All Forum Posts by: Brendon K.

Quote from @Greg Scott:

 I know of several.

 What do you recommend? I've gone to quite a few meetings and there really hasn't been much turnout (and those that do show aren't really active in the way that would be useful).

Hey guys, I was hoping to get some more recent suggestions on long distance wholesalers we can reach out to. Our area doesn't have an extremely strong REIA otherwise we'd be networking in person.

Long distance is fine, I'm a fan of David's Long Distance Investing book and I want to take the plunge.

Someone who deals in lower budget properties would be ideal. I'm currently at around 100/150k all-in range (our comfort range for new projects, we have several active currently).

Hoping the community can recommend a few and we won't just get self promotions. 

As someone trying to get on a few cash buyer lists, just make the numbers work and look professional. Start a portfolio. Make it look wonderful.

Say you have a wholesaling business. Except, you've worked yourself out of the work load and you now have numerous sales-y employees calling around and helping you find deals. You get many contracts, which can go out to other investors or you have the option of purchasing properties yourself when a good one comes around. 

Most purchase and sale agreements I've seen ask for a specific buyer name. In this case, I don't want the "buyer" to be any of my agents reaching out to the sellers-- I want the company they're working for (mine) being listed as a buyer. The employee never has any direct control over the property but I'm paying them hourly with my own set commission rate. The company can then assign out the contract to the chosen investor with totally separate financing requirements (such as me using a traditional home mortgage for example). The company then accounts for the income from the contract signing as profit toward the IRS and they pay all the required taxes.

Is this scenario possible in the US?  All of the resources I'm finding online seem to be focused on one person doing all of the work themselves and they don't really address teams of people working toward this purpose.

I'm definitely going to reach out to a lawyer but I'm in planning stages right now and would love some ballpark answers and discussion. Thank you!

It won't have insulation, take that into consideration. It may be better to look into making it into a locked storage room.

Hello folks,

I got an offer on my house and it's supposed to close in a few weeks. I had the big three done by a contractor: a new roof, new siding, and new windows. 

They have been a massive pain to work with. We had to insist that the contractor open city permits. We came to find out that they didn't bother closing those permits. The requirement for closing a permit in this case is that a city inspector has to go to the work and inspect it. In this case they found that the two big windows in the staircase landing weren't tempered glass, something we had specifically told the contractor to install. 

The contractor's original work got "done" 5 months later than their original estimate with a billion excuses when we're actually able to get hold of them. We've already had to have them reinstall most of the windows because they broke them while they were installing them and just left them that way for us to find. Meanwhile, the period for the offer we got expires in just a few weeks. 

What would you do here? If we tried to find someone else to do it, do businesses have the ability to fix installation from other companies under the installation warranty? Are there other options that may exist?

Rich dad, poor dad.

How to win friends and influence people

Emyth

4 hour work week

The long distance BP book

Vivid Vision

So I believe it's well known that when you're starting out in REI you should start out doing everything as a private person, not a business. For one, your appraisals use an entirely different method which can definitely be in your favor. This means that you'll be doing easier and insured bank mortgages, not business loans, for any property you have.

Check out this section from IRS.gov:

People such as doctors, dentists, veterinarians, lawyers, accountants, contractors, subcontractors, public stenographers, or auctioneers who are in an independent trade, business, or profession in which they offer their services to the general public are generally independent contractors. However, whether these people are independent contractors or employees depends on the facts in each case. The general rule is that
an individual is an independent contractor if the payer has the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not what will be done and how it will be done.

Since I'll be investing remotely I'll be requiring someone to help me out in the "bird dog" activity of finding properties through driving for dollars. Problem is, I'm going to have to tell this person exactly how to do it. Using an app to put in data, the app tells you how to get to the next location and what kinds of problems to look for and then prompts you to take pictures.

This seems to be as though we're telling them what will be done and how it will be done. I'd assume it would be the same even if you're putting a company such as Upwork in the middle of it. Is it unavoidable to become a business to pay for helpers in this scenario?

This sounds like a cycle of bad decisions but at least you're aware of them. If I wanted to get into investing and I had to do so without relying on a credit score (and not damaging it either), this is what I'd probably do.

1. Increase Knowledge. You can do this throughout your next tasks.
2. Do whatever it takes to get the highest income from your possible employment options. I'm currently working a day job that I really don't care for and am in the process of getting a second one. Do I want to do this stuff? Hell no. But it'll free up my ability to get to the next step.
3. Reduce expenses. Basically, buy nothing you don't need and keep that bar super high. Don't splurge on anything that's not a planned expense. Keep all living costs down to half your income or less. Save up the rest.
4. Get a nest egg going if you don't have one already. Mine is around 2 years of expenses, most recommend around 6 months.
5. Start building credit actively. Remove bad debts. The bigger pockets money podcast will probably be very helpful.
6. The next steps would depend on how much money you're making and have saved up but I'm going to assume it might be on the lower side. So if that's the case, I'd probably look into getting a property in a nice area that's as terrible as possible but still liveable (your definition, not the banks) with cash-only deals.
   
7. You said you have an RV so that might make it easy. Get that house, RV it up so that you don't die, spend some sweat equity to get it restored up to bank-liveable status. Don't spend too much on upgrades. You might want to consider doing some house hacking. If you split it up into two separate properties, you can live on the other side. Sell off that RV and use it for the next step.
8. Get it inspected and possibly appraised ahead of time. It's your first project, you want to make sure you're hitting all the checkmarks.
9. By this time, I'm guessing you'll have better credit and you'll certainly have more equity so that a bank might be able to take more risk on you. Do a refinance and take cash out. Now you're in BRRRR land.

After all of this you have a duplex with a wad of cash in your pocket that covers the upgrades you paid for that will take you to the next property. Rinse and repeat.

Okay, curious, how does that actually look? A good chunk of how I'd imagine most agent work looks is to actually get out and visit properties with clients; letting them in to properties so they can take a closer look and probably doing other local activities. I guess that's not always the case?