All Forum Posts by: Shari Posey

I love your enthusiasm Andy! You'll need it. I don't mean to be negative but it's a hard business and you'll need to remind yourself that every "no" is closer to a "yes" all the time.

Interview the big real estate agencies in your area and go with the one that has the most training and then take the training, and use the tools you learn.

I didn't know very many people when I started so I got my business from going door-to-door talking to people. Sometimes the door would open and it happened to be someone thinking of selling, or sometimes it was a tenant who was thinking of becoming a homeowner. Floor time was good, too. Open houses can be great if you greet everyone and engage them in conversations.

You need to know if your market is a buyer's market or a seller's market before you decide you want to just list properties. My business is about 50-50; I'm happy to have both types of business. In our market right now, listings are golden. But, 2 years ago buyers were golden. Another decision is how much hand-holding and therapy you want to do? Residential real estate is probably more personality driven. Commercial real estate or investors will be more straight forward and numbers driven.

$50k is easy if you pound the pavement, call expires, call FSBOs, do open houses, etc. Absolutely have 6-months of money set aside until you start getting commission checks.

Here's one thing that might be different about the real estate business than with your past business. In real estate, there is quite a bit that is not in your control, namely other agents that are really unprofessional and banks that are difficult.

I think many of you are trying to convince yourselves it's o.k. to make an offer directly to the listing agent, most likely promising the listing after you rennovate, when you know there are higher offers on the table. You are taking advantage of an unethical real estate agent and most likely a seller who is in the dark about the process of short selling (uneducated, scared, trusting their agent, etc.). I think you are also benefitting from a very broken system.

Years ago when I was doing my first short sale I spoke to another agent who gave me some pointers. The first thing she said is to list it low and double end it. I told her I didn't think that was the right thing to do and she bascially called me stupid for not doing it. I've had plenty of investors contact me asking me to represent them and tell me how much discount they want. I tell them I'm happy to represent them but, I've got higher offers. That's the end of that.

Almost every time you see a low short sale comp you'll find a double-ended deal and an LLC buyer. I'm not talking about total fixers that have to be sold for cash. You can justify it any way you want but you know there were higher offers, many probably from qualified buyers. Here's the thing though, does the government really care? No--the powers that be have turned a blind eye for 3 years now. Do the banks really care? No, they are busy figuring out ways to pull their head out of their ***. So while the economy and house marketing struggle to rebound...Laissez les bons temps rouler...Let the good times roll!

I would not discount the rent and let the tenant do it. I have a house now that the tenant said she was so excited to have a little yard to work with...I just spent $75 getting a gardener over there last week to cut back all the weeds. I should have learned my lesson, only 1 tenant in 10 years has kept it nice. Next lease I'll increase the rent to cover professional services.

Are you a first-time home buyer? Are you planning to live in the property for about a year? (That is usually one of the rules.) If so, why not try it? I have a buyer right now buying with HUD's Good Neighbor Next Door program and he's getting a great deal but he has to live in it for 3 years.

Save time and money, and just take an online course to pass the test. I took a community college course when I started and it was a waste of time because it didn't help with the test at all and didn't help me being an agent. I wasted precious time sitting in those classes for six months when I could have taken an online course in 2 weeks. Any online course will do--I think they are mostly the same. I would go with the cheapest.

If you are going to be an active agent, a good real estate brokerage will train you. If you are going to be an investor, Bigger Pockets will teach. Actually, both avenue are excellent sources of education.

You will probably have high lending costs (closing costs) with such a low loan amount. Can you pay cash for it? That would be best, in my opinion.

Personally, I think a $60k condo that can rent for $1100 is pretty good. $235 isn't too much as long as it looks like they are taking care of the place. I don't really like HOAs either but you will pay a lot more for an SFR and the numbers may not be better. Personally, I would consider buying it with cash.

Like others have said, check the financials of the HOA and how many owners are delinquent, etc.

Emily, I could easily say, "Come on investors, get serious, stop low balling with stupid offers, doing horrible rehabs and wanting top dollar for almost no work." I could say that but it would be a gross stereotype.

In my market in SoCal there are plenty of hard-working/smart agents but just like any profession, there are lots of stupid/lazy agents, too. Sounds like you need a new agent. Although I agree with others who said you should get your license and do it full time yourself. Actually, that's how I got into the business because I was unimpressed with agents I met. Since you recognize how bad many agents are, you will probably be very successful.

Some listing agents really price properties below market to bid up the price and to get unrepresented buyers. So if it's listed for $140k and you offer $150k it could be the true market value is $200k, especially since it sounds like your agent is not providing you with comps.

I don't know your expectations but I have seen all-cash deals on the same property where clearly one investor was expecting the seller to be uneducated or the investor was uneducated about the area because other all-cash offers were significantly higher.

Lastly, have you considered short sales that have been lingering on the market?

Zillow is totally useless. MLS is the best but if you don't have access I would use Redfin and pick and choose individual recently sold properties as your comps.

We just installed a new door this past weekend. A solid wood door is more than $60 in our neck of the woods! However, I was out jogging one day in a high-end neighborhood and someone was replacing a gorgeous Spanish wood door and I asked for it--free! It's a $700 door! The property has a lot of character so I don't want to spoil it with a crappy door.

Actually, now that time has past the tenant was fine with the glass door but since I got the door free and it's actually an enhancement to the look of the property, I was fine with it. It cost $300 for the labor to install (5 hours of sizing and boring new lock holes in the jam) and $175 for nice hardward/locks. I'm putting the old antique door on Craigslist to sell to offset those costs.