few intermittent hours to work here and there.

@Jonathan G. Nobody seems to want to say it, but this is a BAD deal.  Bad, bad, bad.  Even if you are expecting 5% appreciation per year it is mediocre.

Stick your money in the stock market, or become a private lender if you want 5% to 8% return.

Do a lot more reading. Talk to other investors. Find out what they are doing, what they expect for returns, what they consider a deal. My personal goal is to get a 40% yearly ROI, and there are others who are looking for a lot more than that. Check out John Fedro.  He's about 4 hours from you in Austin and he gets (if I understood his podcast) more than 100% yearly ROI.

@Warren Hemphill Congrats on getting started.

Since you'll be wholesaling you need to know what a deal is.  A "deal" in rural areas is not a deal if you can't find a buyer.

Go back to your buyers and find out EXACTLY what they are looking for.  What neighborhoods?  How many beds and baths?  What square footage?  What features does it have to have (e.g. does it need to be brick sided)?  What would they NOT buy?  How often do they buy?  Rehab or rent ready?  Take several out for coffee and ramble through these types of question.  Eventually you'll get a list of the right questions to ask for new buyers you meet and it will go faster and smoother.

Now you know what you need to look for.  Your next strategy to figure out is how to find them.  Maybe ask your buyers this, as well.  Ask other wholesalers.  Ask people here.  Often this will include direct mail marketing.

Now you know what to find and how to find it.  The final thing is to develop your closing skills. I'd suggest at the beginning going after even "dead" leads and practicing your rapport building skills and negotiating skills.  See if you can get them to move from their bottom line.  And don't worry about blowing it because it is very unlikely a deal anyway.

Good luck!

Go to images.google.com and enter "assignment contract real estate" and look at those examples.

First, the BUYER on your contract should say something like "Sheena Prattis or Assigns."  That gives you the right to assign the contract to someone else and still have it be binding for the seller.

You can collect your assignment fee at closing or get part up front (or all if it is small, say $500).  You give the purchase contract and the assignment contract to your title company or attorney, then check on the progress as needed.

Send them a yellow letter.  Go to images.google.com and enter "yellow letter" to see some examples.

I'm all for action and learning by hard knocks.  Go fail and then try to fix something you did wrong and fail again, and again, until you succeed.

You'll find after awhile that you probably spent way too much time on this one possibility and you'll need to do things faster and more efficiently. But go do it! Yes, go the the REIA and get help if you can, but if you are just watching TV you may as well contact this owner rather than wait.

@Jonathan Twombly That's phenomenal!  Congrats!

Do your investors hold shares in TBAM LLC or are they lending to it? What type of returns are they looking for?