All Forum Posts by: Tracy Ellison - Bey

Hey @Chris Virgil-Stone thanks so much for sharing you're experience.  Definitely something I needed to hear and take heed to.

You mentioned "I had both tenants out before closing because they were not the type I would rent to" and that next time you will try to do eviction yourself. How did you get both tenants out before closing? Were both leases up or did you give them cash for keys?

My partners and I are in the process of helping a seller evict an unpaying tenant out of one of the homes we are in the process of buying. And I also have another property I'm putting in an offer for and rent is below market but lease just started. So any advice on getting tenants out quickly would be helpful. 

Welcome to biggerpockets @Henry Silvestriz-Lora! Cobb County is a great area to invest in. And biggerpockets has a wealth of knowledge, tools, and best of all world class connections. 

Feel free to connect with me and others in the area if you need any help. 

I have a guy who knows how to cut the right corners when it come to certain materials, permits and labor savings. 

He's done worked for large hedge funds in mass volumn and is licensed and insured. 

His name is Shane 770-575-9915

Tell him Tracy "the real estate agent" sent you. He may come out and give you a quote for no charge. 

Hi Shawn,

I'm a realtor and investor in the Cobb County area. I'm currently working with a couple of fix/flip buyers now. 

Between MLS and wholesale properties there are definitely deals to be made if you have your funding lined up and ready to pull the trigger.

It's competitive, and you have to act fast when the numbers line up. No time for second guessing or its gone.

Send me a message, we can chat more.

I love these types of titles, there's always a fire to run to or from lol. 

Economic factors can change things at any given moment. But I believe people are becoming more confident in putting their money into real estate which is heightening the demand and prices. As prices rise more sellers look to sell their home, which will begin to level out inventory and prices. Of course some markets are slower than others due to various market conditions.

Speaking only on the perspective of the market here in Metro Atlanta (which does have strong economic growth), overall we have a pretty steady incline on sale prices since the bottom in 2012. There's a pattern of prices falling slightly between the months of Aug-Feb. (excluding Dec.) I've broken the data down into smaller micro areas with similar patterns. 

I do agree its a great time to buy right now, unless you are looking to hold off until the next crash. Aug.-Feb has the lowest prices, and interest rates are low. 

But its always a great time to buy when you buy the right asset, at the right price, with the right exit strategy.

@Russell Brazil I agree with most of the folks about the differences between going with a small brokerage and a large one.

I think the decision, ultimately, comes down to a personal analysis of where you are and where you are trying to go.

If you would like to have the freedom of doing creative investment deals as @Rick H. said, I'm in it to build a business. Running around hand holding buyers, was not the end goal for me. I wanted to be somewhere that I could use my strengths of marketing, building a team, and an investment company. 

My current brokerage is the largest I have been with. They are still flexible and run like a small family, but is growing rapidly now in 29 states and publicly traded on the stock market. To me, it was a blessing to find everything I wanted in one place. 80/20 split with cap, agents receive stock ownership, team revenue share, responses from mentors in 1-2hrs, the most innovative marketing tools I've ever used and all for $50/month. I can even hang my broker license there and build it within if I decide to. Haven't experienced anything like it.

My advise it to find a company that fits your personal short term/ long term goals. When you know yourself, your strengths, and your passions you begin to make things line up with that.  

@J Scott thanks for starting this thread and being so very open with us through out your new "buy & hold" investing. 

I read it from the beginning, and when you stated that you began marketing the property and only listed it on gosection8, I said out loud "Oh no! He should have hired a property manager..."

One of my mentors made a bold statement that I can never forget. He said "If you are not the type of person who can evict your mother out of your rental home, on Christmas morning, in the middle of a snow storm for not paying rent, then you shouldn't manage your own property." Now of course that is a bit extreme, but it made a point. 

Another route you could have gone, was to pay a real estate agent half month - full month rent to just lease the property for you. When I first got my license, I worked for a PM company who managed 5000+ homes for a large hedge fund. I was #1 in the entire hedge fund when it came to "pre-leasing" properties. I had about 1/3 of the homes I was responsible for leased before there was even a solid finishing date. 

I even took side leasing jobs from local investors for as little as a $500 referral fee. Its a marketing game. I haven't marketed for renters in well over a year and a half, but I still get 3-4 rental leads per month that call in. 

At this point, I'm learning from my experiences as well as the experiences of others to begin adding "buy & hold" properties to my own investment strategy as well. 

The details of this thread was very well needed and received, than you again. 

That's awesome! Thanks so much for sharing @Nicholas Kurowski

Hey @Lawrence Monyei,

Yes you will need to hang your license with a broker in order to have access to MLS as an agent in GA. You can't do anything with your license without a broker. Essential only a broker has the right to perform real estate representations, and they grant you access as an agent to work on their behalf when you hang your license with them.

If you go take the test for your RE license and pass it, but don't have a broker yet, your license will immediately go into inactive status.

Brokers have to pay for access to MLS. Some will pass that cost onto the agents to pay, and some brokers will pay for it and allow you to have access for free. I guess it's not technically free because you will be giving them a hefty split from your production.

But at the same time, there are ways to access MLS without a license. And there are also ways to access MLS data outside of MLS through other services, though sorting through the data won't be exactly the same.

Hi Teri,

I've been with 6 different brokers over the last 3 years of having my license. And I have interviewed with more brokers than I can count. But now, I feel like I have finally found the right one that fits with my goals.

In the majority of cases, you are the one interviewing the broker not the other way around. Most brokers want as many agents as they can get because we pay them monthly fees, and they make money off our production. So the more agents they have, the more money they make.

When it comes to choosing the right broker for you, I would make the decision based on your investing goals, your goals as an agent, and your current budget.

If you are are looking to do buy & holds and not wholesale, it should give you more options, as some broker don't like the wholesaling model of business. Just make sure that you always disclose that you are an agent when you buy/ sell your own properties, and make sure that all your security deposits from your rentals are placed in the brokers escrow account. We are not allowed to hold and manage our own deposits from our rentals as agents, unless consented buyout broker.

Different brokers offer different levels of support, technology, training, fees, structure and leniency.

Here are some questions for you to answer so that you can narrow down the best route for you currently. Depending on the answers to the following questions I would recommend certain brokers over others.

-Do you plan on being an active agent and need lots of training?

-Do you plan on being an active agent and want high commissions and training is less important?

-Do you just want somewhere to hang your license while you focus on investing.

-Do you like using the best technology and systems, if so what type of budget are you willing to spend monthly to have access to those things?

-Are you looking for a brokerage that allows you to build your own team of agents so that you can share the profits?

-Would you rather pay high monthly fees, or split a big chunk of every commission with the broker?

-Do you like to do, and have a nice budget for marketing? Or would you rather the broker provide leads?

-Prefer office environment, or work-at-home cloud based?

I hope that helps. Inbox me and I would love to help you on your broker hunt.