All Forum Posts by: Michael Pilarski

[url]Terry Giancaterino Partly right. Bird dogging and wholesaling is all about your end buyer. Bird dogging its about your buyer who is either going to analyze the deal and wholesale it to their end buyer or you wholesale to your end buyer, whether it be a rehabber or someone wanting to rent it. The hardest part of wholesaling is finding sellers to sell their property to you so you can find a buyer. Alot of wholesalers spend a ton on advertising and finding sellers. Building a buyers list for yourself will take time, but if you're going to REI meetings, talking with agents, and networking you should already have a decent buyers list and building trust with those you meet. If the deal is there, you'll always find a buyer. Bird dogging you may have your buyers list but you may not have a buyer. If you bird dog, your buyer then has to analyze the deal and if the numbers don't work, they don't buy and you don't get your $1000 fee (or whatever amount you set).

Until the house is actually foreclosed on a short sale should still be a viable option. I would get with and agent that specializes in short sales and talk to them and see what they can do for you. If the short sale does not happen then hopefully your agent will be knowledgable with HUD and FNMA home purchases and can keep an eye out for you and follow what [url]@Mark H. mentioned. Hopefully someone else will come around and can answer your question more thoroughly. Good luck and I hope you end up getting to buy the house!

[url]Terry Giancaterino what the guru described is bird dogging and bird dogs usually get paid for just finding a property and generally not having to analyze it. A wholesaler will analyze and put it under contract if they figure the numbers and can make more than a finders fee. I know some wholesalers can make $5,000 and up on a deal but thats because they put it under contract for, as an example, $25,000 and then turn around and sell it to a rehabber for $30,000 who will then fix it and flip with an After Repair Value of $50,000. This is a very simplied version but I hope it helps. One of the problems with bird dogging is making sure the person you give the property info to is reputable and will pay you, when you wholesale a property you get paid at the closing.

[url]Stanley Chung I found my local club through my real estate investing teacher. He helped starting it up. I did a Google search for St. Louis and this is what I found: http://www.mynationalreia.com/clubportal/795files/Directory.cfm?clubID=795&statevalue=MO

I hope that helps you get started. There may even be some county REI clubs that are a subset of the major club. You could also call a real estate company and ask to talk to an agent that works with investors. Good Luck!

I can't say it lowers my blood pressure, but it sure helps ease the mind. I learn something or find a different way to look at things every day I'm on here. I'd like to thank all the writers and the pros that help out the little guys here like me that are starting out. Joshua thanks for your brilliant vision for this site.

X2 what [url]@Daniel Kirkpatrick said. Just starting out you need to gain knowledge. Being on here is huge start. Welcome to BP. Join your local REI club. Get to know those that have beein doing what you want to do and take them out for coffee or dinner and pick their brain. Get your team together (CPA, attorney, agents, lenders, etc.). Lay out your business plan and work it. In a scenario like you mentioned. That's not something for a newbie really to start out with unless you have a seasoned pro walking you through step by step. Good luck and againa welcome!

[url]@Andrew Emery Don't let maintenance intimidate you. As long as you have your numbers right for cash flow and reserves that should be a non issue. It also helps to make sure your lease contract is rock solid.

I do believe FHA allows up to a quadplex for owner/occupancy deals. You'll proably wnat to check the FHA website or your agent.

[url]Andrew Emery Good question and I'm sure you are right. The increase in your debt to income ratio probably will not surpass your capital. Yet another reason leverage is awesome, especially for someone such as yourself that appear to have a really good plan (or at least good idea). The 1 nivestment property you mentioned in addition to the duplex, is that going to be a SFR? Just curious, because if it was going to be another duplex, why not just start out with a quadplex, better yet start out with the quadplex in addition to the other investment property? This thread definately has me thinking and if I didn't have to worry about the security of my wife a kids (read that as dogs) things would be very different for us.

Before I start out, I'd like to say I agree with with what everyone has said before about not paying the loans off and not consolidating. Using the power of leverage is cool. However, to play devils advocate, I'll throw some what ifs out there. The first what if is, what if you don't pay the student loan you purchase the duplex and for some reason the company has to lay you off. Then what would be a back up plan? In that situation (and in my personal finances) I would want to pay the SL off and leave without any debt. At this point it raises the second what if, what if you do pay off the debt, you have the great job and you go to get a loan for you first duplex? At this point wouldn't your debt to income ratio be awesomely in your favor? And by going FHA you would only need 3-3.5% down.

I like what you're doing and personally would start with the LLC first. I would recommend talking with a good RE attorney as well. their input could be invaluable. The way I see it though you wouldn't want to do any other activty under your LLC that isn't in your business plan. The purpose of the LLC is proctection and doing multiple streams of income or business put the LLC at risk. I think your best bet would be to put the LLC together go with HML or private funding do a flip to build up assets (or maybe even wholesale to build up the cash reserves) then use the assets or reserves to do what you set out to do in your plan. Just my .02