All Forum Posts by: Giovanna Owen

My husband and I will be visiting the hill country at the end of August and are looking for an experienced agent to show us some houses and give us advice about the area. We will be purchasing a primary residence and an investment property in that area within the next 6-18 months. We are looking for a long-term business relationship with someone we can trust. If you have worked with someone you can recommend, we would love to hear from you!

I live in Bend and home prices seem high, but there is a rental shortage and landlords are able to get top dollar for their units. I imagine that this trend will continue with the new 4-year university.

Ask her questions about her family, her job, and what she like to do for fun. Let her do the majority of the talking. Get to know her and be sincere. When she is telling you about herself, listen for her goals, strengths and any needs she might have and keep them in mind. Encourage and edify her. I'm not experienced in real estate, but I have bought a few businesses, and have learned that business follows relationship. If you establish trust, the business part will come much easier. I usually spend 3/4 of the time listening and asking questions and only 1/4 of the time talking business. Sometimes business does not even come up until the 2nd meeting. Most people go there entire lives without having someone really listen to them. It can make a huge impression and open the door to great opportunity. If you go to her with a genuine desire to have a win-win outcome, she will sense that and it will build trust.

Hi Kyle,

That depends on what your goals are. No one can tell you which direction is right for you. You said that you don't want to be a handy man or real estate agent, but you are thinking about getting your property management license. Why not get a job working for an established property manager to find out if it's something you want to do before opening your own business? You could also work on getting licensed in the meantime. Managing properties for other people is different than self-managing your own investments, and the experience of working for an established company could give you an advantage over having to figure everything out for yourself when you do start your own company. I'm a big believer in finding someone who has what I want and learning everything I can from them.

Millennial's look at their parents,the baby boomer generation, and see them working like crazy their whole lives to keep up with the Jones and that's not the life they want. They decide that the price is too high. They don't have time for their kids or to do the things they want to do, and even after many years of hard work, they see their parents deeply in debt and not able to retire on time. Why would they want their parent's life. What is that teaching them about work? They don't know how to dream, how to set goals and go after them, so they are lazy because "What's the point of working if the government will pay me to be lazy?"

There is a statistic that "98% of people will end up dead or dead broke - depending on their family, friends, or the federal government for their main source of income by the age of 65 (danijohnson.com)!" That right there is enough motivation to make me look at what all of my peers are doing and do the exact opposite! I don't want their destiny. I want to be in the 2% who is alive & well, and financially independent at 65. That's why I like this community so much. BP is a group of people who don't just talk about what they want in life, they go out and make it happen! Since you become the average of the people you surround yourself with, this is the perfect online community to be a part of because there are a lot of 2%ers on here! : )

Hi Jackson,

Welcome to Bigger Pockets! What kind of RE investing are you into/ or are you considering?

Hi Robert,

Welcome to the BP community! You should check out some of the podcasts where they interview successful house flippers. Oh and defiantly read J Scott's book "The Book on Flipping Houses." Here is the link:

http://get.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook/

Hi Fred,

You might find this BP post about screening potential tenants helpful: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/10/1...

Welcome to BP, Alex! We have both Cashflow games (101 & 202) and Cashflow for Kids. Robert's games and books are a great tool for learning the basic principals of investing and money management (although practically opposite to Dave Ramsey's teaching). We bought our games on Ebay for $20/each and enjoy playing them with friends and family. They helped change our thinking about money and helped us understand the basics of what it takes to achieve financial freedom. I don't think there is any one specific tool that will teach you everything you need to know about investing, but these games were helpful for us.

Most areas have groups that host Cashflow games. This is a fun way to network with other like-minded people and get some experience playing the games. I found the group in my area on Meet-up, but you might also search for a club in your area on the richdad.com website.

My issue with investing in Oregon is that we are killing the industry that once made it a strong state and unemployment/ under-employment is a huge problem here. I would rather send my investment dollars to a place with a strong economy where there are plenty of good-paying jobs so that my property will be occupied and my investment will be secure. I love Oregon. It's a beautiful state with a lot of great people, but I'm not sure investing here is a wise long-term decision.