All Forum Posts by: Tylor Williamson

Not to get political here, but I kind of chuckled when I read “"My instincts are always correct.”

It sounds a lot like, “I have a gut, and my gut tells me more sometimes than anybody else's brain..." - Donald Trump 

In the end, not every company in the entire state of Utah is bad. And I agree with @Jerry Lucker and  @Michael BorgerThrowing blanket accusations towards large populations is irresponsible. There is a reason that all the big tech start-ups are opening offices here. We have an incredibly large number of highly skilled, well educated, hard working people in the state.  If everyone here were crooks, nobody would want to move here and make it one of the fastest growing states in the country. Instead, we are left with high levels of new arrivals into the state making our real estate market go bonkers (which kind of makes finding deals tough, which stinks)

That said, there certainly are some bad apples here (as there are everywhere) and I am glad when they get their hand smacked. Regardless of where they reside or operate out of, there is a special place for those who take advantage of others.

I think we can all agree that it would be great if there was even more cleansing of scammers out of the real estate education industry, whether they are in Utah or out

A few times for the record.  I am from Utah. I am not a spy. I have not ever attended, paid for or worked for any real estate seminars, partially because I don’t trust most of them (too many of them are sales organizations, not educational organizations they market themselves to be). And lastly, I own a HomeVestors franchise, so I guess I technically paid for that, though that was more for the leads they provide rather than the education they offer.  

Hi Lisa. I bought a HomeVestor franchise earlier this year. I have been very pleased

Overall, I am happy with the decision. There are a few minor frustrations that I have had due to some misunderstand/miscommunications about how their system works. But the leads I have gotten through the system have been extremely high quality.

I have several homes already bought and sold, several more purchased and not yet finished, and then a number of properties under contract. 

I don’t think I can share my phone number in the forums, but feel free to connect with me and I can get you my direct contact info.

Hi David,
 
If either of those books are still available, I’d like to grab them ... then share the love and pass them on once I’m done. 

I live in South Jordan and can swing by your office to grab them. 

Thanks, 

Tylor

Why can’t you do both? The vast majority of people who invest in real estate do not invest full-time hours into doing it. And a large share of college students do not truly dedicate full-time hours to school.

There is plenty of opportunity to take advantage of free school, and still participate in real estate investing. It will require a ton of hustle, motivation, effort, and grittiness, but this should not be anything new to someone who has a true desire to succeed. I am not sure how you earned free college, but if it is through scholarships, then working hard should not be foreign to you. 

I would suggest to go to school and earn a degree, while also investing in real estate. I worked full-time for two years, with a wife and raising 4 young children, when I initially got started in real estate. I just transitioned to doing real estate “full-time”, but the foundation I built in the first two years set me up to be successful as I have transitioned to full-time.

Many college students spend more time socializing and partying then they do in class and studying. If you’re willing to sacrifice a little, there’s more than enough time to build a fantastic real estate foundation over the next 2-4 years while you finish studies. And as has been mentioned, you will pick up a few useful bits of info in school to help you and your real estate journey  

I approach everything with a risk/reward approach. Plan for the worst, strive for the best. Your situation allows you to minimize long-term risk regarding career earnings by getting a college degree, while at the same time increasing long-term rewards of earnings through investing in real estate.

@Nathan Marden. I have done a number of flips over the years in Utah, and this is had always been a question in the back of my mind as well. Just last week I bought my first house that tested positive for meth and was flagged by the health department. Before we closed on the deal, I met with the health department inspector when he came back to retest after remediation. He said that once the home passes the legal limits test, we are not required to disclose the presence of any prior meth and it is almost as though there was never a problem to begin with. With those thoughts in mind, I had no issues in buying the home. Of course I do flips, so beyond what has already been done with the remediation, most everything else in the house will be painted over or replaced  

On this same topic, I also met with the company that did the remediation and I was very impressed. Feel free to hit me up privately and I can pass along their contact information if desired. I would guess they would be able to come in and do more thorough testing or give you an estimate of what it may cost to remediate in Utah. 

@Jonathan Bombaci.   Here are my thoughts. 

My spouse is much more fiscally conservative than I am. If I would have lost money on my first deal, that would’ve been my last deal. My advice would be to ensure that you have a good experience on your first transaction. So much of what you do on the first couple transactions will dictate all the future transactions.

I have been in real estate for a couple years doing flips, I have managed to make a profit on each of the 10 or so houses we have done.  As a flipper I have a much shorter time line horizon, and as such, how I approach buying flip properties is different than if I were buying a rental.  So I approach stuff differently that you would as a long-term investor. But in many ways, having a longer timeline can make it a little easier to find properties. You have a longer runway to cover  mistakes that may be made on the purchase. 

I would suggest you join the local REIA meetings and begin building your local network. I am also in the Salt Lake City area and I found that to be very helpful when I got started. Feel free to connect if you want to chat some more off-line.

Hi George. Awesome to see you getting started. Feel free to connect and I’d love to chat. 

Another great resource is to attend any of the local real estate investment association meetings (REIA). There are a number of different associations along the Wasatch Front with meetings throughout the month. A great resource to get to know dozens and dozens of like-minded investors.

I completely agree with what Jaden said. Go attend as many REIA meetings possible to start to build your network. Reach out to as many wholesalers as possible and ask to get added to their email list. This will greatly increase the likelihood of finding a below market price home that you can use as a rental. The market is super competitive right now. But as long as you're patient and willing to spend lots of time looking at properties you will find some good deals.

Good luck with your journey and congrats on getting into the real state game. It can be incredibly lucrative and I have always found it to be very fulfilling. 

Utah is awesome.  We have strong population growth and wage increases.  Lots of exciting businesses getting started or expanding in Salt Lake and Utah Counties.  This all means strong rentals rates, virtually 0% vacancy, and great property value appreciation.  

The hardest part is finding properties that can cash flow due to high purchase prices.  That said, come and join us in Salt Lake.