Professional · Mesa, AZ · Member since 2009 · 20 posts · 0 votes
Hello Everyone...My name is Jarrett Williams and I am a 21 year old college student trying to break in to the world of real estate. I live in the Phoenix, AZ area where things have been hit pretty hard the last couple of years. I have been around construction all of my life so I have many great contacts but I'm hoping to find some insight into the best way to break into the business whether it be wholesaling, rehabbing, etc. Right now I'm basically looking to absorb as much advice as I can from all of you pro's out there.
Welcome to the BP site, Jarrett. Since there has been much discussion on this site already regarding investing and holding a real estate agent license, I collected some of those threads here for you to peruse, and to help you decide. Enjoy the reading!
welcome Jarrett. Keep reading and absorbing. The best way to break in is the way that you understand the best. Therefore read, absorb, and ask questions about your knowledge so that you can get corrected when wrong.
With thick skin and the willingness to correct what you thought you knew, you should do well.
Welcome Jarrett! We have a pretty good amount of people on the forum from the valley. Being your age (although I dont do construction) I kind of know where your at. This forum will teach you a lot!
Go get you real estate license, and start selling properties. That will put you in the real estate world, make you money and teach you a lot, also that will teach you how to find good deal for yourself.Tthere is not better way to learn real estate than practicing it.
thanks for the input and the warm welcome guys. I'm glad to hear there are other people from the valley on here, and to Rodolphe thanks for the advice. I am planning on getting my license as soon as I can.
Welcome to the BP site, Jarrett. Since there has been much discussion on this site already regarding investing and holding a real estate agent license, I collected some of those threads here for you to peruse, and to help you decide. Enjoy the reading!
There's no way to "connect" all of those together except for them to get collected and clickable as I've done here. I think many would benefit if that was done for a lot more of the topics that frequently arise on the forums.
Wow Steve...Thank you very much. That is extremely helpful to someone like me who is new to the site. Like you said it would be of great benefit if that was done more often. I'm already finding this community is full of people willing to help.
If your an investor and an agent, I don't see the problem as long as you are not representing the seller.
EX: You are checking out the MLS and see a SFH that looks to be a good deal. You check out said home and in fact it would make a great rental and bring in very nice cash flow. The home is discounted 30% below market. The seller has an agent already so you approach the agent and tell them you are an agent as well but are interested in the home for your portfolio. You purchase the home.
I can see being an agent would give you great insite into the good deals out there right when they hit the market instead of relying on someone else.
Hi Ron isn't it illegal to hold two different licences both at the same time disregarding the fact of representation. I thought it is not an option. Thanks.
All too often, variations on the same question comes along, and the answers vary from time to time. So collecting them together gets the varied viewpoints presentable in a way that newer users will find most useful - at least that's my thinking.
And Josh, you may recall that I had something like this mentioned in a PM to you - where it would be great to have this type of collection for the most frequently asked things in each forum. Imagine Nick pulling the Sub2 topics together; Steph or Ryan doing the wholesaling topics; etc. What a wonderful world it would be. :)
thanks for the input and the warm welcome guys. I'm glad to hear there are other people from the valley on here, and to Rodolphe thanks for the advice. I am planning on getting my license as soon as I can.
Jarrett,
Has reading the topics i posted helped you to decide whether to get licensed or not? I'm curious to learn.
The information you gathered for me has been a big help at steering me down the right path for my individual circumstance. That really is the biggest thing I have learned from reading these posts. There is no right or wrong answer to this particular question.
In my case I have decided that it would be in my best interest to learn as much as I can without actually getting licensed. My business partner is a licensed agent. I believe this will be the best of both worlds. We will be able to use the MLS for comps and other research while still being able to stay away from the potential liabilities associated with holding a real estate license.
All in all your help in gathering these threads for me saved my hours of work. Thank you many times over.
Since I have all you seasoned pro's helping me out here I figured I would ask one more question.
I would like to hear all of your opinions on what is the best way to start investing. I know that's a very broad question but I'm curious to know which strategies you have found to be most profitable.
I am naturally leaning towards fix and flips because of my numerous contacts with contractors that I know are reliable. What do you guys think?
Im a newbie so there may be other "more seasoned" investors that say otherwise. But if you feel you have a leg up there and you want to do that then do it. Im sure everyone will say that, if you feel you know something very well and thats where your heart is then do it dont go and do something you dont want to do.
Me, having no experience prior to wanting to do REI I have started birddogging. And after that I am going stick with sub-2 so I dont have to use any money (or very little) to gain property and then wholesale them or LO if I must. Obviously wholesaling and birddogging are your least risk but the goes hand in hand with the checks. I would like to do fix and flips but I just dont have the money to toy around with it and feel comfortable if something could go wrong.
I hope that helps... Im not trying to sway you from anything if thats how it comes off either!
The information you gathered for me has been a big help at steering me down the right path for my individual circumstance. That really is the biggest thing I have learned from reading these posts. There is no right or wrong answer to this particular question.
In my case I have decided that it would be in my best interest to learn as much as I can without actually getting licensed. My business partner is a licensed agent. I believe this will be the best of both worlds. We will be able to use the MLS for comps and other research while still being able to stay away from the potential liabilities associated with holding a real estate license.
All in all your help in gathering these threads for me saved my hours of work. Thank you many times over.
Jarrett
Jarrett,
I'm glad that it helped. As you could tell from the mix of the threads that I gathered (I didn't slant them either way), I agree with your statement that each person decides this for themselves; there is no right or wrong.
Rarely does an intro post gather so many replies as yours has already, so you can see that this topic of getting licensed can be a hot topic.
Don't forget to vote for those posts that you have found of great value!
Welcome Jarrett,
The valley is an excellent place to be right now to start investing..
Im currently living in Texas but from Tucson and spent some time in Tempe.
Have my real estate license in arizona as well. Im 23.. similar age to both you and Matt..
One thing id suggest is getting on [LINKS REMOVED]
think you can join both on there website.! and they'll fill you inbox with potential deals!
-Scott
Whats up ladies and gents. I am new to the business. All that has been discussed so far I was already thinking that way so I feel pretty good knowing I was taking good steps. I went and got my license in Oct of 09'. Signed up with a firm that knows I want to be an investor and is fine with that in fact they promote it. Problem is I didn thave the cash to pay fees associated with getting access to the MLS. But they let me sign on anyway and said I can get when I get the money to pay for it. I am currently working on getting a deal through a sellers agent. I offered her my commission and $500 bucks from me if she helps me to get the deal to closing along with my accepted offer. So I am a very fair non greedy guy. I mean because intially I can potentially make more than her if the deal is a success. Then I can pay the dues to get access to the MLS from my profits. Lol.... Awe man thats not funny. Being broke I mean. But will change pretty soon.Thanks for all the info ladies and gents.
If you get a license you will be "practising real estate" but as an investor, you can be living and breathing it every day. Good Luck in your investments and welcome aboard!