All Forum Posts by: Matt Lowery

@Account Closed I am waiting for the state to open back up and finish processing my license application so I can sit for the national exam and have my license. It has taken me about 3 years to get here from when I first started working with an appraiser in KC.

First, I want to say that even though I was a Realtor for 3 years before starting, appraiser training is HARD and has a steep learning curve. It is significantly more complex than most people realize. They did lower the requirements recently but it did not help me. I have about 1,000 more experience hours than necessary and still, today had to ask my supervisor to give me some advice on a file.

McKissock has an online package that gives you unlimited access for a year to all the courses you need. However, do not start that until you have found an appraiser to train under. That is another huge obstacle. I talked to over 50 appraisers in Kansas before I found one that would take me. There is almost no value for them to take a trainee and they take all the risk for your work on their license.

As difficult as it is, I am still really glad I went through it. You get a lot of control over your schedule, once you are on your own, the pay is good and you can decide how much you want to work. You'll be in a high demand job without much competition coming in.

Once you have your Kansas license, you can file for a Missouri license without doing additional training/testing. I have not looked into it because it isn't something that would benefit me but my understanding is that this is true for any state because all the education and tests are national standards and not state specific.

What would a good Airbnb management company look like for you investors? I'm considering opening some kind of management company in the KC metro but still trying to figure out what niche I want to serve. 

@Jay Hinrichs and @Mike Nuss Thanks for the response. I'm scrambling to get familiar with the Portland market. I'll keep digging for something short term while we trying and figure out a long term solution. I've even reached out to a few realtors to see if there are any vacant listings that the owner would appreciate having someone house sit until it closes. If anything may pop into your head that might be worth looking into, I'm open to anything at this point. I'd also do my best to find a favor to do in return.

Thanks for the responses!

I have a unique situation I'm trying to find solutions for. My girlfriend, from Kansas City, has some severe autoimmune diseases. Severe enough that although she's extremely active and upbeat, she's essentially been day-to-day for several years now. The one specialist in the country that can possibly get her better is in Portland, but it's an experimental treatment that's extremely expensive and we cannot solve how to afford that, her apartment in KC, travel, etc. To the point, that I think she's ready to give up.

I'm convinced there's a better way for housing than the short term, but expensive, housing she has been using. I'm not in a position to take out a 4th mortgage right now but my first thought is that a loft or one-bedroom apartment that could be used as an AirBnB when she's not in town would work. I don't know how realistic that is in Portland (I'm also in Kansas but travel a lot). A tiny house would work really well since she just needs a good size bed for days she's recovering from treatments and decent kitchen space for her highly specialized diet. But, I wouldn't be able to build one for her as quickly as she needs it. I'll likely be joining to help her out some and we've discussed that my appraiser/flipper/realtor skill set is something that would let me land on my feet pretty easy if we need to move there permanently for a year or two. Or if I need to find someone to help out one week a month with analysis, appraisals, project management, etc.

Is an apartment that I can AirBnB realistic in Portland? I can take a small monthly "loss" and not have it be a big deal. Are there any ideas I'm not thinking of here? I'm pretty much open to any concept, but I think she's too defeated at this point to be able to see any solutions.

America's Main Street has a lot of potential for investors. Let's chat Benjamin, I can help with pretty much any goals you may have. I'm a lifelong resident, a Realtor, an appraiser and an investor in Emporia. 

It probably depends on the properties and your goals. Sell quickly or maximize your profits? I'm an appraiser primarily and only licensed as a Realtor in Kansas but I team up with another agent in that market that specializes in investment properties. We can analyze the properties and give recommendations based on your goals. We have a bunch of investors we work with that we could present to who would prefer to take them with tenants in place already.

@Michael Tucker I did finally get in. I started almost two years ago and won't have my license until later this year. It is very, very hard and the learning curve is steeeeep. They did lower the licensing requirements about 6 months ago, which is frustrating because it didn't help me but I could have started a year later and still finished in the same amount of time.

That being said, I think it's a career that may be the most ideal and powerful one to align with being an investor. You get so much knowledge, tools, and skills for evaluating property that even a well informed, successful investor isn't going to have.  To go with that, you have a high paying career, autonomy over your schedule, tons of flexibility and you're just constantly in the market and out in neighborhoods seeing potential investments. It's a career filed that probably attracts a certain type that is more risk-averse (think accountants)  but I can't think of any filed that will have you better prepared and able to invest than this one. 

Leawood probably isn't realistic but with some work, OP is something you should be able to make happen. Inventory, rent ranges, etc. should be easy to figure out with MLS, craigslist, etc. Again, you're going to have to do some legwork here if you want a deal in this market. Things may soften a little in 2019, it'll be an interesting year to watch.

I had sent an initial contact to KFN several weeks ago and never heard back when I was working on funding for another deal. Stacie called me last week and was super friendly and excited to talk to me about working together. We scheduled a follow-up interview for this afternoon after I was said I was willing to listen to any partner opportunities they wanted to present.

Between calls, she sent me an email with links to several ebooks and websites. They were pretty basic and anyone that's listed to 5 BiggerPockets podcasts will be more informed than the info they're presenting.

Fast forward to this afternoon. Stacie called, I had blocked off time in my schedule for her. The first thing she asked was if I had read the books and websites she had sent me. I was caught off guard by this, I informed her I had briefly looked. She asked what my "favorite part" of their websites were. I kind of stuttered because I didn't want to be rude and just said I wasn't sure. She told me I wasn't the type of person they wanted to work with and hung up on me.

Now that I've read the comments here, I wouldn't have even taken their call based on their business model. I don't think I could picture treating a potential partner that way but I don't think that's what they're after anyway. Paying someone that much up front with no guarantees to get funding is crazy with as many lenders are out there, regardless of how rude or unprofessional their people are.

@Steven Bond Seller financed for $35,000 at 6% for 18 months. I've put in $15K into the property, need to get at least half of that back out but preferably all of it. ARV is $70,0000-$75,000.

Taxes will go up soon, not sure how much but the county value is currently at $28,000. I expect taxes and insurance to be ~$150/mo. The house is fully rehabbed, so I should have almost no repair expenses the next few years.