All Forum Posts by: Michael Van

@Suly B. Thanks for the props. I've always been told the best way to learn something is to be teaching it. On top of that there is so much real estate and business that no one person could ever handle it themselves. We're all in a community to prosper and do better for communities so I'm definitely glad to be a part of it. 

Hi guys, working on my first few reports. Have some leads coming in and would like to see if this makes sense for people as well as if any one has any experience with the Southside of Chicago. Thank you!

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*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

@Steve Vaughan I love that you brought up the Pareto Principle. It truly applies in any and every situation. The truth of the matter is, is as many people mentioned real estate agents are transactional. To @Adam Blachnio 's point, having a commission life style which does not lead to thinking about one's future. 

The unfortunate and most contributing factor is how society has built our expectations. Most people are taught to think about what's in front of them, the next shiny object, or even how much can I afford per month? Think about this as it applies to mortgages. A mortgage at 5% is basically a bank saying that we will give you the money for this $100,000 house and at the end of it take $90,000 in interest. Oh but your monthly payment will only be about $650, is that okay? 

The ultimate point is that people in general, not just realtors, are not great stewards of their money. Short term gain and societal views on money make the less disciplined people spend so much more. It's gotten even worse with social media because the 1% lifestyle is in front of people's faces even more now. And even those not in the 1% are fronting in their social media by renting mansions and exotic cars for a day to do their videos. 

Just live below your means and invest the rest. Until your means are high enough that work for the lifestyle that you want, just keep chugging along. Everyone has a different view on success. Good luck everyone!

@Ade AmooThank you for supporting the point and yes, the Millionaire Next Door is a great book to read that really drives the point home. 

@Jay Hinrichs I completely agree with you about the 1099 part as well. As a 1099 independent contractor, our goal at the end of the year is to expense out our lifestyle and as much as we can to get our effective income as low as possible. This does not work well when you're trying to qualify for a loan which requires or rather looks favorably upon higher incomes. 

@Suly B. Thank you for being you. Seriously, rockstars that rejoice in living well below their means are the ones that will pave the path to their own future. Most people think they have an income problem when it's really an expense problem. The old addage rings true "More money, more problems". Work on playing defense with your finances first because that is the #1 thing that you can control. From there it's all about the direction you want to take YOUR money. Don't work for your money, have your money work for you. 

@Keith Walton Welcome to BP and congratulations on taking the most important first step: TAKING ACTION.

You are very fortunate to have an amazing wife as a partner to encourage to go out of your comfort zone for your Chick Fil-A chance encounter. As your first meeting went, I do believe that investor is right. Your first task is to get deals and just analyze and analyze until you know what's a good deal in a specific kind of market. 

You mention your long term goal to be doing buy and holds yet your short term is to do a flip. Just starting off like you guys I wanted to get into too many different avenues of real estate investing because there really is that many. I would probably suggest you stick true to your long term goal of buy and holds and learn from things like that. You could realistically look more into the BRRRR method which does include a slight rehab to add value while still sticking true to your goal of buy and hold.

There are many tax implications that fall on flipping as well that you definitely should learn about if that's the direction you would like to go. Tax benefits from the BRRRR method are more numerous and less of a learning curve.

Once again, congrats to the group and hope you find as much if not more value in this community as I have! If you have any questions I love talking real estate so I'd love to help. 

@Dennis M. You bring up a good point about their cars but be careful about using that to disqualify people to invest. Investors especially people like us know where our money and value goes and something like a new or really nice car just doesn't go as far as putting that money into an investment. I know a handful of guys in my area that live like they're broke and drive beater cars but they have a solid portfolio of investment properties. 

@Ross Mcghie Hey Ross, are they only looking to lend in Florida? I have a couple portfolios in Chicago that I have the opportunity of purchasing. 

I would definitely ask what mindset they have about their business as far as Kiyosaki's Cashflow quadrants. If they're of the busines mindset, how do you accomplish that as a real estate agent?

@Anthony Vann had a really good point in that. Mindset is everything. There are a lot of agents that think they own their business but are more self-employed. They just own their job. I'm not entirely sure how a real estate agent can make it a business where in its truest sense like Kiyosaki states is a business tends to do better whether you're there or not. Most people tend to work in the business rather than on the business.  

I'm not sure how that works in the real estate industry but I'm trying to build a plan for something like that. If anyone has any insight that would be wonderful. 

Hello, I have a probably about 6-10 leads with owners interested in selling. I have not analyzed many deals I'm trying to figure out how to go about it first. Do I figure out the value of the property first or should I see what the numbers work for to find my offer? 

If anyone that helps in turn would like to purchase these ideally I'd like to be a little part of it to learn. Thanks in advance!

Hi Douglas, thank you for this thread and just trying to give back. So much appreciated.

A little about myself, I've been reading for awhile and been a broker for 3 years but starting to try to make moves with investing. I started a direct mail campaign and have gotten a few phone calls but would like to get into the online marketing side. What would you say first steps would be and possibly a small plan? I think a website to go with my direct mail marketing for leads to either call or go online to just give them options. How do you propose I do the marketing with that? This might be a lot but anything you answer would be so much appreciated. Thank you!