Software Engineer · Randolph, NJ · Member since 2017 · 7 posts · 167 votes
Hello everyone, my name is Jason and although I have been a lurker on on this site for a few months I just recently made the commitment to take this rabbit hole of real estate investing and all that encompasses it seriously. I recently moved to northern New Jersey from Austin and a software engineer that works from home. My wife and I have three single family rentals back in Texas so I have a little experience in this realm. My main goal is to attain financial freedom through real estate. Why not me? Which lead me to this...
I, and I'm sure many others came to this site and were inundated with the plethora of information available. Where do we begin? Yes there is a quick start guide, forums, podcasts... the list goes on and on. I personally like to listen to the podcasts when I'm doing things around the house but I wanted to see if any had any information on "financial freedom" to be exact, since I wanted to lay out my long term goals before I really start down this path. I came to halt as I looked at the iTunes list of podcasts. What were they about? I had to hover over the podcast to see a short blurb. That didn't provide much. I then found the rss feed but that just gave brief descriptions. BiggerPockets search bar for podcasts? It only worked so much. So here we go... I built a tool for myself yesterday so i could do a deep dive into the content of podcasts. I'll probably update it to make it more thorough for myself however if there is enough of a taking to it, Im open to suggestions to make it better for others as well. Its a tool that I will use for myself that I think may be of use to others. When you get to the page, you'll see its pretty bland. It has but one function.. search. Nothing more, nothing less. So the goal is to just show myself/you with the podcasts that match your search criteria. Check it out!
I gathered all the info on the BiggerPockets podcasts, 263 in total so far. I have titles, descriptions, links to notes, duration of podcast, link to podcast, etc. I also transcribed about 23 podcasts so far so we have full scripts. Basically you can put in a keyword and find a podcasts that matches.
Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 6k+ votes
8y
WHOA! @Jason Sylka this is Blatant Disregard for our rules which clearly state that you may not link back to your own website in the forums here on BiggerPockets. This post has been flagged and will be removed...
(Just Kidding)
This is legendary. I'm "featuring" this post at the top of the forums for a few days (and I encourage everyone to give Jason a vote in appreciation!), and I'm going to bring this to the attention of @Robert Perry and @Craig Curelop to see if there is potential interest in making this kind of tool more accessible to all of our other podcast users.
Thank you so much for putting this together and sharing with the community!
And, of course, I'm so glad that you enjoy the content!
Real Estate Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 694 votes
8y
Nice work. What are you using for your search back end? If you plug in solr or elastic search then you can get the boring bits of search out of the way pretty quickly and then really focus on relevance.
Specialist · Delran, NJ · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 951 votes
8y
@Jason Sylka you might also have the highest votes to post ratio I've ever seen. You're currently listed as the top contributor on this forum as per my sidebar. Also, I'm mildly amused that both @Scott Trench and @Steve French have replied.
Hello everyone, my name is Jason and although I have been a lurker on on this site for a few months I just recently made the commitment to take this rabbit hole of real estate investing and all that encompasses it seriously. I recently moved to northern New Jersey from Austin and a software engineer that works from home. My wife and I have three single family rentals back in Texas so I have a little experience in this realm. My main goal is to attain financial freedom through real estate. Why not me? Which lead me to this...
I, and I'm sure many others came to this site and were inundated with the plethora of information available. Where do we begin? Yes there is a quick start guide, forums, podcasts... the list goes on and on. I personally like to listen to the podcasts when I'm doing things around the house but I wanted to see if any had any information on "financial freedom" to be exact, since I wanted to lay out my long term goals before I really start down this path. I came to halt as I looked at the iTunes list of podcasts. What were they about? I had to hover over the podcast to see a short blurb. That didn't provide much. I then found the rss feed but that just gave brief descriptions. BiggerPockets search bar for podcasts? It only worked so much. So here we go... I built a tool for myself yesterday so i could do a deep dive into the content of podcasts. I'll probably update it to make it more thorough for myself however if there is enough of a taking to it, Im open to suggestions to make it better for others as well. Its a tool that I will use for myself that I think may be of use to others. When you get to the page, you'll see its pretty bland. It has but one function.. search. Nothing more, nothing less. So the goal is to just show myself/you with the podcasts that match your search criteria. Check it out!
I gathered all the info on the BiggerPockets podcasts, 263 in total so far. I have titles, descriptions, links to notes, duration of podcast, link to podcast, etc. I also transcribed about 23 podcasts so far so we have full scripts. Basically you can put in a keyword and find a podcasts that matches.
