All Forum Posts by: Timothy Lewman

@Lance Conyers $20k is tough in my area but may work in yours. Keep in mind It's not just the down payment and closing costs when you buy. You also need to pay generally 1% of what you borrowed as an interest only payment each month and 2 -4 points up front. AND you need to front the payments for labor, subs and materials. Hard money is a reimbursement model, they dont pay you until you show them a receipt.

With all that in mind you have 2 choices. 1) keep saving up money. 2) partner with another investor who can help pay these bills. It's worth giving up equity to get started - I did it on my 1st deal, worked great. On my 2nd deal with the same contractor. I help pay the bills, he does all the work. Find someone to partner with; no reason to wait.

@Bashar Azzu total RIP off. Stay on BP and go to the REIAS in your area. There's always sharks in the water, dont get fooled. Try partnering on a deal, it's a great way to learn.

@Logan Singleton yes! I put my 2 IRAs into fundrise and realty mogul. They pay dividends send updates on the properties and business strategies. I have zero complaints so far.

@Matthew Dobson hi Matt most REIAs meet monthly, why a weekly meeting? Interesting idea

@Cory Moody hi Im on my 2nd flip in Leominster, live in Grafton. Check out Black Diamond REIA in Worcester in October. They alternate Worcester and Burlington every other month. See you there!

@Samuel Shaw hey I'm in Grafton. I'm currently flipping a house in Leominster, my 2nd flip. 1st was in Holden. Check out Black Diamond REIA in Worcester. We meet every other month, it's a great group. Online research is great but there is no substitute for these REIAs; do both! See you there in October?

@Callum Hawkins Hard money and private money dont really care about your FICO score. Find a deal and they will fund it where a bank won't. Go to you local REIA and talk to a few of them about what you're trying to do, someone will be interested.

How about some July MA housing stats for Labor Day?

I follow 2 sets of data; starting with the Warren Group, which reports all recorded transactions shows us at a median (median = half of the houses sold for more and half sold for less; it's different than the mathematical average) selling price of $425,000, an all time high for July, up 4.40% from last July. The Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) only tracks properties on the three state MLS's, shows a median selling price of $439,900, also an all time high for July, up 3.53% since July 2018. Recall that the June 2019 median MAR price at $440,000, its not the drop off we see with the Warren Groups numbers at $429,000 for June 2019.

For volume - number of transactions - The Warren group shows 6,417 houses changed hands, down 4.59% from July 2018. The MAR reports 6,083 sales, down 2.31% from last July. Why is the volume shrinking? MAR shows total inventory down year over year 3.83% and new listings are tumbling down 7.67% YoY. We still have a very tight supply of houses at 2.9 months. Months supply calculation = the inventory of homes for sale (at the end of a given month) divided by the average monthly pending sales from the last 12 months.

It makes sense that with inventory and new listing dropping that prices are staying elevated; it's a great time to list your home if you're thinking about it.

I like lots of charts and graph, sometimes the pictures put things into perspective.  Enjoy!

@John Penola do it! That's how I got started. Took out $34k and added another $5k from my savings. I partnered on a flip with a contractor I met through my agent. I put up the $34k and went in with a 50/50 profit split. I used the extra $5k to pay myself the 401k payment amount of $299.67 every other week that is deducted from my paycheck so I wasn't out any income. Don't forget to account for the lower paycheck among all the other risks others have pointed out. But get started if you can manage the risks. I'm on my second deal with the same contractor and everything is working so far.

@Mitesh Brahmbhatt Hi, yes for county info go to the press releases on warrengroup.com. it's not something that I track so no charts and graphs are in my possession.