All Forum Posts by: Bob Smith

Meghan,

My wife is a former ER nurse!  

I have been a long time investor.  I am sure others have more homes or more money or more troubles, etc.

Step 1.  Clearly define your goals

Step 2. Stay on bigger pockets and join the Metrolina Real Estate Investment Association (REIA)

Step 3.  Watch and learn.  Be cautious.  You will see the mentors, the superstars, the part timers, the full timers, the educated and the uneducated.  Beware!  Not everyone will have YOUR best interests in mind.

Step 4.  Refine your goal and determine who you want on your team.  When I started, I tried to do it all myself.  I a now having to regroup to redefine my role and build a high performance team to d the things I am not so good at doing.

Step 5.  Look at lots of opportunities.  Consider them practice runs.  Follow through with the buyers to see how it turned out.  In this way you can learn quickly while having someone else take the risk.

Be patient.  Ask questions.  Your on the right path.

Olivia, I agree with Tom. For me, it started when I began asking my investment advisor about fees; his fee the funds fees, the admin fee, the 401k fee, etc. he could not provide answers to all the fees. I quickly decided to invest into things I know. Since my money was 'qualified' retirement money, I needed a self directed ira. This allows me to invest in other companies, real estate, and many other things. I began by lending to people who were developing or rehabbing. Since then I have moved into partnering with other investors for commercial properties. My advice is to stay away from the larger groups, ticks, or funds with more than a handful of people. My other advice is to invest locally so that you can see and touch the investment. Ask a lot of questions, your partners will present themselves. Look at people's track records and talk to their previous investors. Finally, having read all you can, after speaking to as many people that you can, and after fully knowing all the details of both the investments and the investors, then have confidence that you are stepping into higher responsibilities and higher returns. Chances are you will do more than you thought you could ever do . Good luck.

I use AMERICAN ira. They provide the 401k structure. The 401k owner is responsible for the investments. I chose them because they were close, charged low fees and have been a conservative balance to my creative side. They keep in its guidelines.

By turn-key, I imagine your talking about a large fund that buys, rehabs, leases and manages the property for you. I looked into doing something similar in MD but realized that I am better off doing my own work and saving those fees. You may want to look for a few good realtors and property managers. I can recommend a few property managers. If you share more in depth info about what sort of home in what sort of area, you will be able to find renovators, realtors and pm companies to help you directly invest and manage your investments. You will most likely discover that you will keep more of the returns than you thought you could.

I am in Charlotte.  It is a very dynamic marketplace.

During the height of the recession, when we thought we might lose one of our two large banks, things were pretty stagnant.  Today, we see a vibrant and expanding downtown which is helping to convert older neighborhoods into walkable, trendy residential areas.

All that said, it really depends on you cash position and patience in the marketplace.  Deals are out there for buy and hold, rehab and hold as well as some flips.  The important thing is to decide what you want to do prior to jumping in.  Remember, if Charlotte is a great opportunity, your competitors will probably think the same thing.  By focusing on one strategy, you will be able to see and react quicker than a generalist.

for me, the hard part has always been to slow down and focus so that I could accomplish more.

Don, Welcome to Charlotte! I have been here for 20 years. Last year I pulled the plug on my Corp. real estate job. I have been buying, renovating, selling and renting for a while. Let's meet and compare notes. I analysts looking for opportunities to partner with others.

Adam, I have had a good experience with Old Dominion Bank. You will want to own the land free and clear. If you don't have enough cash for that, then I suggest getting another partner with cash.

I use AMERICAN ira. They are well versed in the law and keep me from jeapardizing my 'qualified status'. I liked that they are local to me as well. I viewed the selection process much as I did my accountant. I wanted knowledge and someone slightly more conservative than I am.

The real question is whether to invest in a ROTH 401K.

The answer for almost everyone under 50 is YES.  Invest in the Roth before investing in anything else except a primary residence.  The Roth can later be self directed (when you quit this job).  If done correctly, it is feasible to achieve a consistent 25% annual return (Actually feasible to get 100% but my track record isn't long enough to claim this yet).

The point is that once a person has a ROTH, then find a high growth return vehicle and NEVER pay tax on this money again.

For my company, I use other people's 401K's.  They loan me money to purchase homes.  I tehn renovate the home and sell it (the back up plan is to lease the home).  When the property sells, they get a 10% fee.  This investment is very short term.  If not sold in 4 months, I find a renter and then get a loan and buy them out so that they can invest into the next 10% short term return.

For me, investing my Roth has changed my life.  Since I won't have to pay toax on he money when I sepnd it, I will need less money saved to retire.  My goal was to have $150,000 a year to quit work.  If I do not have to pay tax, I only need $100,000.  My retirement goal dropped by 1/3rd!  It is now feasible to be financially independant within 3-5 years.  

Please join me in celebrating the ROTH IRA and ROTH 401K!

For me, I like to say I am an income stir and rehab resell guy. When I bid or buy too many properties for self use, I then offer the homes to other investors (wholesale). This helps eliminate risk from the wholesale transactions.