All Forum Posts by: Dorothy York

The GMAR office sells something they call "broker in a box" that is supposed to contain everything a broker needs to set up shop. That would include proper contract forms and office procedures/guidelines for the brokers' office operations. Consider the word "supervise" differently in context of real estate. It really means that you insure your salespeople have their credentials in order and follow your office operation requirements which is your risk management doctrine. Most brokers require closing file to be turned in and completed with all of the information that they are required to keep on file per licensing board before commission checks are issued. Even if you set up a plan where the agents keep 100% of the commission for a fee, all commission checks must be paid to the Broker and it is up to the broker to disburse them to the salespeople. That is probably where you will either need help, or will lose control of a lot of your time. Also remember that you don't want to be an employer, you want all your agents to be independent contractors which means you will need them to pay their own MLS and E&O fees. But from what I understand, the package from the GMAR contains information the explains these issues.

Welcome to Newman. Hope to meet up with you sometime as we are both in the same market. Admiral goals, by the way.

Hi @Adam Johnson Welcome to BP forum. I'm sure if you have probably been exploring this site you know how much good information there is here. I wish I had known about this sooner.

Welcome @Sam Erickson

Always happy to welcome another Milwaukee investor to BP. I've found the information available on this forum to be very helpful and informative. Also, there is a Milwaukee Meet up of BP member this Saturday 9a.m. at Stone Creek Coffee 422 N 5th Street. I know that several members plan to attend. If you set up Milwaukee meet up as one of your alerts, you will get notified when there are others.

I plan to attend.

Menards is my favorite store as they usually have what I need at good prices. HD is good too, but often doesn't have what I need for homes built before the 1970's. I also love the Menard's contractors desk (not available at all stores) because they helped me build a house. Right, I was the general contractor building a house from empty lot to completed livable house. They have the home plans and do complete materials lists with pricing so you know what your materials will cost. One of their selling points is that they are not in competition with the contractors, that's why they don't do installs. But they do allow contractors to advertise their services at their contractors desk, which came in handy when I was building that house.

My first was one of those accidental things. When prices were going up through the roof in 2006, my son was looking for a place for his spouse and two daughters. I brilliantly (read stupidly) thought, why don't we take out a line of credit on our house and build a house for them on one of the lots the city was selling cheaply. So we bought the lot, and started working on building this house with the help of our local Menards store. We selected a plan from the books they offer and the contractor desk does all of your refinement of the plans and materials lists/pricing. For anyone who has ever built a house even with an experienced general contractor, you know how these things go. Needless to say, we were flying by the seat of our pants. Thankfully there was a retired home builder working at Menards contractor desk just for something to do. His advice and recommended contractors was invaluable. We had hiccups along the way. Biggest was that the plumbers put in some rough work that broke after the water was turned on. Upstairs of course over a weekend when no one was at the site for a few days. Thankfully we did not have the drywall in yet, but had to replace the wood flooring in dining room. Fast forward to today and the 3bd 2.5 bath house is still their home and we were able to put it on its own mortgage and use the equity line to buy other investment properties.

Welcome to BP @Megan Roder

You've definitely come to the right place to learn about real estate investing. There a lots of really smart people who contribute to this site and are very generous with their information sharing.

The realtor is representing the buyer, who is her client. If she signs a buyer's agent agreement with the cash buyer where he is to pay her commission as her client, that should keep everyone in the right legal spaces. You could always agree to a discount to allow that buyer room to be able to pay the commission. That way, it all goes on the HUD-1 with check to the broker as is proper and everything is up front and in the open.

Welcome @Linzy T. and hope to run into you at one of the meet ups. Unfortunately, today was the big kickoff for the golf association I lead, so had other duties assigned. But I'm definitely looking forward to attending and getting to meet some of the other Milwaukee investors.