All Forum Posts by: Ralph Justiz

I have not used either service personally but I have a friend who has been paying for Zillow leads and has been having some success. I'm not sure how much she's paying a month but she has received several listing leads in nicer areas in our market.

@Hugo E sanchez Check out meetup.com. I'm not in the DFW area but I travel there every once and awhile and have searched for meet ups in the past. In my experience you can find 5-10 events happening daily in the metro!  

I would not have waited that long! I do open house style showings, private showings take up too much time. If people do not show up within 15 minutes of the agreed upon time I leave. If they want to still see the house after they no-show a showing I give them the date for the next open house showing. 90% of the time they don't attempt to see the house again. 

Welcome to BP! Good luck on your journey, it'll be a fun one.

I am not a fan either. The only benefit I see is the sliders under each catergory which allow you to change variables quickly without having to edit the orignial report again. Otherwise the old calculator is superior.

@Daniel Quintanilla if it were me I'd keep the property and refi out some equtiy on a 15 year note once I pinned down another property I wanted to purchase. Basically do the BRRR strategy until my heart's content.

Podcasts are the best starting point in my opinion. Brandon and David are always excited to talk about real estate and listening to the stories of other investors is very motivating. After that I would venture to the forums to either find meetups, ask questions, provide value to other users, and so much more. Bigger pockets is an amazing resource for all things investing, the podcast is just the tip of the iceberg.  

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Even if you check everything something will still go wrong. Hvac went out the second week of ownership.

Ain't that the truth!!! It's not if it's when! Always gotta save for those Capex issues.

Hey Todd. My advice would be to go out and meet other investors in your area. They will be able to give you the best recommendations because they live in your area! Another option you have is use the network tab on the top of this page and search for contractors. The search is powered by homeadvisor. I've used it in the past when I was just starting out and I had decent success with it. 

In my experience, the condition of the property is generally similar to the type of tenant it attracts. Good Luck!