Hello from Los Angeles, CA

[Adam Harrison]

Hello, my name is Adam Harrison. I fix computers for a living. I have read a ton of real estate books, from people such as David Lindahl, Gary Eldred, Reggie Brooks and Matthew Martines. I am very interested in getting started in real estate, but I currently don't have the money for a down payment, so I am continuing to study real estate while I am working on improving my credit and putting together money together for a down payment. I look forward to doing my first deal soon.

I'm looking at starting my investing career by investing in single family properties in the mid-west. I have seen several companies that do prepackaged deals on these properties, such as Integrity Real Estate Properties, Texas Investor Homes and Buckingham Investments ([LINK REMOVED]). Does anyone have any experience with these companies or any other similar companies? Are these properties really deals or are they high priced dumps?

[Joshua Dorkin]

Welcome to the site, Adam. A few notes:

- It sounds like you've done a ton of reading already. Have you put a plan together yet for how you're going to get started? If not, why?

- You mention that you want to start by investing in the midwest. What is it that you're looking to do? Buy and hold? If so, are you going to be counting on others to do all the work for you? Is that why you're looking at the companies that you mention? You can certainly use companies to find property for you, but unless you know how to tell if a property is a deal or not, you need to make sure you do. You also need to be able to manage your manager if you're buying real estate across the country. Do you have a way to do that?

- I don't mean to be harsh, but if you need to ask if these companies are offering deals or not, then you aren't ready to buy yet. I'd say you need to spend some time in the deal analysis forum here on the site. You'll get to see hundreds of deals broken down and it will help you out!

- Finally, if you insist on working with one of these companies, I'd recommend making a post for each in the Ask About a Real Estate Company forums.

- There are a ton of great members here on BP from LA . . . jump in and start networking and I'm sure you'll get to know them soon.

Best,
Josh