All Forum Posts by: Woods Pepperman

@Victor Maxey.... I would say NEVER.  The quickest way to turn me off to anything you have to sell, give away, or buy from me is to cold call me.   

You could cold call me at noon on a Wednesday with free gold and it would piss me off.   Find a different way.

@Todd Palmer, each state is different.  Here in California, a Real Estate agent cannot (legally) pay a referral fee to any unlicensed individual.  So, check your local and state laws.

If you DO have a RE license.... Think about it from the buyer/investors point of view.  What are you going to provide that they could not get themselves?  Could they not just call the agent themselves?  Always bounce your ideas off of the "Devils Advocate"...

Just my $.02.  Good Luck!

Woods

@Justin Morgan welcome to Real Estate Investing. It is NOT that easy, but you can do it. I would suggest reading up on as many REI books as you can find.

As far as answering your questions, a lot depends on you and your situation.  How expensive your lifestyle is.  What your "cash reserves" looks like. Even, What are your plans.

It sounds like you are interested in "Fix and Rent".  Do you need to be in the Tampa area or are you open to other locations?  Do you have any friends or other mentors to help you?  Have you looked for a local Real Estate Investors Club?

I am not a licensed CPA or Tax attorney, but I would ask your tax preparer. I would also not loose too much sleep right out of the gate on setting up an LLC or Trust. I had investment property for many years before deciding to go with a trust. Also, a lot of those decisions will depend on your tax exposure and the state your property is in (and where you live).

@Mike Taravella,  Congrats on diving in.

What are your goals?  It would be more helpful and you will probably get more responses if you tell us what you would like to do.

Are you planning on just doing lead generation for investors or do you plan to offer full service "turn-key" investments?  Or are you looking to fix and flip?

Woods

@Todd Lisonbee Congrats!

Just make sure that you are adding value to the service you provide your clients.  They will appreciate it and come back for more!

@Dylan Tettemer and @Chris Mason Semper Fi Brothers!

I too am on Active Duty.  As both of you know, there is a huge time commitment that the Marine Corps requires.  There is a fixed amount of time you get each day and depending how many Marines you are in charge of they could take a huge part of your off duty time as well.   (I currently have 77 Marines)

With that being said, my wife is a huge part of my team.  She holds down the house and manages the property managers while I am deployed.  I think each situation is different.  Being a Marine, never let anyone tell you things are impossible.  Just know, that some are going to take more time than others. 

When do you get back to the states?  Do you have an idea of where your next duty station will be?  What is your strategy?  Buy and hold? Flip?

Your best bet may be the buy, live-in-till-PCS and rent.  Depends on your nest egg and your willingness to leverage what you have now.

Best of luck

Woods Pepperman

HMLA-369 "Gunfighters"

Come on.... Seriously.  Not to troll but, I get 6 to 10 post cards and letters a week. You need to stand out....Not "Do what everyone else is doing"

The only one that I can remember right now is the guy that took the time to include a property analysis of my property and others in the area.

If you are taking some "canned" verbiage from some website, just know that it will be in the trash.  I literally have 5 postcards on my coffee table right now from the last 3 days. (Friday till now) 

I don't want to rain on your parade, only to help you be more productive.

Woods

@Dani Beit-Or: SO TRUE! "It is easier to line up teams when you have the power of a network w/ many buying investors".... I was recently having a conversation with another investor.  We talked about how to find people to take you seriously when you don't have the volume of full time investors.

The convo concluded that....You can't.  Really unless you find a mentor that will let you do deals "with" them.  It will be hard to find those that will take you seriously as an "investor" and not as just another "sucker".   Thanks again for your reply Dani!

Do you use a "network" of other investors?  I have seen a few out there but they all come across like pyramid scams or an advertisement for the next most expensive conference. 

I too live in San Diego.  My first OOS investment was in Florida in 2003.  It made sense as I am originally from there and have tons of family and people on the ground.  I left Florida in 2006 due to the huge increases in insurance from Hurricanes.  I 1031'ed that property into a house in the Dallas, TX area.

While there are benefits in having property close by, I can't get the numbers to work locally either. Those that are in SoCal that "CAN" seem to have the time to spend hunting the deals full time.  I am currently on Active Duty and do NOT have hours a day to spend going to auctions.  Or the the huge cash reserves to buy these places cash.  I am interested in what others have to say on "finding deals".   Either way...You MUST trust the people working in your behalf.  Just because you trust them doesn't mean that you don't follow up/stay on top of them.

@Dani Beit-Or  What qualifier do you use to either "Keep" or "Flip" a property?  How did you find and screen your team in Tampa?  (I am from that area and if the numbers made sense, I would invest there again.)

@Bradley De comarmond, I had a condo in Florida many years ago (2003)   I left Florida at the top of the market.  How is the insurance market there these days?  

I am originally from Florida, What are the "Pros" to Florida and what drives you to that market?

Thanks for your input.

Woods