All Forum Posts by: Robert Schmitt

Thanks, everyone! I'm looking forward to attending some of the meetups and hopefully meet you all.

Signed up! I'm excited. Looks like a great meeting. Thanks for putting that together.

-Rob

Thanks!

@Jordan Moorhead I saw the 17th meeting on Meetup. I'm going to try to make that, although my wife may be having surgery that day, so it hinges on that.

I'm new to REI and live just west of Minneapolis. Wondering which REI clubs/meetups int the twin cities are worth joining. I'd prefer a group that is focused on learning, networking and helping each other out and would prefer to avoid any that are just trying to sell stuff.

Thanks!

How much learning did you do prior to making your first deal?

I'm looking to get into investing in rental properties soon but I've been trying to educate myself first. So far I've read the Brandon Turner Rental Property book, the David Greene BRRRR book and am currently working on the J Scott rehab costs book and the cash flow book by Frank Gallinelli. I've also been checking out the BP podcast and reading blogs.

I plan on going to my first local event next week and try to get more networking going.

It's always hard to know where your blind spots are when you first start out in something but I also want to take care that I don't suffer analysis paralysis.

Any suggestions for further education would be appreciated but then I'm also finding the next steps to be challenging. I want to practice running numbers on properties but still find it hard to know where to start.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Sounds like you're still unclear if this deal can be salvaged, particularly with the rehab costs? Would it be possible to find an experienced investor in your area to partner with? They might be interested if they see potential and then you could learn from a lot from them in the process. Otherwise they might at least be able to give you a better idea if cutting your losses is there best solution here. Could turn into a valuable networking opportunity too.

Hey Chris! I'm pretty new here and to REI myself. Currently just trying learn as much as I can with a goal to invest in my first property within a year. Looking at the BRRRR strategy currently and just read David Greene's latest book on that. Sounds like you might want to check out some of the blog posts on "house hacking," as that seems to be the direction you're looking to go. I think a new book is about to be released on that too (I think by Brandon Turner?)

@Bill Plymouth Charge whatever you want. Just be sure you can communicate to the client the justification for your price. The only thing people care about is feeling like they got a good value for what they paid. One of the worst things any business person can do is sell something and letting the buyer feel like they overpaid, and that usually is just a matter of their perception of what they got in return for their money.

@Jess White Agreed. 401k's are not a scam, just high cost mutual funds are. But if you invest in low cost index funds, they're great. Only problem is that some employers don't offer place with low cost funds. Still a good idea to at least contribute up to the max employees match, otherwise you're turning down free money.

If you open a Roth IRA you can take any money you contributed out, penalty free if you need it in a pinch. You just can't take out any gains without paying penalty and capital gains tax.

Any opportunity to invest in a way that defers taxes should be considered.

@Jonathan Greer I'd agree that you should have as little face to face time with these guys as possible. Let the surveyors do their thing before taking any additional steps. Any encounters you do have with them, take as detailed notes afterward as you can about what you said (which should be minimal) and what they said.