All Forum Posts by: Brad Ruttenberg

@Jordan Williamson yeah I think you're right! haha

I saw a couple of new homes being built along Cypress Lake close to Rutenberg Park area. I can't remember who it was though. They do specifically what you're talking about, have a few "models" to choose from.  If you want to see some work in action, head toward McGregor and it's on a side road, on the right that runs parallel with the main road. Not quite as far as the park if I remember correctly. Sorry for the lack of details.

@Nick Farrell

Also, having success in the market over the last 10 years is like having success in real estate. When the tide rises, all ships go up with it. An advisors worth is what your portfolio does when the market starts to crash, which it will.

Unless you are doing analysis of companies and industries, delegate that. Most advisors are doing that anyway.

The ones doing the analysis are called portfolio managers or fund managers. Your typical financial advisor picks funds and managers 9 times out of 10 these days. It scales better.

@Nick Farrell

I know you have a LOT of responses. I haven’t read them but I can speak from experience. I am/was a financial advisor and will always havE my Certified Financial Planner designation.

An advisor at that level of funds in your account will charge you the MAX in fees....well over 1% if not 2%. Advisors’ goal from a business standpoint is to gather investible assets. The more you have the more attention you’ll get.

You don’t need an advisor for investments with only $100. His options are limited anyway. It’s all going into a single mutual fund, which you can do EASILY somewhere else.

What’s important is to consistently save money. If you don’t have cash reserves, you shouldn’t be investing anyway.

Long story short, the habit of saving, no matter how small, is more important than where it goes...especially early on.

Leave that guy, go to Betterment and start automating your deposits. You’ll get the same exposure to the market without the BS.

Send me a message and I’ll give you some more resources to help with it all.

@Joe Villeneuve

That makes sense. I've been starting locally, in my neighborhood, which I know is divided by at number of those micro-markets. The homes around here (unless they're in an HOA) can be wildly different from just the house next door.

Thanks again for the insight. 

 Hey Joe. Sorry for the delay here. Do you have any specific recommendations on the market analysis and the various math that goes into these deals...which I assume would include the various creative funding methods. 

I'm reading everything our REIA passes out and have had a convo with a realtor in the area in regards to our market. It's a bit unique here I think.

The math of it all, I assume is a matter of experience. Anything you recommend for anyone looking for their first deal?

Hey @Ann North. When I say "apps" I meant Landline and Deal Machine. Ones where you get instant tax data or can send out mailers during your driving sessions. 

I definitely want to use deal machine at some point, but not just yet while I'm getting started. I'm investing my dollars carefully and right now, leads seem more important than automating tasks. 

Hey everyone. I thought it would be helpful to document my thought process as I start in real estate investing...mainly for myself but maybe it will help others somehow. Learn from my mistakes, but hopefully my successes too. I'm certainly open to any and all tips as well. 

So to jump in head first, after cramming as many REI concepts and experiences into my skull as possible, I've concluded that the underlying skill needed is finding deals, analyzing them and negotiating. This is where I'm starting.

I've been "driving for dollars" with nothing but a pen and paper. I'm looking up the property records on our property appraiser's sight to look for signs of distressed, absentee owners, probate, etc. I don't want to get into any apps as of yet., but I have my eye on a few. I want to hone in and develop my "instincts" for a good deal and learn how to research and identify an opportunity.

Because I know in the current market, it's important to be able to find deals off market. I'm going to invest in a "yellow letter" campaign with someone I found here on BP. From what I can see, in almost every successful story I've heard, it's a numbers game. Get your eyes on as many potential deals and talk to as many people as you can. As I see it, that's how you create success. I know some have scored big on their first deal, but I'm not going to plan on that kind of luck. 

I've already developed a relationship (connected with) a hard money lender to discuss their options and how I can find my entry point. I have others that are appraisers who've been looking to get into REI but haven't had the "guts" to get into it. Maybe if I can bring the deal, they'll bring some capital in a JV.

I've signed up to "bird dog" with a local investor and hope to bring him some deals and see how deals transpire through that to see how the pros do it. I want to start with some wholesaling with the goal of identifying properties that I can dive into myself after a while, hopefully through a JV, but not required.

This is where I am today. I want to develop a relationship with a realtor and a contractor (of which I've gotten some names already) to build out a team, but first things first. 

@Jordan I'll be at the meetup but cant make the REIA meeting tonight. I wonder if they record it? I want to see/hear what everyone's thinking in this market.

Hey @Mike Terry. Thanks for the heads up. I can’t make tonights meeting but it looks like a good one! I’ll definitely be keeping my schedule open for the next one.