All Forum Posts by: Michael Woodward

@Austin Davis,  I've been on both sides of this situation so I'll share my two cents.

I've used a couple part time agents in the past and quickly got frustrated with their lack of availability. They didn't tell me that they were part time when I hired them but after a while I started seeing the pattern.  They couldn't provide the service I needed and were not as well-connected or knowledgeable as other full-time agents so I had to find someone else.  Being part time would probably work fine for some people but I wouldn't hire a part-time agent.

The other major challenge for you is that you said you travel a lot with your job. I'm not saying this is going to make it impossible to be a part time agent but it might.  You'll want to be very honest and transparent with your broker to make sure it's going to work.  Many brokers require desk time and want to know when you are unavailable.... not exactly like an employee but close. 

It sounds like Jake Thomas is doing really well as a part time agent but in my experience, that kind of success for most agents (full time OR part time) is the exception and not the rule.  There are many full time agents that don't/can't do that kind of volume.  The workload involved with that pace would require either a TON of time spent after work and weekends... or having a job that requires very little effort (and oversight).

If I were you I would talk to the brokers in your area that you would like to work under and ask them for advice on your situation.  If you find a workable plan... great! ... go for it!

Regarding online vs classroom.... I did all my classes online while I was still working as an engineer.  Classrooms are much quicker but online fit my needs.

Good luck!

@Account Closed,  That's the million dollar question.  The broad answer is that there's no way to know for sure what will be important to your eventual buyer.  I spent an extra $1500 on a house a few years ago putting drywall on the ceiling of the basement to make it look cleaner.  At the closing table, the buyer told me that he wished I hadn't done that because he wanted to wanted to change some things.  Ouch! 

One important parameter to keep in mind though is that you need to be able to keep your final price in line with the neighborhood.  Do all of the repairs and cosmetics that fit in the budget and then stop.  If you out-price the neighborhood, you could end up sitting on it for a long time.

You're right to say that the answer will come with time and experience.

@Agi Anderson,  I've done a little of this but not a lot so hopefully someone with more experience will chime in.  I always try to find a neighbor close by to talk to.  That way I can get an idea of what the owner is like.  If it's a place the police visit a lot (domestic abuse, drugs, etc) then I'm not going to go near it.  If I do find a neighbor that will give me some info and they assure me that I would be safe to talk to the owner, then I might do it.  I've only approached one owner.  Fortunately, it went really well and he was willing to talk to me and hear me out.  He ended up working out other arrangements to sell the house.  The stress of never knowing what you're going to run into (shot through the door) made me change my mind about talking to owners.  Now I just talk to the neighbors and leave it at that.  Call it risk management.

@Arthur E.,   Refinishing wood like the kind you have can be very difficult.  If you're ok with a final finish that looks pretty good but isn't perfect, you might be able to get away with just re-staining the boards in place (except where there's paint).  I've done that with lightly damaged wood and it looked really good afterward.  Since you've got paint on yours though it makes it harder to get a decent look.  You could test an area with some paint remover (stripper).  Once you get the paint off and the wood is dry, re-stain it with something close to the original stain and see how it looks.  If it's not good enough, the only other option (in my opinion) is to tear it out and start over. 

....our posts crossed in cyber space..... I see you already talked to them.  I hope it works out for you!

@Grant Pope, Sorry to hear that happened! I know it's incredibly disappointing. I agree with Greg that something doesn't sound right. Perhaps your agent used to work for a different company and mistakenly entered the old NAID number. It sounds like the subsequent information he entered didn't match the NAID and it got flagged as possible fraud/hacking. I don't know if HUD has actual people processing their listings or if it's some kind of semi-automated system. It's the federal government though so you can bet that they aren't very flexible and can't make changes or exceptions when someone messes up a bid. You could try calling HUD and see if they can help. I tried to put their phone number on this post but apparently that's prohibited on this part of the forum. Google "HUD phone number" and it will pop up at the top. Good luck!

@Isaac Green, Everyone has their own comfort level for how to do things.  With that said, I would NEVER estimate a renovation by cost per foot unless I had done a near-exact project in the past and had actual cost figures.  Keep in mind that each "gut" project will be different unless you truly gut the entire house and replace EVERYTHING.  New construction is pretty consistent from a cost standpoint but renovations are really tricky.  Unless you absolutely know for sure that you can do all the worst-case repairs and still have plenty of room in the budget, I would strongly recommend that you get some quotes.  Three is always recommended.  My two cents....

The bulk of the expense happens when you activate your license (insurance, membership dues, state license, etc) so you'll want to be reasonably sure you're going to use it before taking that step.  The best person to brainstorm the idea is with a local real estate broker.  If you've decided which agency you want to work in, call up the broker and ask for their input.  Some brokers are ok with part time agents and some aren't.  Being a part time agent can be difficult because your clients will expect prompt service at any time of the day.  One option would be to partner with another agent or possibly be an assistant for one of the really busy agents.  That would give you great exposure to a successful agent.

@Harry Metzinger,  I've done several "creative cash" purchases in the past without incident.  I have to disagree with some of the previous posts that your offer is not a "cash" offer.  In my experience, sellers have two broad categories that they label "Cash" or "Financed".  

The Financed category is for someone that's going to put the house under contract and then apply for a loan to buy the house. The seller doesn't prefer this option because there's a decent chance the buyer can't get qualified to buy the house and therefore the deal falls through and the seller has to start over. 

The Cash category is basically for every other way you could purchase the house that doesn't require you to get qualified for a loan. Hard money lenders operate similarly to banks so those are obviously Financed deals. Your scenario though fits into the Cash category because you're using "cash" (liquid assets, LOC, etc) that are already yours. You don't have to get anyone's permission to use those funds to buy the house. The idea that you have to have $20's & $100's in your possession to make a cash purchase is simply not true.

I use my business line of credit to make "cash" purchases all the time. Even though my bank does an appraisal, title search, etc before I buy every house, they are always classified as "cash" purchases. To get the seller on the same page, I always include a statement on my offer that says I am using my business line of credit to make the cash purchase and all associated fees on the HUD will be paid by me. I've never had a seller (private, bank, HUD, VA, etc) that would not accept this method. As long as they see that you have a path to get the money and you check the box that says you waive the financing contingency, they consider it a cash offer.

Regarding your original question about what kind of checklist to use, you should talk to an experienced (local) real estate agent.  Hire them if you need to!!  The cost of their commission can be minuscule compared to the trouble you get yourself into by flying solo.   Good luck!

Seth,

I think that the main thing to consider is what time frame/period you'll have the most spare time on your hands.  If you have time on your hands now, that's probably the best time to dive into the RE courses, especially if you are going to be busy full-time after school.  You can take up to a year to finish (some) online courses or if you want to get it all out of the way in just a few days you can take a local classroom style course.  In TN, you have one or two years to activate your license after completing the courses so you have LOTS of time before you have to spend any significant money.  The only negative I see in stretching it out is that the material won't be fresh on your mind when you take the exam.  I took a year to finish my courses and did fine on the exam after doing some thorough reviewing.  It's harder to pass the test that way though.  I've had my license for almost two years now and am very glad I got it.  It's VERY helpful!