All Forum Posts by: Ben McMahon

If you guys have enough properties, I will open a branch of my property management company there.  

Any Investors with rental properties in northern virginia experience hale?  I recently had Roof Simple do a couple Roofs for me, and they are signing up whole neighborhoods all over Stafford, Dumfries, Triangle, Fredericksburg, and the whole 95 stretch.  

A couple things to note - Hale Damage is totaled covered in your insurance policy, and won't raise your rates if you make a claim.  Thats by law.  They have to do whole zip codes.

Second- you may not think you have damage, but very minimal damage might get you a roof replacement.  They also often use a public adjustor to help with the claim, so you don't have to haggle with the big bad insurance companies.  

Third - am I getting a referral fee for this pitch?  maybe.  But seriously, I have used them on maybe 5 or 6 roofs at this point.  They are small, professional, and are not going to let the insurance company take advantage of you.  They can't talk to the insurance company for you, which is why they use the public adjustor.  

Get a new roof, siding, gutters and downspouts, who knows what else.  If you want some contact info, I will send it over.  Happy investing

Post them in the marketplace.  Doesnt hurt anything.

Not sure how many people do Lent, but I have the usual list of things to give up, and another list of things to add.  This year, I am going to try adding Bigger Pockets to my daily routine.  Call it a Lenten Observance.  I signed up for the Pro a few months ago, and I don't think I am utilizing it very well.  

That being said, I would be interested to hear what I should include in my BP daily diet?  Any thoughts would be welcome.   I don't want it to be all self-serving since that isn't really the spirit of sacrifice that goes with the season.  I thought about just making sure that I do one thing everyday to help a newbie?  

If its 100% commission I would guess you could probably do it part time right?  Maybe thats a question you could ask them.  It would be a very good experience regardless of what direction you want to take. Most likely a lot of doors are going to be opened to you as well.  I would find a way to work with the Brokerage.  Ideally without loosing your income.

The company should be able to get where you are coming from.  A lot of these companies will also put you on a draw system.  Thus allowing you to start getting paid before you get any deals done.  Sooner you getting moving the better in my opinion.  You path to financial freedom isn't in the 9-5.

That's a good question. My understanding is that if the work itself doesnt require a contractors license than you do not need one. I could be wrong. However, the general license requirements state that work being performed or even offered indicate working for someone else. I know home owners don't need to be licensed. So I don't see why if you purchased the house in an LLC it would be any different.

So for example, if you are only replacing the flooring, painting, and replacing the roof than you should be fine without being licensed.  Obviously if you are redoing all the electrical and plumbing, they need to be licensed.  That shouldn't affect your need for licensing however.  

Not much for advice, but good luck.  Do you lose anything by greater circulation?

You won't like my advice, but I will give it.  Haha.  I say that Prenups are for people planning to separate.  So if you are doing Prenups in the first place, put everything in it.  

Maybe thats shortsighted, but seriously.  Why wouldn't you add every possible contingency plan?  Ive been married for 11 years, I didnt even know what a prenuptial agreement was way back than.  You might want to think about your marriage less like a business agreement and more like.... well like... forever.

Do your best and let life happen to you man.  If you get screwed start over.  You won't die.  Well, unless she kills you. Maybe you can put attempted murder in the agreement somewhere?  Might be kinda fun

@Raj I.  Buy a decent cashflow property and see if you like the way it tastes.  Get long term financing while its still cheap and make money forever.  Theoretically

@Mike Lynch

I didnt read all the posts, so forgive me if I repeat.  In case nobody mentioned this, fix and flip is a JOB just like plumbing.  You still have to keep going out and finding the next deal.  The income is almost never as good as it seems like on paper, and you will probably get tired of it before long.

With 300k I would buy the best cashflow properties you can find with minimal downpayments.  This will get you STARTED on your road to passivity.  Save and make as much money as you can over the next couple years with the plumbing business and do more investing.  As you probably already know, real estate isn't exactly a get rich quick business like some people make it out to be.  Your biggest partner is time.  Sucks though, really sucks.

Option 2 is to look for someone that is already 2 or 3 years into the business and needs some cash.  You can buy equity pretty cheaply if you find someone that has cashflow challenges, but basically a good business model.  Thats a bit more risky and tough to find, but if they have assets already, you can skip a step.  It takes time to find good deals.