All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Thanks very much for your information and help. Your website is very good and although I am in real estate for money, for my spare time, I run an educational non profit (nothing to do with real estate what so ever) that has a website which has some similar features. We use drupal and I am currently working on my "dashboard" and so I thought I'd ask. Anyway, thanks for the great website and keep up the brilliant work!

Cheers,
v
- PS - Thanks for your work!

Hello Bigger Pockets admins (Josh)!

I am wondering what website software Bigger Pockets uses? Is this Drupal? If you don't mind me asking, what modules do you use to make the "dashboard?"

Thanks for your time,
Vic

I used to have 600 credit but 2 years later, I am at 720 or so. What I did was send "good will" letters to all the creditors I wronged (didn't pay) during my early college years. This included 2 paid collections. 2 years ago I had given up on my credit. I had returned to the straight and narrow, but these black marks were on my record and I thought I would have to wait 8 years for them to drop. I wrote the goodwill letters, I got 2 secured credit cards, and today I am a significantly more responsible person and am managing credit well. The goodwill letters basically asked in a really nice way to Chase, Att, etc., that i was stupid and please give me another chance and delete the negative account. And they did it! Today, I have 2 unsecured credit cards with 5 digit limits, not to mention the business lines of credit that I opened for the real estate biz. I am so happy for the 2nd chance the creditors gave me.

The website that helped me infinitely was: http://www.myfico.com. They are have free forums and this is where I went for help. There are so many great resources there in the forums, its like bigger pockets for personal credit. Good luck.

I grew up in a place where people always are looking to open their own businesses, many of them with family. My mom along with several of our family members bought a medical lab she worked in that was owned by a big newspaper that was in financial distress, and they were selling their side businesses cheap. She worked at the lab as one of 4 full time staff. I remember when I was a kid, before kindergarten, they offered it on the market my dad was pushing her to buy it. One of my earlier memories is my mom crying and really stressed because of her fear of doing it. She knew she could do it but was scared of the commitment. But she did it and now its the biggest lab in the city, with 5 branches with 150+ staff. She has the attitude that everything has to be done very well, even it if means she has to do it herself, and most importantly to know how much you're going to make before you do the job (before some deals, I ask her to review my Excel spreadsheets). I now live in a different country as them, in the RE biz and doing my best on my own.

When I was a kid they always said 2 things about my future profession.... they said whatever I do I have to be the best at... and you should be a doctor. I guess I am not a doctor....... trying my best to be the best though.

Just sold another house to a Chinese couple. It was husband, wife, wife's dad and husband's brother, all working together to buy a 20 unit apartment building in cash. It was a great commission and I think I have now enough to buy another rental property. Cha-ching!!!!!

my realtor friend in Battle Creek MI told me that you can buy houses there for $1000 that get $300 a month in rent. I haven't seen the property yet (I won't buy what I can't see) but i've seen deals like this before... the odds are that there are no tenants that want to live there and probably $300 is over priced. If you ge tmy drift.

I used to work on the crew of a property management company and so I have seen some pretty crazy stuff. Once we found a loaded gun!!!!!! One time, someone left a incredible 60 inch tv that one of the guys took. But the other stuff we found in the house was pretty disgusting. There were so many unwashed dishes that I think was for months and there was poo in one of the bedrooms. Possibly human... It was obviously a sick cruel prank. Thats what happens when you don't charge a security deposit. I've seen leftover needles and obvious signs of drug use... sex toys...

I just tried Buildium under your rec and it is actually pretty cool. I think I'm going to use it after my free trial expires! It is exactly what I have been looking for! Quickbooks for accounting and financial management is great, but not for operations management. Buildium is great for ops management - the antiquickbooks.

Kenneth that is an excellent spreadsheet. Thanks for posting it.

On the microlevel, I am finding Chinese people in the Chicago real estate market as conventional and foreclosure buyers, and most of the time they come with cash. Most of the wealthiest people in China come from some already expensive places, such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, etc, that price per square foot is over double sometimes triple. So I have taken a few Chinese clients around and they are shocked how cheap real estate is. In Chicago, I helped a client in May buy a $500,000 3-flat in cash (shortsale), and was pleased how cheap it was. One client is looking for a small condo for their daughter for college and we found a $250,000 1 bedroom in a great neighborhood. He said in Hong Kong a similar property in a comparable neighborhood would go for $700,000 US Dollars - 3 bedroom condos would go for at least 1 million - 3 million. Houses, like the 3 flat I just mentioned are unknown in Hong Kong and only owned by the uberwealthy, or deep in the countryside. To buy a building in Shanghai in a decent would cost on the lowest level, up to 3 million.

I have been actively marketing to investors in China who are interested in buying US property and I have found that most people I have met from China are optimistic about the United States. Chinese are serious players on the world stage - business wise they know what they're doing... and I think we will see them more as the US becomes more attractive as an investment. There social and familial networks are key to doing business with the Chinese, and families usually make investments together. The client that I had mentioned that Chinese people find the people of the US to be a good investment. It is because of the people of the US and their diligence and creativity that gives them confidence in future prosperity, but I do know that there is lots of opportunity for individuals like us to make money from Chinese investors.