All Forum Posts by: Sian Poteat

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

Quote from @Sian Poteat:

There's no magic bullet that will make you a rock-star investor. You have the knowledge, but you don't have the desire. If you did have the desire, you would be hustling instead procrastinating. You've decided relaxing is more important than working on investing. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. Maybe one day you'll wake up and the desire to invest will outweight the desire to chill, then you'll be ready to move forward.

I appreciate your input. In all honesty I want to invest so that I can chill down the line. I needed to hear that cause if there’s one thing that drives me it’s someone telling me I’m not doing something or that I don’t have something. I need to be more creative and really use OPM, after all I work in a hospital there’s plenty of wealthy but busy individuals all I need is to bring a deal that’s irrefutable. Thank you.

Quote from @Eliott Elias:

Reach out to an experienced investor and offer a hand. Do not approach people asking them to add value to you, come in with a mindset of adding value! If you were in Texas I’d have you under my wing 

Thank you for your response! I’m thankful for the opportunity even though I’m incapable of accepting it but thank you, I’ll definitely try to market my services and work my way up from the bottom!

Hello,

My name is Sian Poteat-Romero I currently live in the Jersey shore for my 4th year of college which is a rotation in a laboratory, after which I will pursue my masters in epidemiology, however my passion lies in real estate. So far I've learned enough to be able to teach my coworkers and I've reached a point where I feel like the only way I can learn is by action. For reference I've read numerous real estate books front to back multiple times (skip the flip, creative cash and all of the books published by bigger pockets). I've listened to countless hours of podcasts and YouTube videos. I've made an in-depth underwriting calculator on excel which I've used and tested, learned basic creative finance and I've even been to some REIA meetings in my area. What I'm lacking now is experience and a sound plan.

I have been working to get into wholesaling and I feel as if it is eating away at my cash, seeing as I am a college student and completely independent I feel irresponsible for burning my cash when I have my bills to worry about. In my mind that is an excuse my hustle should beat out any limitations I may face but money is one limitation I feel I might not be able to defeat since marketing is the life blood of this business, an expensive one at that. 

My question is which direction do I head in? Do I stick to my original plan of graduating and house-hacking? Do I spend my free time and limited cash on wholesaling to generate capital? Do I reroute that time into becoming a real estate agent part-time? I feel as if I may be to overextended and therefore lack focus so maybe that’s my problem. I feel guilty using my free time relaxing after studying and not building something for myself, more than anything I want to provide value and not excuses regardless of my limitations but I also need to remain realistic to prevent myself from ending up in a situation I can’t fix. Thank you.

Quote from @Jocelyn Kaufman:

I was in your situation not too long ago. I think there is nothing scarier than working your whole life in a 9-5 job until you turn 60 and retire. I will answer each of your concerns in my opinion but I will keep it brief. 

1. The market will always be changing and I personally don't see home prices going down anytime soon in most areas. The sooner you jump in the better assuming you are in a good spot financially.

2. I think it is always important, to be honest, and not try and take advantage of the sellers. If you find good deals and are a good human things will work out in your favor more often than not and people will be more willing to work with you. Think of it as a business when you are offering to buy a house. You want a good deal but you also want a relationship to maybe get more deals from that person in the future. Plus I believe in Karma. 

3. I think a great place to start would be reading "rich dad, poor dad" and listening to podcasts like "the bigger pockets podcast" and "The real estate CPA podcast." Once you learn more it will make more sense. 

4. I am not sure what you mean by this question but I think a great FREE way to start would be finding an agent that can send you an email alert for the area you are interested in. You can start looking for properties at no cost and even if you are not able to buy window shopping is always a great way to learn. 

I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions I may be able to help you with!

-Jocelyn :)

Thanks a ton, I appreciate the insight. I’ve been keeping up with bigger pockets and reading plenty I was just dealing with a bit of analysis paralysis. I’ll definitely look into the window shopping part and underwriting deals for practice thank you!

Hello, I am a 3rd year college student. With graduation and the ability to generate capital in the horizon I’ve been gaining as much knowledge as possible concerning real estate investing as that is my long term strategy for wealth. I am growing impatient and would like to step in as I see numerous success stories starting people my age (21) and younger. I understand the current market cycle is unpredictable at the moment and that it likely won’t be corrected by the time I’m financially stable and ready to invest, however that is why I am currently considering wholesaling real estate for the chance to jump start my plan and take action as I can’t help but feel guilty for simply going to school ( I aim to be a medical laboratory scientist and eventually a director). 

Everyday I spend relaxing after work or class I feel is a day wasted if I am not chasing a deal or finding a way to make it work. This is why wholesaling real estate has caught my eye. It has been advertised as a low cost way to break into the real estate market given enough hard work and time however several factors are deterring me from taking action.

1. The current state of the market, as it benefits sellers it’ll be much more difficult to get a deep discount as even motivated sellers seem likely to follow this wave of selling overpriced homes due to low demand.

2. Emotional reservations, even if I can lock down a contract at a deep discount if feel as if I was cheating the seller, they’d be selling their home for much less than others and would probably receive their asking price from a more desperate investor with deeper pockets. Even then they may be unable to buy a new home after selling given the low inventory.

3. Data, I rarely act without knowing everything I can. Becoming a new wholesaler in the virtual market seems like a tall task as without an existing buyers list and mls access I’d be left with out of date information such as that found on Zillow and Redfin. I am not sure of the legitimacy of prop-stream either.

4. Marketing costs, being a broke college student marketing seems like it would quickly drain my funds, even now. I rationalize the situation as this; low supply and high demand > higher saturation of wholesalers and investors vying for deals > less deals or even hits on a good lead. Combined with the fact that I learned speed is a key factor in real estate. Being a student athlete how can my schedule compare with that of a professionals with the data and the funds?

Sorry for the long post, my mind is racing and I honestly can’t wait to jump in. To me real estate is more than a way to build wealth, I have a dream of building something long lasting that can change the lives of those like me. Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.