All Forum Posts by: Robert Zazac

Hello BP Community, I'm a newer Pittsburgh investor who currently owns a duplex and is looking to grow my buy-and-hold portfolio.  I am very well studied, but now need to focus on improving my hands-on experience, skill set, network, and team.  Right now I'm looking for a R.E.-related job that could provide not only income, but potential networking and learning opportunities to become a better, more confident investor. 
My goals for the job:
-Allow me to leverage at least one of my main strengths: Analysis, Personal Interaction, Strategic Planning
-Accelerate mastery of a R.E.-related skill or put me around people that could grow my network and team
-If full time, if it could provide income that could at the least replace my current 45k per year, and ideally be able to improve my chances on paper at getting future refinance loans.  Also open to part-time options.
-I have a 4 year college degree, if that would matter for a particular suggestion.

So far, I've had suggestions like becoming an agent, an appraiser, and a property manager.  Feedback on those paths, and suggestions beyond those would be much appreciated.  I'm sure others have considered the same and would benefit from this thread.  Thanks in advance.

HI Anthony, this property was discovered on the MLS. We are still under negotiation and not sure if we will be able to agree on a price, but maybe I should ask then about the property tax ? How would that normally be incorporated?

Thanks A.J. for the feedback.  The broker commission is to make the difference on their "minimum", which in this case is 2k, which 3% of 51.5k doesn't completely cover.  My lender gave me the impression that the full year property tax is standard, so without other reference points I was left to assume that is the norm.  And yes, there's deals to be found out here near Pittsburgh, this offer may not be accepted and we may end up near the 65-70k range, but I'd be happy with that too. 

Hello everyone, I am on the brink of my making my first investment, a "house hack" strategy of buying a multi-plex, living in one unit, and renting out the other. I plan to use an FHA loan to finance my first purchase, and am working with a loan company.

Being that this is my first time going through this process, I am humbly asking if anyone could review the cost sheet that they have supplied for me, and let me know if the different cost items look appropriate, or if I should reconsider some things. They noted that an FHA loan would have some additional fees over a conventional, so someone with experience with FHA specifically would be helpful. I just want to go into this with full confidence! Thanks for any input!

Hello all!  Just a friendly reminder to anyone local to Pittsburgh who is currently involved or has an interest in any aspect of real estate investing, that the main monthly meeting is tonight, Novemeber 15th, 2016, with networking from 6pm to 7pm and the main meeting following that, which tends to last until about 9pm.  It is free for first time attendees, and memberships are very affordable and a great value. 

Address:

Greater Pittsburgh Masonic Center-

There will be a number of important speakers and announcements, but here is a man who will be focused tonight:

Steve Cook: Since 1998 Steve Cook has flipped many hundreds of houses as an active Baltimore-area real estate investor. Steve's unique specialty is the "flipping homes 1-2 punch", a proven system of real estate investing that powerfully combines wholesaling and rehabbing houses. Steve Cook is dedicated to helping others succeed through understanding and aggressively applying his time-tested, step-by-step approach to flipping real estate.

Feel free to message me for more info, and if you do attend and recognize me, please come up and introduce!  I'm always excited to meet like-minded individuals with a passion for real estate.  Hope to see you tonight.

Thanks everyone  so far that has said hello and offered advice or a desire for future collaboration!  Hope to hear from many more soon, and update you on how my marketing campaign goes.  In the meantime, just glad I got out of my cave and finally discovered and taken action on this awesome site ;-)

Hello everyone, I'm Rob, and last week joined Bigger Pockets.  I find it to be a great resource.  I'm a Pittsburgh native that lives in the Southside currently.  I began my pursuit nearly 2 years ago, with a 3 day seminar for Fortune Builders.  It provided a solid foundation, but I (According to many-wisely)opted to not invest exponentially more of my hard earned savings for further courses with them.

Since then, I have spent countless hours researching, and networking at my local REIA to build knowledge and contacts. I've named and branded my business, and invested in the Realeflow system which provides me with a back-office system for leads and I also have a website, squeeze page, and FB page up and running. I have also done a sign campaign to build a buyer's list.

At this point, like many others out there, it is my goal to avoid getting stuck in the "Paralysis by Analysis" trap, and take action marketing for properties.  Direct Mail seems to be the most logical starting point to test, and I plan to begin that campaign by the beginning of November.  My initial niche focus will be on finding deals for sandwich lease options, options with the intent to wholesale, or owner-financing with the intent to rent out. 

Anyone with experience in the Pittsburgh area that would consider giving any guidance or advice on any of the above subjects for the local market here would be greatly appreciated. I am very ambitious and can offer any assistance with you in your business as a way to pay it forward and gain experience. Hopefully soon enough I'll be able to offer desirable wholesale deals and other collaboration opportunities as well. And for anyone else local to Pittsburgh just starting out, I'd love to bounce ideas, or attend a local REIA meeting with you. Our leader there, @Josh Caldwell, does a great job there. Looking forward to a bright future in real estate surrounded by other bright, ambitious people.

I attended my local FB 3 day workshop in November 2014 and it laid a valuable base knowledge for me, as I was completely new to a lot of the concepts at the time I took the course. I would consider it well worth it for someone just starting out. However, resist the passive aggressive sales tactics to invest further after the workshop, as well there may be value in the $197 workshop, the costs go up exponentially from there. It would be my suggestion to make a few contacts of others who attend the workshop and live in your area. Then research your local REIA, and attend that, and learn more and network, network, network. Use BP and build more of an educational foundation, ask questions, and when the time is right- use that money you saved on the $1k+ courses and take action with marketing. Good luck.

The 3 day workshop laid a valuable base knowledge for me, as I was completely knew to a lot of the concepts at the time I took the course. I would consider it well worth it for someone just started out. However, resist the passive aggressive sales tactics to invest further after the workshop. It would be my suggestion to make a few contacts of others who attend the workshop and live in your area. Then research your local REIA, and attend that, and learn more and network, network, network. Use BP and build more of an educational foundation, ask questions, and when the time is right- use that money you saved on the $1k+ courses and take action with marketing. Good luck.