Residential Real Estate Agent · Dunkirk, MD · Member since 2014 · 6 posts · 0 votes
I'm just starting my real estate investing adventure and my first step (other than signing up for BP and listening to podcasts) is to meet people in the industry for informational interviews. I have a lunch meeting tomorrow with an acquaintance that's been both a fixer/flipper and hard money lender. We only have an hour together so I wanted to know what would you ask if you had the chance?
At a high level, my goals are to get an overview of his experience and start to feel out if there'd be a good mentor/mentee relationship.
For more time. A LOT more time. There isn't anything that he can tell you in an hour that would be of any value...at least enough that wouldn't be incomplete and confusing. Although it may sound like "more time" isn't a serious answer...it't a deadly serious answer.
Having said that, I would ask him two things:
1 - Why he went into REI?
2 - If he had it to do all over again, what would he do differently?
You learn by your mistakes, but it's cheaper to learn by others...so take advantage of learning by his.
Before I read @Joe Villeneuve 's response, I immediately though that I would ask about their biggest failures or best investments they NEVER made and why. I have learned more from mistakes (and near misses) than I have ever learned any other way. I have also had the good fortune of having a couple mentors that I looked to for financial backing that refused to finance me on deals that they saw would fail. I always asked why they said no to my request to back me, and they always were very candid with their responses. I learned a TON from those experiences and have become much better at sniffing out solid investments.
One hard money lender that I met with regularly once told me "if you find a good deal you will ALWAYS find the money (or somebody with it) to get it closed".
@Account Closed welcome to BP, I would ask about his most successful deal, and his worst deal. I do like to help out people. If I can help with advice just let me know.
Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions. Yes, I'll be asking for more time in addition to guidance, so point well taken.
@Joe Villeneuve and @Adam Johnson - great suggestion on doing it all over again and learning from his mistakes. Since you brought it up, do you have a mistake or two you'd like to share? I know I'd benefit as well as others.
@Marci Stein - I'm a BIG fan of the ONE thing and had a chuckle at your response...as I read your reply I was looking at the big question mark on the back of the book staring me in the face on my desk. I was lucky enough to have met Jay Papisan last year and love the domino analogy...hopefully that's what I'm starting here.
@Jeremy Tillotson - thank you for both the suggestion and offer. In the short time I've been active on Bigger Pockets, I've been impressed with the support from folks like you. Thank you!
@Ned Carey - he picked a "quick-serve" place for lunch...maybe I'll suggest the second lunch at a sit down place so I can get more time! Or better yet, I'll bring the lunch and ride along with him for a "day in the life of". Thanks for responding
@Tom Yung - I'm new to the game Tom, so I'm not sure what I'm targeting yet. My informational interviews will hopefully give me more information to make an informed decision on what's most suited to my background, personality and funds. Not sure if I'm a fixer/flipper, wholesaler or anything else at this point. Have no fear...I'm respectful of time that's given to me and look to also bring something of value to the table so it's not a one sided relationship.
@Kyle Gibson - I'm guessing he's got a few, so I'll be sure to ask. Hope you're digging out from the snow (or vacationing somewhere warm!)
@Account Closed My mistake? Don't rationalize a bad deal into a good one by using arbitrary % and/or depending on future events I have no control over. Once I looked at the numbers today, and didn't "fudge" them to make it look better than it was, I was more successful...by far. I did far less deals, but the number that matters has positive dollar signs in front, and not just addresses on the front.
That's great @Joe Villeneuve ....thank you! We've all made a justification for something we want or out of frustration by using the arbitrary or even ignoring a downside...sticking to the "facts" may drive fewer transactions but save you tremendous amounts of money/time/stress in the future.
Private pilots have a saying..."it is better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, then in the air wishing you were on the ground." Sounds like you're the pilot safely on the ground...nice work!
@Account Closed - here are a few, not enough time to list every mistake I've made!
1. don't become attached to a property, this is a numbers game ONLY. I did a wonderful job rehabbing a property that had historic value, turned out really sharp, but I lost my butt on it as an investment.
2. Don't get involved with a deal large enough that if it goes sour, you can't recover. For example, if you only have a couple properties, don't jump into a million dollar property unless you have the ability to recover if everything goes wrong. Basically, walk before you run
3. ALWAYS have multiple exit strategies for every property you invest in. I primarily buy/hold, but when I do my numbers before I buy, I also have to see a working "escape" route whereby if things start falling apart, I can at least recover what I have into the property and walk away with my shirt on. On the flip side, if you are buying to flip, can it cash flow as a rental if it doesn't sell. See lesson 1 above, same deal taught me this lesson too!
4. Don't worry about offending anybody with your offer. Only offer what a property is worth to YOU. Base that number on your own figures, not just figures that are provided by the seller. I have offered 1/3 of the asking price on properties. On some, I have been screamed at and told to leave immediately. On others, I have closed the deal at my price. That isn't to say I always low-ball either. On a recent deal, I bought 4 properties at the full asking price and didn't even try to negotiate because I thought it was a smoking deal and didn't want to miss the opportunity over trying to save a few more dollars. Again, this is a numbers game. I am all business when I present an offer, no matter what that number actually is.
I'm just starting my real estate investing adventure and my first step (other than signing up for BP and listening to podcasts) is to meet people in the industry for informational interviews. I have a lunch meeting tomorrow with an acquaintance that's been both a fixer/flipper and hard money lender. We only have an hour together so I wanted to know what would you ask if you had the chance?
At a high level, my goals are to get an overview of his experience and start to feel out if there'd be a good mentor/mentee relationship.
Richard - The blood to this business is marketing!!! marketing feeds the pipeline
1. Ask him for a solid marketing plan - bottom line how does he get his phone to ring - to get deals - if your phone don't ring - you have no business!! (30 min conversation)
2. Ask him - how do I go about setting up a private money fund - how do I hold it??
trust account?? LLC? how do I secure my investors?? Note + Lien??
1) What fundamental skills you should study and in what order
2) What questions that you SHOULD be asking (in order to ask better questions)
3) Who you should be dining with now, and type person NOT to.
4) If they make their money as an investor, speculator or in the business of providing a service. Since they're not the same, ask what each is and what it's not.
Thank you all for your input and suggestions! I had lunch with my contact and he gave me the hour and about 75 minutes more. He's been doing this for eleven years and had his act together and seemed to be easy for him.
One thing that helped open the conversation was a brief discussion about how I could help him. He was being called by Google about ad word advertising on his handyman business and didn't know where to begin (kind of like me with RE Investment!). I gave him my best guidance from using ad words in my other business and then just let him talk, and talk about his fix and flip experience.
I really only asked about four questions during the entire two hour+ meeting. They were follow ups to something he had already said or for clarification on something I didn't understand. I took copious notes and even took the page from his note pad that he used to map out and diagram important points he felt I should know.
What was great about his attitude is much like the people on this forum. He knew there's enough business out there for everyone and didn't mind sharing...and in fact, offered to review my first two deals from beginning to end.
Again, my thanks for your contributions and now I'm off to decipher my hand written notes and convert them to something I can read in the future.