BiggerPockets

Welcome to BP, Chris.

Sounds like you have set some goals. You have found a great place to learn and network. You'll fin this s great resource as long as you invest your time an energy to get to know others here and continue to participate.

Look forward to getting to know you better.

Hi Chris,

Do you have an agent's license already? In my state you have to work as as agent for 3 years before you can apply for a Broker's license. I would suggest you focus on one aspect at a time. It's difficult to be the best at residential, and commercial, and management all at once. You've got a great plan and goals, and sound like you're willing to put the necessary time in to be successful. That puts you ahead of most! I am a RE agent, and my husband is a Broker, we are also developer / builders. Our main focus right now is short sales nationwide.

Hi Chris,

Welcome. It's good to have goals but I recommend having a trajectory to get to those goals. Going from nothing to $3-4 million in assets in 5 years is a tall task. I'd work on the smaller goals that will get you there first. How will you get your first client? East Bay is a slow market and agents are a dime a dozen. How are you going to find properties and investors for wholesaling? What about your ability to find properties and resources to successfully flip? Are you in a position to finance something right now?

Hopefully it's just lost in the excitement of your bigger plans and you didn't mention it but I think you need to focus on a plan to get yourself off the ground. You'll never reach your end goal without a good short-term plan to get things started. You are about to finish step #1 when you take your exam - make sure you know what steps 2 and beyond are.

Good luck. I look forward to hearing stories of your successes.

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

Jackie: In California, there is a minimum 2 year work requirement as an agent before you get your brokers. But, I have also found that you can bypass that requirement by graduating from a 4-year university and taking the necessary classes.

In my excitement of posting this thread, I may have not elaborated clearly enough on my plans and goals. In terms of being an agent, I am unsure of where I would like to take my future (commercial, investor friendly, or residential). My current plan is to be the best as a residential agent. My first two years are focusing on gaining a client base, learning the real world aspects, as well as wholesaling to earn capital to invest in a duplex - 4-plex (after a while). I hope to purchase at least two properties in those years. In the next 3-5 years, I hope to buy and hold those rentals, (with a management company possibly), and focus on flipping rather than wholesaling while continuing to be an agent. From 5-10 years, I hope to convert all my real property to apartment complexes with live in managers, and on the side flip million+ dollar SFHs. My focus will be on building a reliable cash flow, from gaining capital and building wealth. I hope to continue to purchase commercial apartment complexes as well.

My plans can, and most likely certainly will change.. but with Dedication, Hard Work, Persistence and a few other things.. I know that I can accomplish this goal.

Tom: Thank you for your reply and questions. I do realize that this is a tall task that I wish to undertake, and I am working on the finer points as we speak. It is a rough estimate of where I believe I can go, with what I know right now. When I mentioned that I would like to have $3-4 million in 5 years, I did not mean in equity. Assuming 20% down with financing, I hope to have around $600,000-$800,000 in the properties. Do you think this is reasonable to amass in 5 years of investing?

With wholesaling, I am getting ready to put an ad on craigslist, network with the local REIAs, as well as make some bandit signs once I am licensed. I have scouted some areas and see some opportunity, but I want a buyer's list before I put anything under contract. Also, I expect not to make a sale as a Realtor for 2-6 months. Finding clientele will certainly be difficult, but if I choose to work for one of the several larger brokerages, there are open houses that can be filled by me.

As for investing in 2-4 plexes, flipping, and finally investing in 20+ unit properties, I will continue to learn, and they are are 2, 3, and 5 years out in my plan (respectively). I do not want to jump in and be 15 feet under water, and on the other hand I don't want to get paralysis by analysis.

I believe that this should be the way to go, and that it is reasonable, as well as feasible. I appreciate all the feedback! If there is any holes in my plan, I would like to think them through and come up with a solution. I just ask that everyone please shoot away! Thank you all for the welcome again, as well as responding to my thread.

Hi Chris,

I see that there is a more detailed plan and a solid dose of reality behind your long-term goals which is great! I'm mostly just an arm-chair real-estate investor so I'm not as qualified as many to speak to how realistic the timing is on your goals but getting $600-$800k in equity within 5 years seems like a very large task with a lot of things going just right and perhaps a bit of luck along the way. I would look at how much you expect to gain from each deal and how many deals you can expect to perform within 12 months. If you need to build up $150k in equity per year, in addition to just paying your own living expenses in northern California, you need to be bringing in $200k/year from the start which sounds pretty lofty for even an experienced investor.

Regardless, I love your attitude, desire to learn, and passion for investing and have no doubt that you will have success along the way!

-Tom-

Just wanted to give the thread a quick update. I took the California Broker's Exam up in Sacramento on Thursday, November 17th, 2010 and found out today, Monday, November 22nd, 2010 that I PASSED!!!!

I am really excited to "hit the ground running" as it is said, and will continue to update all of BP on my progress. Woohoo!

CONGRATULATIONS, Chris!

That's a great accomplishment, and one step closer to your goals.

Hi Chris I am also in the East Bay Area near Concord. Maybe we can connect sometime?

I've found the best source for studying for Real Estate Continued education for me personally has by far been http://ProSchools.com

Price if very affordable too. When I took my tests I was very confident in all my answers because of their programs.

Thanks again all!

Jason- I actually took a few classes over at DVC! I think I was a stone's throw from you. Feel free to reach out to me anytime.

iGSR96- I used Allied Schools for some of my online classes, and they have some test prep materials. The booklet and DVD's are virtually identical, the only difference is the DVD's have some guy telling you what is written in the book.

I personally didn't enjoy the test taking material, but I think that it did help a little bit.

When I took the exam, there was a lady there who was taking it her second time. She told me her boss gave her some test material known as "expert" something or other, and she said it was the best resource she used. It supposedly had identical questions from the test in their materials.