My guess is 99%+ of agents have no familiarity with off-market deals or the real nuances of the laws, they do exactly what their brokerage tells them to do with appropriate checklists and pre-written forms/contracts.

In hidden vaults beyond the veil,I guide investments without fail.With freedom to direct the way,My wealth grows stronger by the day.A private path few mortals see,What tool do I employ for me?"

There are two idea I’m batting around in my head right now to get started on my REI journey – I can do it purely on the investing side and become a private lender or a source of hard money loans to builders/developers (maybe that looks like funding a construction loan collecting interest payments while buying time to better understand the dynamics and build relationships) or I can JV/partner with a builder and get equity (upside on a flip/sale) which would be more hands on.Curious what ya’ll input, what you think is the best route for me to dip my toes into REI given my aforementioned situation and current market.

Emmy,For me I would put money like that in a high yield savings account because when I start saving for a shorter term goal I want to be able to use the growth to help me save. 

There are probably many posts that contain similar information to this one, but I thought it would be of value to future and existing investors who are starting their journey.We recently completed rehabbing a duplex we bought for $93k and rehabbed for $75k (in retrospect, we could've negotiated a lower price 🤷‍♂️ - discussion for a different post), hitting an ARV of $190k when our target ARV was $170k.Two things that stood out for me that helped us secure a higher ARV that anyone can use in their next BRRRR were:1) Fix the property to be in the top 75th percentile -> To improve our success rate, we consulted with both our agent and our PMC on what kind of materials and finishes the best properties (highest ARV Comps and Rent Rates) had in the area.

Your post, and its content, appear to all be quite honest, which is, in itself, is a remarkable revelation in today's society and much appreciated.My main problem, being both older and retired, is getting around the technology involved today and I have found several people who appear to be able to get a site up and running for me and get me front page Google rankings.

(I actually hope the owner of this page sees this and considers making the changes I’m about to suggest.)This page violates a cardinal sin known as “The form beneath the fold.”

Because Chicago is amazing in the sense that it has prices at all levels and tons of old inventory in need of renovation (if you want to renovate).Networking in person was the biggest help for me to get started. 

If no one within the group has experience buying real estate, I would suggest you each buy a property on your own and then have a discussion of forming a partnership in 2-3 years.If you already have experience within the group, I would suggest all the friends get together over coffee and brainstorm all your concerns.

Can I split the cost of the plumber and tank repair on both tenants, as they both clearly were using the wipes and it's very hard for me to believe they were NOT flushing them.