All Forum Posts by: Ryan Landis

@Ian Kemp I think most people overthink this a bit. Here is my logic - if you can find a deal, I (anyone) would buy it. If you get the deal at a low enough price, I don't mind paying you whatever you want as long as I still make the profit I need to in order to take on the endeavor. If you are at all short on capital, that should be what you focus on. This will open up an opportunity to partner (if you want to stay involved) or get a check so that you can move on to the next deal and then keep that one in-house if you want. I guess what I am saying is if the price is low enough, you should not stress about figuring out how the capital/money side would work. There are plenty of people trying to get deals every day!

@Michael Cornell the buy a 2-4 unit is probably the best bet as others have mentioned. Your financing will be pretty solid in that range. A couple of quick things - buy where your commute won't suck. I know people talk about different markets outside of Oakland quite a bit on BP, but depending on where you work, you need to be Bartable and even then you don't want to be Barting an extra hour each day to save $10K spread across 30 years (just my 2 cents).

On a 3-4 unit, you will likely run into self-sufficiency issues if you go FHA (most don't cover here). There are a few 5% down programs but those will just have to meet the loan limits/income restrictions (if applicable) to get the 3-4 units.

@Peter Lam glad you found BP - one of the best sites out there for what you are looking to achieve. As you listen to the podcasts and dive into the forms, just remember there is no wrong way to make this work for you. Being licensed, you might be able to get some additional benefits through being "in" the game - but if you stay focused on expanding the portfolio in Houston you would be well versed in studying how to make money in that market vs. others. 

We have a mixed-use commercial building in Murray, Utah. Looking to speak with a lender about exploring a construction loan for the project. We already have planning/city approval and are looking to start construction shortly.

Ideally, we are looking to construction to perm financing.

Thanks!

Cheers,

Ryan

@Charles Hetrick it is better to stay vacant a little longer than place the wrong tenant so make sure you do not compromise on 1 and 2. 3 you can compromise a bit on and it won't be the end of the world. 1 and 2 will leave you very unhappy if you do

@Debra Thomson as @Russell Brazil mentioned those are great ideas. You have the tradeoff of time and money in general. Direct mail is scalable, whereas door knocking there is only so many hours in a day. So if you want to do the door knocking/direct mail combo, do that for one area and then maybe test other areas that you mail and door knock less consistently. I have agents that don't door knock - that is totally fine. Whatever floats your boat. 

You can check the MLS for who is "farming" the area - the agent with the most sales in the past 12 months might be (depending on the number of sales, etc.). If someone is getting 90%+ of the listings in a specific area, they are likely farming it (for sure). I would not worry about if people are farming a specific area though, only if there is an agent that is dominating that area :)

@Kyle Miller there are some that are really changing the game and as others have said they often operate at a loss to gain market share, but with Technology changing, we are going to see changes in the space. Just think about it - before Charles Schwab, you would call your financial advisor/broker and pay $200 to sell/buy a stock. The good agents will stay in the space and continue to win the business of people that understand the value they provide. The 90% of agents that didn't want to be an agent but fell into it and are just trying to quickly turn from client to client are the ones that are going to be hit the hardest by these types of companies!

@Account Closed congrats. Depending on how you want to make your career out of this work, Grant Cardone made a wonderful point in one of his podcasts - go for first. If someone else is crushing it in the area, they are doing something right. Don't go and try and be the "new" style. Don't reinvent the wheel, there is plenty you can do from just seeing how others do it!

@Isi Nau nice job - that is a fun one journey for the record books!

@Vipul Parikh exciting! Your number one priority should be to talk with an architect/general contractor that has done it before to just get their feedback. You should not have to pay them for just a call, and I am almost certain that they will be able to help you streamline the process quite a bit!