All Forum Posts by: Gloria Dulan-Wilson

@JMartin:  J my apologies, but my Monday has become over subscribed, and I won't even have returned to Philadelphia until late Wednesday - so I am going to miss the opportunity of participating in this meet up.  I hope there will be another one scheduled soon.  I was so looking forward to it.  Please do keep me posted for any future dates.  And thanks for inviting me to this one.  Have a great meet up.  GDW

@J Martin - actually Sunday worked better; but Monday's fine. I will arrive just a little after start time because I will be coming from another meeting. I look forward to meeting you then.

Thanks so much 

GDW

Hello - what is the address for the meet up? And will the be two meetups? One on Sunday and one on Monday? Thanks Gloria D. Wilson

@Andy Luick:  thanks you Andy for that insight - I'm definitely a wannabe, gonnabe investor -that said, my primary concern is the agent trying to lock me into a blanket commission before we even get started, and before he's shown me any inventory.  $3000 per deal guaranteed -  really. 

@Jeff Valentino - I agree it should be a partnership between myself and the realtor - I've done it in the past - but I wasn't an investor then.  The agent who was referred to me to represent me as a buyer is already asking for $3000 guarantee - in the first instance, by the way, I found the property myself, but brought the realtor into the picture to make sure I had all the paperwork correct - big mistake.  

Thank you both for your response. I do understand realtors not wanting to be spinning their wheels. Perhaps when I'm fully up, running and successful like you guys, I can afford to promise that kind of commission - but definitely not today.  

I'm new to investing, but not new to real estate; I'm well aware that the agent really is there for the seller, not the buyer - and as a newbie investor I seem to be having a difficult time finding a realtor who is investor "friendly" - who won't leak your info or strategy to the seller and therefore blow the deal (which just happened); or who won't try to stick you with commissions they did not earn.  A realtor tried to get me to sign a commission agreement guaranteeing he would receive a minimum of $3000 per transaction, whether he sold the property, or I sold it; or whether it was sold by other means - i.e, even if the commission turned out to be less than $3000.   He wanted me to make up the difference!  Are there any investment friendly realtors in the Philadelphia, PA area?  I started reading the Handbook for Realtors - I wonder what it would take to get them to read it? Hmmm... Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated. 

@Don Martin: I like the idea of a tenant handbook for each unit.  That minimizes (hopefully) a lot of misunderstandings.  I'm definitely going to use that concept.  Thanks so much for the great idea. 

@Carlos Asuaje - generally speaking the 10% charged by the realtor is a one time fee.  And 10% is considered "low" by New York standards.  They are not receiving an ongoing commission unless this is specifically a commercial property - and those agreements are usually hammered out long before they go after a tenant for you.  

@ANDREW - You may have posted on the "wrong' thread, but I loved your enthusiasm.  I also loved the fact that there is someone out there who is creative and sensitive to the buyer.  I see so many cookie cutter renovations in Philly, that sit on the market for ever - and the interiors are all the same - you definitely know who did the job - and I know little to nothing about flipping.  They're using it as a reason to mark up the price over contemporary market prices, but the homes are sitting.  There's no appeal. I'm not saying they didn't improve and upgrade, they just didn't make them appealing to the buyers.  Love your energy - thanks for the information. I think it also applies in rentals as well.

@Ben Julius:  Thanks so much - I'm definitely going to give it a try, it appears the city records are ancient history.  

Just briefly, I'm interested in acquiring a property that appears to have been vacant for quite some time.  The City records are not up to date, and neighbors don't appear to have any information about the original owners.  How do I track down accurate information?  Thanks