All Forum Posts by: Mohammad Haidarasl

Mohammed,

I have not attended any of these meetings that have a large price tag associated, but I would advise you to take the time to seek mentorship from people here on the forums. The whole purpose of Bigger Pockets is to share information between people. What you will pay for in the class you can learn here for free. The deals you are looking to find can be found by aligning with a local real estate agent for free.

Take the time to truly tap into this great resource we call Bigger Pockets before spending money that could go towards investing.

Please reach out if you have any other questions.

I wish you the best on your investments.

@Mohammad Haidarasl If you are still at uni and have time, maybe you can join local broker or even MLS as an intern?

ARV is the secret sauce in every REI business. We'll that and REPAIR ESTIMATE.

When I was an EMT I was told the numbers I get are my numbers and they are right (pulse, resp,pressure) The same thing applies, 2 agents will have different numbers as will two investors and wholesalers. Being right on the money comes with experience, practice and is art more than science. The only way to prove ARV is to actually sell that property when more than one interested party puts in an offer.

You will get it just takes time.

I would find a local realtor who will run a comps report for you for a flat fee. Ex: $25 a pop. It takes them 5-10 minutes. Make it worth their time. 

When I first started a local Realtor would send me comps all the time! Thanks @Dan McCluskey! 

MLS access truly is the gold standard. I worked as an unlicensed assistant (with MLS access) for a year or two before getting my own license, so it can be done. But there is a cost associated with it (Association Dues, MLS Fees, etc), and very little incentive for a broker to take you on. You have to know someone (in that they need to trust you absolutely before giving you that responsibility that could come back to bite them).

If sales prices are not disclosed in Texas, even in public records, that makes MLS access even more crucial. Here in Florida, you can at least look up the sold price of a property via the Property Appraiser's website. This is an inefficient way to look for comps, but at least it's possible. 

I completely agree that the property appraiser's assessed value has very little correlation to market value. In most markets, it should not be used as a guide at all (unless you can identify a consistent pattern, such as it's usually 40 to 60% below market value - and even then, it's little more than a range of possible values). 

Finally, for all the posts above asking about how to determine ARV, I highly recommend getting your hands on some old appraisals done by a professional appraiser. Ultimately, the appraised value is all that matters in a financed transaction, so understanding how an appraiser determines the market value of a home is crucial for any investor or real estate agent. (In a nutshell, they look for 3-4 very similar homes, within a half mile, sold within the past six months, then adjust for square footage and other features).

MLS is only available to Realtors who join their local Board of Realtors?Association. Any sharing of login/password will get the agent terminated along with possible additional sanctions by their Board. Additionally, allowing investors to become "assistants" are also against the rules and bring huge liability issues for the agent/broker. The agent/broker is responsible for the actions and any violations of Fair Housing, disclosure as well as any state and national laws of their assistants. I cannot imagine why any agent would take on this responsibility

Texas is a non disclosure state. meaning sales prices are not disclosed, rendering sites such as Zillow worthless.  In no way do they have complete information, so their guess is as good as yours.  DO NO RELY ON THEIR INFO

Appraisal District values are even less accurate than Zillow as it is no indication of market value.  Again, Texas is a non-disclosure state.  I have purchased properties for $100,000 that were appraised for $50000 as well as $50000 that were appraised for $100000 and the $100000 purchase was the better deal.  Other than checking on the current owner, square footage and lot size or the amount of the property taxes, DO NOT RELY ON THE VALUES

Getting a real estate license is very easy and it is worth it just to have access.

@Mohammad Haidarasl - Yeah.. you don't want to put anyone in a bad situation by asking for their user id/password. Encourage  your wife to hurry up and get the license! ;-) She can take EVERYTHING online. It shouldn't take a couple of months... just weeks. 

You can also get your broker's license in CA online (no residency requirement), fill out the proper paperwork and then take the state specific exam portion in TX (or any classes that are specific to your neck of the words). Also, once she gets her license, she can probably add you as an unlicensed assistant so you can share in the data analysis

I started with Keller Williams Elite and love them. Lots of training and support. It's not like I can't figure it out but why re-invent the wheel, right? Besides, I want to have access to 1,000s of agents when they get those terrible, awful, nasty houses that a hoarder just moved out of and now they are charged to sell...! That's where I come in and solve their problems... 

Anyway... there is a function that your wife will probably have access to when she gets her MLS access called RPR. It's a wonderful resource and pulls all the data together for a great picture of what the market value, neighborhood, tax records, previous owners, etc look like. It also gives a confidence interval as to how reliable the data is. (My MBA is in statistics so I kinda nerd out on that stuff...but I digress...) You don't get this with Zillow, Redfin, Homesnap, etc.... If I had a dollar for every wholesaler that has tried to tell me the house they have under contract is worth a whole lot more than it is because they saw it on Zillow... well... I'd have enough for another rent house.

.Good Luck!

@Mohammad Haidarasl $48 monthly expenses is somewhat on the low side, if you know what I mean...