All Forum Posts by: Mike B.

Hi,

I am getting closer to my first deal. Here is a summary:

My goal is to successfully buy,upgrade/fix, and sell one single family home without losing money.
I know my neighborhoods, i have a good idea of the type and condition of home im looking for and have been window shopping extensively with online mls tools, bank reo sites, and some drive by.
Im comfortable with estimating and who/how things will be fixed and upgraded.
I know my purchase and reno budget.
Ive been researching and studying extensively and have a bit of "carryover" knowledge from other areas.

My first sanity check questions for the group have to do with financing and an agent. Here are my thoughts and relevant information:

Agent-

How do I search for agents that are well seasoned in investing?
Do i or should i call the agent listing the potential buy property? If so why or why not and how would it differ from finding my own besides knowing whether they are seasoned in investment re?

Financing-

As my first deal where i want to make things easier and familiar, i have bought and sold homes(personal residences) before, i have good credit, i have good assets, near 200k income from long term steady jay-oh-be, so, i am thinking i would like to get a traditional 30yr mortgage. I can fund 20% dp in cash. My reno budget would also be my own cash. IS this supid for some reason?

Next, how would i find the right bank for this if this is a reasonable path to take? I have a strong relationship and bunch of accounts with big national bank but my guess is I might want to find a more local bank that deals with REI?

Thanks all,

Mike

Thanks everyone! I've been real deep into research and learning lately. Just today I tore through a couple articles and one of the podcasts. My ipods are loaded up with them looking forward to hearing the new one just released. This place is an incredible resource.

Thanks again for the warm welcome. Im putting together a 'sanity check' message related to my plans for my first deal. I'll be posting that on one of the other forums soon.

Mike

A photo may discourage people from communicating with me :)

Hello,

I'm Mike from Richmond, VA. I've lurked around here a while. Over the past 10 years I've gone back and forth as to whether I wanted to take the dive and I think I've finally convinced myself I do and the time is now.

Outside of buying and selling my own homes, my RE experience is limited.

I work in corporate america full time and make a good living financially speaking.

My skills and background are in finance, accounting, markets/behavior economics.

My passion is renovating my homes. I am very hands on in this area for I was raised in a very blue collar home where my Dad did everything. Being brought up lin that environment, I've never had any fear to take on projects. Whether it be carpentry, electrical, plumbing, windows, doors, flooring, hvac, landscaping Ive done and still do most of it. I dont hesitate to use experts as well. My plumber taught me a lot but I still use him. My best bud runs a home improvements company and i often hand him my paycheck for big projects. Its just a matter of time and/or whether i feel like getting involved....or funds. Whether i get dirty or not, I am comfortable knowing how things get done.

My goal right now is to simply complete one full circle deal. Buy, improve, sell. I would love for it to be successful, but my goal right now is to not lose money on this first attempt. After i reach this goal, i will asses what happened, what I learned, and whether I want to continue. If so, I will set a new goal.

Bottom line is Im tired of telling myself I should do this and now i am going to do it. If its good, Ill continue. If not, I wont have to keep telling myself I should do it.

Thanks for reading,

Mike