Software Engineer · Randolph, NJ · Member since 2017 · 7 posts · 167 votes
8y
Thanks again everyone for the encouragement. Im glad it is working out so far.
To address a couple of the posts.
Theres no plan to make the transcripts available. I more or less use a service (machine) to transcribe each podcast and the result that comes back to me that i use as my data is not exactly in the best of shape. It has rather poor accuracy but gets the ball rolling enough for the current state of the system. There are services that will actually have a human transcribe audio and return 100% accuracy. If this was to go next level, going with human transcription could be a viable option. But even if there was perfect transcription, i doubt I'll ever provide the transcripts. This was built more for finding bp(m) podcast that may be up your alley.
Given the data it its a pretty simplistic search. I'm leveraging this as an educational experience but figured I'd share with others b/c of its usefulness. So that means I hope to update its capabilities and functionality in smallish increments. Filters, better matching, relevancy, etc. As I learn more, it will get better (:
Im just glad it gets people to some sort of relevant result set with relative ease at the moment.
As for the votes to post ratio, i kinda laughed today saying the same thing. Ive peaked early!
Contractor · Oceanside, CA · Member since 2018 · 17 posts · 30 votes
8y
Welcome aboard Jason Sylka !!
Haha @Scott Trench ;) I was thinking the same thing, “Oh no this guy’s gonna get canned for soliciting!”
I started on BP a couple weeks ago doing the exact same thing — trying to figure out which podcasts would be best to start with. I’ve been listening at work and taking highlight notes, but you my friend just scaled this process waaaaay up!
I too am at a point of info overload (in a good way) but now realizing I need to pick a direction and take a step. Otherwise all the info and tools in the world mean nothing.
And like you said, get your goals clear in your mind and written down on paper. (Or in your bio)((I still need to do this too)) This will be your road map that will keep you on track.
Also, I just upgraded to pro last night because I want to have the best tools at my disposal. Brandon made a point on the webinar last night that any property in the world is a deal — for the right price. So I’m prepared now to start running A LOT of numbers.
For what it’s worth, below are some notes from my favorite podcasts thus far.
(P.S. I love that there’s more than one way to do RE, just find the vehicle that gets you where you want to go)
Cheers mate!
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Ep 1 Marty Boardman
* get involved in the local scene, provide value to others first
* Four Phases for Flipping:
* 1. Acquisition
* 2. Rehab
* 3. Sales
* 4. Raising Capital
* Look into realtor license
* Benjamin Graham - Intelligent Investor
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Ep 06 Arthur Garcia
Michael zuber - forum
Book - William T Nickerson how to invest 1000 into 3 million in spare time
Book - mark Cuban how to win at the sport of business
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Ep 23 James Vermillion
* ARV - after repair value
* Open course ware
* Find banks/lenders willing to work with you — have a professional business plan to present
* When flipping, have a market strategy for selling — start to pre sell soon as possible
* Search for properties that others might pass up, defects such as foundation problems or mold, things that you know how to fix
* Pick a strategy that fits your situation — financials, relationships, skills, goals
* Jay Scott - flipping book BP estimating rehab cost
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Ep. 108 Feb 4, 2015 Grant Cardone
* Skip single family, invest in multi family
* Scale up, think bigger
* Set goals to drive motivation
* Look for markets where permits to build cost more than the properties
* Democratic voting environments where liberals hate to build — places with high rent
* We are now a renter nation - probably won’t see 50-60% owner occupancy again
* LOI - Letter of Intent - Broker/lender needs to know who you are - cover letter, info video
* “Success”: live up to your potential
Books:
10X
OPM
Think and grow rich
Greatest salesman in the world
Why people have problems at work
* action separates those who succeed and those that don’t
* NOI - net operating income
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Ep 248 Todd Dexheimer
* Get the contact info of the best professionals (agents, contractors, etc.) in your area and then do a referral hunt to see which names keep coming up
* FHA 203k renovation loan — combines the repair amount into the total with 3.5% down. Regulated: have to live in the property and hire a licensed general contractor.
* Buy fourplex with 203k, live in, fix up, and rent out other units
* Mid size multi family 10-100 units — unique opportunity for mid level investor
* Grow your team to meet your needs
* Multi family cap rate needs to be at least a percent above the market cap — value add
* Aim for 15-20% IRR for investors
* Look for good cash flow
* Affordable rent
* Cincinnati Ohio — good job growth, affordable rents.
* Look at the overall market of an area — growth, positive elements, eco opportunities
* Market study — major brokerages have data. CBRE , ARA , Marcus and Milichamp , Colliers , census bureau, department of labor stats, crime stats, check city web page for progressive growth, look for non profits that are bringing in business to the area, steady population growth, chamber of commerce, — Ask, is there progress or stagnation?
