All Forum Posts by: Robin First

I have a 4 family in Troy, my first baby. It’s been very good to me, but my energies are elsewhere now. Call me to Talk about it.

The City Of North Adams is selling a majestic 50 foot high ceiling church and gorgeous old school building.  They are putting out a RFP,due October 13th.  I've put one out before, so even though these projects are way out of my league, I'm gaining experience and knowledge of what the city wants, and I'm naive or driven enough to keep working them.  I've been called a visionary.  The truth is that I'm truly  psyched to be a part of revitalization of this smoken town.

The officials are pretty open to anything that will be part of a revitalization of the city.  At first I was thinking of all kinds of Recreation that needs height, sky  diving, rock climbing, slides, aerial yoga,trapeze. The downstairs is a humongous hall with a stage,kitchen  and 20 foot ceilings.

Now  that I've been researching church conversions, i'm thinking of tall thin garden apartments with the center as a common area.

So how do I reach out to the world,  to whom do I reach out to, in order to stretch to this awesome limit? 

After years of being in the buy and hold side of real estate investing, I finally was a genuine 'Wholesaler"

It happened after years of reading about it, watching the video's  and then going back to read again with the same question, reflecting my fear and confusion of "what is it again to be a 'wholesaler?" Not to forget, the opinions of  some other's, that wholesaling is sleezy.

So what was finally different?  I think the short answer is that it came from an organic process.

Norm and I have been a ma and pa operation of purchasing and landlording in North Adams, Ma. for 10 years.  We started out driving here from NY, 3 hours, working the properties, using Dunkin Donuts bathrooms and driving home.

Now we have this awesome apartment that we love alot.  Its great for our marriage too.  We leave the family, (everyone's grown) and come for 3 days a week and work the business.

North Adams has been a blessing to us.  It kept providing and showing us more and more.  We also developed feelings about what aspects of the business we liked best and which not so much.  

Out of this, we realized that we wanted to bring more tenants, homeowners, investors, and entrepreneurs to this area.   So from this genuine interest and focus, things started to happen.  I guess that could be called the law of attraction.

Some friend's of my daughter came from Illinois.  They took the day to visit the area, and I took about 3 hours to show them.  When they got back home he called me.

We spoke.  he said I should find them a 4 family house.  I told him I get $5000 for finding it for him.  He was perfectly fine with that.  I also said, that I probably will save him 2 or 3 times that fee in my negotiations with the seller. When I got of the phone, I knew, with my whole being, that I was wholesaling.

Since then, I have written to the owner of a condemned property.  Its been that way for 10 years.  The Assessor's assistant told me to forget it, that the owner is saving it for his daughter.

Another property I approached was my seedy neighbor's place.  The drunks have been sitting outside there for as long as I've been here.  I have no problem with them.  some of them even work for me from time to time.  Now though, its gotten messy with"new management" and the building inspector is encouraging me to please buy it.  The owner's are very elderly, and have owned it forever.  My vision is also to turn the worst street into the best and this property is strategic in this plan.

So at the end of the day, its a win win for me, my buyer and the revitalization of North Adams.  Wholesaling is a new aspect of my business.

Dear Marc Wong;

I endorse you for your foresight into your future. Before I show you what I've got to offer, I need to know what type of return are you looking for? Here's a good question. You can invest in a high market which gives you a small return in the present, but a larger return in the future. Or you can invest smaller in the present with a higher return in the present, and not as high a return in the future; as in a high market. That is the question. I am asking you, what are your returns now in pct?

This will help you to understand what you are looking for. 

 From,

Norman First (Robin's  business partner and husband of 37 years)

Hi Jessica,

Jessica, you are on the right track, but 10k, is not enough to get started.  I would go to the bank and see what amount of a  pre approval they will give you.  That will start you off. I Like other investors, might give you a owner financing for the other portion of the investment.

I agree , as a Bronx girl myself, that it will be the next boro frontier.

I have been purchasing and managing multi -family properties in North Adams,Ma. for ten years.  Its been lucrative. They can be turn key or any stage of rehab.

Hi Eric, You have a lot of talent , drive and common sense to get started in investing in Real estate. I'm from Ny and discovered North Adams , Berkshires, Ma. I like visiting here, and it's been exciting and lucrative. Come visit, I 'll show you all the possibilities here. Looking forward to hear from you. Robin

It's time to jump in. You will discover what to do, as you move. Buy a good deal and it will present itself what to do. You will explore possibilities, and then the project will show you.

Thank you for the vote. Let's  meet. We  can walk around, see properties  and  talk  in North Adams. 

Do you want to be a builder or a real estate investor. Being able to do some work yourself is an asset to being an investor, but building is a full time job. 

Where I am in the east, it doesn't pay to build. Building materials are very expensive these days and there are many homes that need rehab.