All Forum Posts by: Michael Olesky

Hey @Max Garcia Jr,

I'm working my way through talking to sellers as well although you are much farther along than I am. Something that I've started doing recently that has made me more comfortable and the conversation more natural is to talk to the seller like a receptionist would when you call a service company like a pest control company. What I mean by that is when you call a company, they ask you some information and then set an appointment. So when I'm on the phone with a seller, after a quick introduction I say "so tell me about your situation". You'll get some house information and hopefully a good read on the motivation level of the seller and their situation.

After they finish talking, I give them a brief overview of the process. I say "I just need to get some quick information about the house right now and then I will take a look at the information and the neighborhood online, and if it looks like we can help I'll come take a look at the house, so how many bedrooms do you have?... " and then I go through my info sheet and get as much of the info as I need. If it looks good at this point or they are really motivated, set the appointment. You can always set the appt and then do your homework and cancel afterwards if it doesnt look good after doing your homework. If it has potential but I want to double check (I'm still trying to figure out what a deal looks like!) I say "the information so far looks promising, i just need to double check a few things online and then I'll call you back to set the appt."

Then I do my quick research and call them back to set an appt or to tell them I won't be able to work with the house and I recommend a Realtor friend.

That ended up being a longer post than I anticipated! Something else I do if I'm not in a talkative mood but need to return calls, I'll call a friend and chat with them for a few minutes to loosen up. Hope some of this helps!

Mike

Hi Josh,

First off, I'm a novice, but I owned a townhome in Aiea from 2003 to 2010. My experience was that the bubble burst sooner in HI than in the continental US and recovered very quickly. I don't keep track of the market out there anymore, but to me it seemed like the market on Oahu was influenced greatly by international investors. Take a look at how the RE market on Oahu has tracked compared to Japan's economy.

When I first moved there in 2002, I lived on Kilaeua ave just above Wikiki on diamond head, and I remember seeing people buy the old 2x4 frame open air houses, which had 1/2" plywood for walls instead of drywall, for over 500k and knocking them down to build a block house. I don't know the costs, but at the end of that project, they had to have spent over 1.5 million to end up with a house worth around 800k.

So to help answer your question, I suggest looking at Japan's economy as well as China's as well as the US's RE market to see what part of the cycle you are in. Also look at the value of the dollar compared to other currencies. The thing is, Oahu doesn't have land to build on until Dole sells their pineapple fields and investors from around the world are looking at Oahu to purchase properties, so I think most burst bubbles will recovery quickly out there.

Aloha!

Mike

@William T. Good work taking steps forward. I tend to set high goals with unrealistic time frames and end up beating myself up when I don't hit it. But I make sure to recognize the steps I did take, the progress I did make, any journey is made one step at a time. So good work so far, just keep taking those steps, like your post title says, you are on a journey.

The fear and negative voice that tries to talk you out of things or tries to stop you in your tracks is more difficult to overcome than the things you are fearing. I've learned to use fear to my advantage, my motivator, I might be afraid of calling a seller or afraid of going through a contract, but I'm more afraid of being in the same job 5 years from now... I'm more afraid of not being able to take care of my parents during their last years...

I dream about a great sailboat and vacations, but it is my fears that make me move away from what I don't want instead of towards what i do want. I can lay in bed dreaming about sailing the Caribbean all day, but I can't lay in bed for more than a minute thinking about being stuck in my job 5 years from now, I'm on my feet thinking "I need to do something to change this".

Everyone is motivated by either reaching a dream or preventing a fear, fear is my stronger motivator. Fear seems to influence you so maybe you need to use it to your advantage.

Don't fear failure, failure is a choice to stop trying, so just don't make that choice. You started your post with the wholesaling tasks you were afraid of doing, my question is what are you afraid of happening if you don't make something happen with RE?

I'd say use your 10k for marketing and/or as a down payment on a property that meets your criteria instead.

Education is definitely a must, this website is priceless and so are the investors in your local area. I've met a few investors in my area that I am learning from by doing deals with, where we split the profits. In addition to me learning, i'm building relationships that will only grow as my education does which equals more opportunities & profits for all of us.

A great book that has helped me and I see recommended on here frequently is The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller. Definitely get it if you haven't already.

Count me as another user of the free Google Voice local number!

I'm not sure how accurate it will be in your area, but it has been accurate over here in Palm Bay for me. Hope it helps!

https://www.rentometer.com/

Gotcha, not looking to discriminate or deviate from the norm! Just trying to understand some of what I've read here.

Thanks for your help!

I have a quick question about the general rule of a possible tenant having an income of 3x's the rent. Does this rule change any depending on number of kids? If rent is 1000, then an income of 3000 seems fine for a couple, but I'd think a couple with two kids would need a higher income to afford the rent than a couple without kids. I don't have kids but they sound expensive!

Thank you in advance for your advice,

Mike

Whats up @Lowell M. ! PM'd you so we can catch up.

@Michael Smith - Had a good time meeting up Monday, lets all get together soon!

I'm also a newbie and looking into sub-to's. Having done one yet though. One thing I read was to instead offer to pay for their moving expense (up to a certain amount) if that would be cheaper than the $ figure. Or perhaps you could do a combo of a little bit of cash and then pay for their movers. If you can get a discounted service to move them you could probably save some money and if you did this a few times with the same company, then you'd hopefully start getting a discount.

When I eventually get asked that question, my current thinking is that I will try to avoid paying cash to the seller by negotiating some type of service for them like helping to move.

If you haven't already, you might post this question in the creative financing forum.