* Team building — contact all the top brokers of the city to find out the top lenders, contractors, property managers etc. Repeat by asking the top professionals in each industry who they refer in the other industries. Continually get referrals and back-referrals
* Look for upcoming growth areas, not past growth. Forward-looking
* PICK THE MARKET FIRST
* then get all the professionals involved, then find a deal in that area
* Have a group of investors ready so when you find a deal you can pursue financing — have to let people know what you’re doing and then see who’s interested in potentially investing
* Collect people’s info and put into excel sheet. Then send out regular correspondence letting them know how your business is going
* Most people are interested in RE in one way or another
* Don’t let anything stop you from buying a deal
* Find the deal, then be determined to find it
* How to help a property manager without being licensed yourself — show properties, handle tenant phone calls, contract services
* Look into property management requirements
* Emerging real estate markets — David Linder
* ABC’s of real estate investing — Ken Mackelroy
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Ep 249 Josh Daniels
* Live-in flip — more time to work on things, not in a hurry
* 2 of last 5 year rule — able to sell tax free
* Multi family units will have more trouble with tenants sharing walls — expect more drama
* SFR’s attract families vs apts that attract a different crowd
* Multi-family — more entitled feeling people, and rightly so as you’re responsible for the place
* SFR people tend to care for the property more
* SFR — tenants are responsible for the property (mowing eg) and utilities
* Keep emotions out of the buying process — have neutral parties keep you in check
* HELOC — use to buy properties with all cash. Refinance soon as possible. HELOC doesn’t require financial seasoning
* Seasoning — conventional loan needs to sit 6 months after receiving title. Not required for cash
* Delayed Financing Exemption — have 40 days to improve property before appraisal
* Info.trustetc.com/57
* 30 year fixed best for buy and hold RE
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Ep 250 Grant Cardone
* Own property in the middle (Affordable housing band: $800-$1,200 month rent) - not high end which will suffer in a crash, also not low end like section 8 government subsidized
* PSA - purchase sale agreement
* Google aerial view of locations
* The capitalization rate, often just called the cap rate, is the ratio of Net Operating Income (NOI) to property asset value. So, for example, if a property recently sold for $1,000,000 and had an NOI of $100,000, then the cap rate would be $100,000/$1,000,000, or 10%
* Scale business up fast
* Don’t buy based on how much money you have, rather on how much you can get
* Go big to create an umbrella of protecting
* Scale out to access more — legal, looking for deals, etc
Mistakes:
1. Waiting for the “right time” — be in markets when others don’t want to be in them
2. Buying too small
3. Single door - no one should own a home. SFR - single family residence was built for banks, not for people. Banks needed a loan product to make money.
* buy/rent in restrictive areas where rent can’t fluctuate drastically
* Look in restrictive areas — cost to build barriers of entry
* 65% debt coverage
* Cranes in the air, beware — means addition of supply
* P&L — profit and loss
Cardonecapital.com
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Ep 260 Chris Voss
* Fundrise — fundrise.com/biggerpockets
* Never Split the Difference — Chris Voss
* People are afraid of negotiating because they don’t like conflict, or the feeling of beating someone else down
* Last impression is a lasting impression
* There’s always something more important to someone in a negotiation than making the deal — lots of people just want to be heard-out
* Seek first to understand then be understood
* You get what you want by hearing the other side out — people want to be respected, heard, appreciated
* People want to “feel” good about the negotiation
* Offer, “Ok we’ll do it your way”
* Let them feel in control — “how are we going to do that?” — people love to tell you what to do and how to do it
* Job is to find out how much is on the table without making the other side walk away
* Use a tone of deference — let the other side feel powerful and in control
* People want to feel like they’ve gotten everything they can
* If you were to agree right away, the seller will suddenly “feel” as though they could’ve got more — might back out or go sideways on you
* Come in at 65% of where you want to end up. Then offer up to your 100% in decreasing increments — 20% then 10% then 5% so the other side feels the slow down
* Use odd number pricing then come up with some ridiculous throw away that you know the other party wouldn’t want — offer something you know they don’t want that’s a non-price term
* Top negotiators never go first or set the price ranges
* If someone says, “I don’t know the price that’s why I’m asking you.” — you say, “well it seems like you’ve got something in mind” or “you put some thought into this”
* “I” is a self centering word that takes a person out of contemplation and turns their focus to you — which leads them to stop giving info to you
* “Seems like” triggers contemplation without raising guards
* “Yes” makes you feel vulnerable. “No” makes you feel protected
* Eric Barker — blog and podcast
* Psychology of Flow
* U2 by U2
* Rise of Superman
* Chis Voss newsletter
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Ep 263 Bruce Petersen apt-guy.com
* syndicator — pools money to invest, manage
* Create systems and processes to scale business — staff to handle background operations
* Find a key principle/guarantor to the lending table that has experience
* Find a way to safely learn the business — some role with a syndicate that provides education
* Get above 100 units so that you can hire full-time qualified staff. Anything less and you’re dealing with part time workers who will constantly be coming and going which makes things much more difficult to manage
* You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with — level yourself up. Find a way to be involved in the same circles as the richer people. Attend REI meet-ups.
