All Forum Posts by: Michael Alston

Originally posted by @Carolina E.:

@Michael Alston I think your best bet would be to go to some REI meetings. See if you can connect with someone that would be willing to let you tag along when they go check out properties they are interested in. Offer to give them some kind of help, whatever they may need. Also, you can follow a lot of properties on Zillow or sites like that to see what properties sell for and what they look like inside.

 Hi Carolina,

Thank you! Those are some very helpful tips, I will definitely try. Also, what should I do if my area doesn't have REI meetings? I know it's hard to believe but there really aren't any in Fresno.

Hi everyone,

So....I would like advice on approaching professionals in my area to learn about the market. I have used sites and been interested in properties but I always back out of speaking with agents because I don’t want to look stupid. I understand that I’m not ready financially and more importantly intellectually (in terms of knowledge) to invest in real estate but I want to learn. Is there any advice on viewing properties without wasting the agents time? Thanks!

George Makakaufaki We' re paying $3K for the mobile home. The lot fees will be paid by my mother-in-law. We know eventually we will have to sale the home regardless once she moves in with us. So basically we're paying the lot fees for the next year for the mobile home. I'm pretty sure I'm overpricing the repairs but we want to be on the safer side instead of low balling it.

My wife and I are looking to make our first REI. Our mother-in- law is getting there up in age (64) and owns a mobile home. We plan to have her move with us in the next year or so. So we have made her an offer to buy her mobile home through payments for the next year. On my salary we can afford $1K per month for any REI's and plan to use those funds for the next year for her mobile home. So we are looking to invest around $600-$700 a month into repairs. We haven't received a quote on the cost of repairs but with no major repairs we think $10K would be able to get it in top notch shape. We eventually want to sale the home and would like advice on the thought of this. Right now mobile homes in the area are going for around 21K. With the cost of the mobile home and repairs we are looking at about a 50% ROI give or take. So what do you think of this deal? We pretty much know someone that can do the work for each repair needed by the way. Sorry, I'm still getting used to the forum thing so please excuse my grammar. -Michael

@Jason; No I was referring to getting a Mortgage Loan Originator license.

@Marius, is that NMLS approved? I went on their site and I don't see Rockwell, I only see ProSchools and Mortgage Education as their approved online course sites.

@Marius G.@Martin Z. Thanks for the ideal. For about the past 6 hours I have been researching how to become a real estate broker as well as what the job entails. I have to say, it's very interesting and has sparked my interest quite a bit. Have either of you ventured off to this side of the spectrum? If so, what schools would you recommend? The course sites I see are ProSchools and Mortgage Education? Have either of you heard of these? I heard a few good things about ProSchools on BP. Thanks again!

@Walter, I have but maybe my list is a little too broad. I really don't know what I could offer someone in a JV so I pretty much passed on that ideal. At this stage of my gameplan, I want to make myself more attractive to any potential partners. How narrow would you recommend I write my goals down?

First, I would like to start off by saying that I am very motivated to start investing in real estate. For the past year I've really become more and more intrigued with the idea of starting a career in real estate. Not only does the thought of having financial security apease me but the life style as well. I've been in the military for almost 7 years now and joined for various reason and one was because I didn't know what I wanted to do in life. I am 100% sure now that being my own boss is what I want to do. I know that real estate requires a lot of knowledge as well as motivation and knowledge is the only thing I'm lacking. I say all this to say, I have been scratching my head non-stop for the past few months with getting started. My first issue is? Not knowing which niche is best for beginner's (I'm stationed in Japan and there aren't too many that I can pursue). Second issue...what is a smart move in making the first purchase? (I don't have the funds to place 20% down on a home but if I did I don't feel like that is neccesarily smart. I would rather use that money to either invest in more properties or increase the value of my first property through renovations). Lastly, I absolutely do not want to wait 3-4 years until I have the ideal profile (funds, knowledge, etc.) to start. Maybe I sound bad for saying this but regardless what you do in life there will always be hurdles so waiting and prolonging the process I think will hinder me more than help me. Could you please offer a direction into where I should start? Sorry, I know this post is back and forth and has no direction in a sense but that is exactly my point, these are all the thoughts and the process that goes through my head.

Thanks!

@Jerry Noel,

I'm originally from Raleigh, NC and I'm looking to purchase some property back home as we speak. I would definitely not refer the south side of Raleigh (I lived there all my life). I am too in the military (Navy) and just don't feel it is on the safe side nor the type of environment congruent with our military life style. I personally know where the Recruiting stations are so I would say anywhere from North Raleigh (passed Crabtree Valley Mall or North Hills would be fine). The commute shouldn't be that bad, traffic in North Carolina is a lot better the NAS Coronado or 32nd Street. If you can manage either of those locations, I would be very picky.

@Jordan T.,

Thanks! After giving it some more thought, I believe it probably would be best to wait. I have friends in California but I'm not too reluctant to ask them to take on a topic such as this until they possess the same passion as me.

@Walter,

Until you mentioned it, I never considered owning property here. I'm sure there's a lot to learn such as (ownership laws of foreigners, taxes, etc.) Thanks for the thought, I will definitely look into this.