All Forum Posts by: Tim Ryan

I like this @Jonathan Greene.  I would just add to the readers to not be afraid to spend some money.  I have paid for several coaching/mentoring programs that were amazing and well worth it.  I see so many people trying to find the "hack" where everything is free.

Truth is, anyone who can really help you has no time to do it for a complete stranger to any real level of completeness.  The Mentee needs to find out what they can offer. A free coffee - to a successful person? hmmm. They'll offer that they will be really good students?  Mentees need to step up their game and make the offer to those who can help them.

Hmmm.  I talk about out of state investing all of the time especially since I am in Cali also and we need to invest out of state.

My always say you must travel there and make direct connections. Sorry to tell you this since you say you can't travel for 6 months. But I'm giving you the truth.

These realtors get calls all of the time from out of towners. They'll be nice and say they'll work to get you a deal. But you won't get the call with a great off-market deal. They will just send you what's on the market to your email and you can do that yourself with Zillow etc.

You'll just need to keep educating yourself then plan to travel in 6 months. Hey, think of it as a 6-month course, then you graduate, then start making deals.

yeah, it's tough out there these days. However, I remember my real estate coach from several years back say "you just need to keep working it, the deal will come". It was frustrating but he was right and I began finding (or maybe) seeing the deals.

Read that again, I began "seeing" the deals, insinuating that they were always there. Hmmmm.

One more word of advice: you will learn as I did that you need to have the 8-12% return when you buy. That's great advice and in most cases should be adhered to. However, I have bought properties that had far less, but I knew I could raise rents immediately or decrease expenses immediately, then I got to the 10% coc return withing a couple of months. 

Real estate investing is a business. Your job is to do better than the seller did. Find those opportunities and you'll find many deals.

A deal like that is SoCal is good! Congrats Casey.

I'm in the camp of get help from a real person as opposed to listen to more podcasts and read these threads.

I'll agree that you need to be very cautious with a "Program". I've seen many people lose their money. However, I have also studied this and have seen that the majority of those who lost was because of themselves. They had the dream (and the tuition money) but didn't have what it takes to make it all happen.

Therefore, a mentor is my best advice for you and others in this same situation. But know that there will need to be a cost to you. Many people look and hope for a free mentor. Just keep in mind, you get what you pay for.

So where are these Mentors? Find them at a local meetup or someone you know. I believe they need to be in close proximity to where you live.

But what will you have to offer them? Money? Well, they might not need money from you. Work? Usually that just slows them down to train you and watch over you.

Find out what someone likes, call it a gift, show you'll do anything to learn. Pay for dinners, lunch (rich people love freebies).

You are on the right track to search for a "hand hold". Maybe call it something else since that's too easy to ridicule lol.

Analyzing is easy. To find good deals you'll need to meet in person with the Brokers selling the properties. Get them to call you first when a deal comes to them.

I appreciate your goal to automate some processes and I'm sure in your field it happens all of the time, but there is no replacement for good 'ol person contact and networking.

Yes. RE Mentor - David Lindahl out of Boston. Was worth it big time for me. Other students didn't get anything out of it. I have learned that these programs are usually valuable, but the student needs to assess who they are before moving forward.

Of course they will take your money. How will they know if you "have what it takes". How will you know for that matter. 

Then you'll just have to take a chance and find out.

I have my theory about who succeeds and who doesn't and I'm working on a Blog to explain it.

Hi Renee,

Welcome to BP. I am also in Los Angeles (Pasadena area). I've been where you are and now I own many properties out of state.  Let's find a time to meet locally and discuss. We can see where I might be able to help you make some sound decisions as you move forward.

Hi Marcy, congrats on taking this step. I'm in the Pasadena area. If you ever come this way let's connect. I've done (and doing) a lot of real estate investing. We can see where we might help each other.

Congrats for making it back. We all lost money in '08 - so it's all good.

I love the SE Wisconsin market! Let's connect as I travel there about every quarter. I own a good size portfolio there. Thinking about selling some to... maybe