All Forum Posts by: Alex Jean Baptiste

@Charlie MacPherson A few years ago (nearly a decade) I did hear about some people tipping their real estate agent and that seemed so odd to me. Apparently it was happening in some cases, but in other cases I had read people say its a violation or question its legalities. Still not sure what the rule is on that but I do know there are thank you gifts that can be given between buyer and agent. 

Man good negotiating. That's pretty great! I hope to be that good. As an agent where do you draw the lines of analyzing a deal as an agent vs. an investor?

@Richard Beatty @Jaquetta T Ragland @Redgy Saint-Germain Thank you guys for the welcome! Looking forward to meeting and learning from you guys here. 

Richard (or anyone) Looking at the programs like the Boston Homecenters' how do I differentiate between this one and others like the NACA. Is there something about one that is "Better" than the other?

Redgy I'm glad to see things starting and working out of Brockton. Most of my family lives/lived in Brockton in my lifetime. My grandparents are still there. Would be glad to be of any assistance or just follow how things are going for you. Keep going!

@Charlie MacPherson ahh thank you for putting a number to it. That makes a lot of sense. Now the question is predicting closing costs. From what I've read they can be anywhere from 2-5% of the purchase price right? In the forums and podcast people can negotiate the closing costs between seller and buyer? If from what I understand, the appraisal is part of the closing costs what happens if the appraisal happens and they deny you because the house doesn't meet the lenders standards? Who takes on the cost?

@Ann Bellamy @Steve Bracero Thank you guys for your replies. Steve not simply to have access. I feel like it could benefit me to work as an agent and also benefit my future company by having that part of the team down. I could be wrong but at the very least I'd like to work as an agent part time to get my foot in the door and possibly be part of someones team myself until I establish myself. 

Ann that really puts things into perspective about the conventional vs hard money. I think the most simplest way I can put this is it was just blowing my mind that (in this example in a market like Boston) private lenders would be giving you 300+K in order to invest it? I guess it probably was my middle class brain not being able to wrap my head around it until I started learning about it. hahaha

Charlie MacPherson didn't even see your question I go to Bridgewater state University.

Mike Abramowitz Ah so after reading the UBG I had these questions written down. I'm sure there are discussions answering these questions so I'll spend my time this weekend answering them myself. But if anyone wants to point me in the direction, great! You guys have already responded to 3. Of them but others were: After talking about finding deals is the aim in the end to not buy from agents? Will having a license end up being a wash down the line? In terms of investor vs agent Is funding for the intent to rent vs flipping a house different? I still don't fully understand private lending or lending in general. This may sound like a very beginner question but I thought I understood it before but now I ran myself into a rabbit hole. So when using a lender and lets say a house costs 100,000 (obviously would be a shack in Boston) you have $5,000, is a lender/hard money loaner loaning you 95,000? And as an investor you're hoping to get this money back in a flip for more money if you're flipping and over time as a rental if you're renting?sorry if I'm not understanding this very basic thing. Basically any loan from any entity is filling in the rest of the house and your profits as an investor come from how much more you can flip it for or rent it out as.

Charlie MacPherson makes sense. Also in reference to your 0 down I am not opposed to the owner-occupied properties. Im hoping that down the line I'd find a property that makes too much sense not to buy and live in it while the mortgage is being paid off. Reading about analyzing deals over and over again haha. Now when I read about "house hacking" and hear the guys talking about it I'm very wary because some people make it sound easy and some end up with more expenses than they anticipated. (Sounds like every situation in the world I'm sure) but I really figure my first investment to be that. I moved back home when I started planning for my masters as to save money and so now I expect that if I decided to take on a home of my home in the midst of school I'd want to purchase a multifamily and live in one.

Charlie MacPherson thank you so much for your reply. I do think about the bubble popping in areas around here but then I wonder if something like that were to happen to our sub markets would that even matter considering it's still Boston influenced. Im not sure if that makes any sense, I truly would like to understand how our market differs from others and really as a beginner how markets work in general.

Hahaha thank you Mike! Wish I didn't forget the book at home. But honestly one of the questions I've always had is... being from the dreaded Boston market its just so crazily priced it's nuts. Now I do know it's not impossible as Josh and Brandan always say "is anyone in your market doing it? Yes? Than its not impossible" but I was wondering along the lines of trends if the houses here are so expensive and from so many articles seem unaffordable due to it just being Boston (healthcare, schooling, popular coastal city) or if it's due to us being in such a great "bubble?"

Hello there BP nation, family and friends. My name is Alex and I'm a newbie investor. *altogether now* "hi Alex." Ahaha but yea seriously I am a stupid beginner. But I'm ok with that because my end goal is to be a smart one. I have been listening to the bp podcasts for 2 months now. And decided to really entrench myself in this knowledge. I've given myself a 2 year plan to jump feet first but anything can happen before then. I've just finished the ultimate beginners guide, read Rich Dad Poor dad, almost at the end of The richest man in Babylon. Just ordered the book on investing with no and low money down. And have "The millionaire real estate agent on tap as I am taking a real estate pre-license course next month and hopefully getting the license this year. I'm in school getting my masters in social work as my childhood goal was to become a therapist. I work full time and yet here I am wanting to jump into real estate. So I do have a bunch of questions written down but I left my notebook of RE scribbles at home today. Just really want to introduce myself in this amazing community and network in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island area. (New England) I hope everyone had at least one awesome thing happen to them today. Do share if you have!