All Forum Posts by: Michael Carbonare

1) If you continue waiting for the "right time ”, you’ll always be waiting.
2) Your current job doesn't care about you. You only get paid enough to continue.
3) You don't need a dozen self-help books, all you need is action and self-discipline.
4) YouTube University, podcasts, and the internet will only take you so far.
5) Book smarts make interesting conversation, street smarts make money.
6) Find someone who is successful doing what you want to be doing and ask questions.

Hi, Abigail.  Years ago I needed cash to get started.  Another investor told me about assignments, specifically cooperative assignments.  They proved to be a low risk, low cash requirement to get some traction.  The assignment fees then enabled me to roll into other strategies, buy and hold, fix and flip.  

In recent weeks I have received quite a few requests for information about how best to get started in real estate. And while the general consensus these days is wholesaling, I must disagree. Yeah, good luck buying houses for .35 on the dollar. Instead, I started 30 years ago learning and using lease options to get my first deals done. Far and away easier than wholesaling, lease options are the best strategy for the new investor. Done correctly, they are risk free, with minimal out-of-pocket cash required. With some specialized knowledge you can control real estate long term if you want, as well as flip and assign lease options, and you can even wholesale them! And if you're open to doing deals virtually, a must in today's real estate business, lease option assignments are the perfect strategy. This opens up the entire US housing market to you, regardless of your location.
I frequently post examples of deals on my LinkedIn page. Here are a few:
https://shorturl.at/6Hl10 https://shorturl.at/v0YVF https://shorturl.at/wwGOh https://shorturl.at/0vuBC https://shorturl.at/ABOyh
I offer one-on-one personalized lease options investment training which you can read about here. If you are serious, if you're ready to stop studying and start doing, I'm happy to help. Feel free to reply and we can schedule a call.
Book smarts make dinner conversation; street smarts make money.

Back when I first had the idea of real estate investing, creative financing was my only option, seeing as I had little capital on hand and even less of a chance that any lender would talk to me.  So I started with cooperative assignments, which enabled me to raise much needed cash and then branch into other strategies, buy and hold, fix and flip.  I'm still a big fan of this strategy and use it today.  Here's one deal: https://shorturl.at/6Hl10 

Hi, German. There are so many variables to consider before your question can be answered.  For starters, where are you located and how is your local market?  What strategies were you considering?  Single family, multi units, fixers, etc.  What is your current financial capabilities?  All of these are factors in narrowing down your choice for starting.

Henry David Thoreau, one of my favorite authors, went to the woods to live, in his word, deliberately. He lived at Walden Pond for 26 months, a journey of self reliance and spiritual awakening. “Simplify, simplify”, one of the many quotes attributed to Thoreau, is solid advice for the struggling new investors who I have spoken with. The issue it seems, is too much info, too readily available. As a new investor you cannot be a master, an expert of every investing strategy you’ve looked at through hours of YouTube videos, Instagram and TikTok nonsense. You’re neck deep in Paralysis of Analysis, a virus more debilitating than the Spanish flu, Bubonic Plague, and the latest virus du jour, Covid.

I’m no different than you. . .well, I’m Italian, so I’m a better cook and I have three Uncle Tony’s who collect my rents. But I digress. . .

I wanted to know everything before I did anything. The result? I did nothing for 3 years. There was always another book to read or seminar to attend in my search for the secret sauce. Then a wise man who was already successful doing what I wanted to be doing shared some common sense that I took to heart: settle on ONE strategy to get started and block out all the other noise, the BS, and the well intentioned but misinformed friends and relatives telling you that you can’t do this. They are really saying THEY can’t do this. This simplifying approach slowed things down and in so doing sped up my progress. So if you find yourself standing in the same place as yesterday, as last month, dare I say the same place as last year, heed the wise words of Thoreau, “Simplify, simplify”.

Is there a particular reason you want to sell via auction, rather than a more traditional process?

@Kylie A.  I'm not a wholesaler.  Too much work for too little returns.  But I have done many cooperative assignments, a strategy under the lease option umbrella.  The assignment fees in these deals will vary greatly, depending upon the specifics in the deal.  Value of the property and the terms agreed upon between the parties.  $3K. . .$30K?  A $750K house will bring in more than a $250K house, obviously.

@Ashraf Amadou  Sure, email is fine.  See my profile for details.

Mark, the option fee/option money/option consideration, is a nonrefundable amount of money paid upfront from the tenant/buyer to the seller.  The amount is negotiable, but if you're the tenant/buyer in the deal your goal is to pay as little as possible.  The seller, of course, wants to receive as much as possible.