* Deal Triangle — you need 3 things to invest in a deal:
1. Money
2. Knowledge
3. Hustle
* Bring 2 of these 3 components to the table
* Attending REI meet ups insure you remain engaged in the current scene
* Commercial Grading (A-D) — based on:
* 1. Age of property
* 2. Rents per square foot
* 3. Amenity package it has
* D class — avoid: drug dealers, prostitutes, pit bulls
* C class — workforce housing, good people locked into that kind of neighborhood because of their jobs or schools they want their kids to attend
* B class — property late 80s into 90s typically. More amenities: pool, laundry, gym, clubhouse
* A class — 5-10 yrs old. Dog valet, dog walkers, massage therapists
* purchase good condition fully stabilized assets, might still have room for improvement though
* Stabilized assets are usually at or near retail so more worthwhile to hold vs sell immediately
* Hold for 5 to 10 years. At this point major systems may need work such as roofs or painting
* Getting 7, 10, and 12 year loans
* Since these are not value add properties looking to double or triple in value, operate from the start the way you would want them to be – in good operating condition and of value to the renters.
* Fix problems right away
* Unit upgrade policy — don’t do more than 50% of the property so when you sell there’s incentive for the next owner to increase its value. Leave some meat on the bone for the next guy
* Syndication — typically 80-20 or 70-30 split
* Keep things simple so it’s easy to follow for investors and it will encourage them to invest with you in the future — avoid preferred returns and waterfalls and things like that
* Don’t be greedy. Don’t nickel and dime your investors to death. No reason to over complicated the agreement
* Syndication may not use their own money at times so they can keep it liquid for other deals. If they can’t explain why or refuse to tell you why they’re not using any of their own money, just walk away and find another deal
* Find deals through brokers and relationships. Loopnet.com
* Being able to close a deal is just as important as finding it — Be a good buyer, don’t haggle and renegotiate, Let the seller think they won the negotiation
* Vetting a syndicator — Organically find people who have invested with the syndicator and ask them
* Don’t be reckless, a bad person can ruin a good deal
* Don’t worry about trying to get licensed in everything — There’s enough money to go around without convoluting the situation
* Where to find syndicator — realtymogul realtyshare - these sites will take a percentage. Best way is to form relationships and just talk to people, get involved.
* The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent, federal government agency responsible for protecting investors, maintaining fair and orderly functioning of securities markets, and facilitating capital formation.
* Analyze software — Resman
* Gary Vaynerchuk
* What separates people? Conviction and courage
* Verify your wire-transfer number with your title company before sending money
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Haverstraw, NY · Member since 2017 · 2 posts · 1 vote
8y
@Jayson Welcome! I'm actually trying to do the reverse. I work on the border of northern NJ and want to move to Dallas to buy and rent property. You're def seem like you have a great grasp on this. It'd be great to get some advice on locations in Dallas since I've only been out there for work. I'm saving up for capital to get started. Welcome and it's inspiring to see people taking action to reach financial freedom.
Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 6k+ votes
8y
@Dave Foster Ah - so this is part of the algorithm that determines the awards.
The "Debate Starter" is when you START a forum thread and that post gets 10+ votes. Jason got this one.
The "Genius" award is when you REPLY to a thread that you did not start, and get 10+ votes.
This system works most of the time, but in some cases it doesn't give credit where credit is due, I'd agree that Jason is a genius ;) He'll just have to earn that award by being a genius a second time in someone else's thread.
Investor · Roseville, CA · Member since 2016 · 893 posts · 1k+ votes
8y
@Jason Sylka well done! As a fellow investor who is in technology as a day job, I applaud you on your efforts here! I especially like the pea pod logo. ;)
Welcome to BP and if you have any questions on short term rental investing, feel free to reach out to me or check out my vacation rental BP blogs here.
