All Forum Posts by: Brian P.

My suggestion is to speak only English unless it is absolutely necessary to speak Spanish. 

My wife and I like most Americans descended from immigrants. And both of our ancestors wrote of getting the habit of speaking only English when they got here, even in the home, they did teach their native language to their kids but it was to be used only during specific times or when talking to family in the old country. They felt that was one thing that helped them to assimilate here.

Now I learned Spanish in high school , But that was a waste of time,  We were living in San Diego for awhile and the Landscapers crew was starting to do the wrong thing and the Landscaper had left to get something so I went to tell them, I might as well been speaking Martian.  I got them to stop and the Landscaper returned and gave them his orders and then he asked me what I had said to them. So I repeated it and he laughed and said that is very formal Castellon Spanish, you are going to need to learn T.J. Spanish. if you want to talk to the Mexicans here. So take a hint from my story and speak the language spoken by those your talking to  and tell them in advance if I make a mistake in my language do me a favor and correct me, I would really appreciate it if you would do that for me.

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Kenneth

I can only speak from my experience. I started investing one week after my 16th birthday but I was only able to do that because I had a married 19 year old brother that was legally able to contract, you had to be 21 back then.

After 10 years I became an agent then broker. I did go to college but in addition to carrying a full load of courses I worked full time and still managed to do a deal now and then. Truth is college gave me some new friends and my wife, but career wise I could have skipped the whole thing.

When I became a broker, I actually hated to add a new agent to my office because I knew that generally only one out of a 100 would really make it. Most new agents think they know what they must do but most can't do it and reality hits, you have to put int the time and during that time do the things you don't like to do. Most full time agents today and even then do not do the job they need to do and are really part-time. Most are gone after 3 years unless they have some support system that allows them to stay

Now the good news you can do it but you are going to hate my first statement. I had a new 21 year old agent and he too had a weight problem and I knew that even though he was a great guy that it was a built in resistance factor to success especially in sales.  He went from 350 to 200 in a little over two years. Last time I saw him a couple years ago he was 180 and looking good. He told me that was the biggest difficulty of his career, and yes he could have made a living even at his weight but not even close to what he made as a leaner person. There is discrimination and prejudice against the over weight. To help cut into that, I teamed him up with an attractive new agent which helped during his start up period, and his work ethic is just what she needed, both made it to the top 20%

If you think interest rates are not going up in the future, go ahead an get an ARM. At the same time write down the names of those who said do it and when the time comes you can thank them for the advice, or most likely say what the blank were you thinking back then, that our economy was stable and in good shape and with the price of everything going up people would still be OK with 1% on their money. That Indexes would stay the same or even go down over the next decade. Arms are for bankers, not investors.

I do agree with Curt on a 15 year loan. But my first question is why do you need to refinance to invest, What do you plan to use the money for? What would the cash flow be if you just rented your present home. Need the cash to buy the new home, apparently your really not in the investor mode, and have ignored all the creative financing posts.

Sometimes it just pays to get it from the horses own lips. Just call the the probate section of the county your working and ask them, Next look up the probate section of the state statutes, most are only line, print it out. 

Annette

I suggested the 800 number for two reasons even though some of the advantage has been cut into now days. First the best prospect are often out of state owners and they don't say to themselves that is long distance maybe I'll try them later.  Item two is there is the capture feature of 800 numbers, they capture the incoming phone number listed or not. Plus them calling you first avoids the do not call list when you call them back. 

Stephanie

Mindset is the name of the game. I suggest you go to the library and check out the book by Michael Losier titled the Law of Attraction, and after you have read it check into his you tube site. 

And while your at the library, check out books on real estate investing. Then don't take whatever is said as the truth, plenty of pretend gurus write books, but they have borrowed some good information sometimes Just check with BP here to ask questions. 

This may sound trite but I would love to be in your position and have a chance to do it all over again. When the final curtain is dropping and you have had a good life you just wish it would drop a lot slower if your in good health.

Don't have a business card that doesn't let people know what you do, period and name and contact numbers only is a bad choice. You don't have to have it as a title but if someone were to pick up your card off the street they should know your name, what you do, and where to contact you. 

Don't waste the back, my early cards said " This card is worth $500 to you, if you do business with me, refer someone to me that does business with me, or provide me with a lead that does business with me, this card will be worth $500.

First thing I would like to know is how much time is left?

Just interview him. When you contacted me you probably thought I was still in the market to buy a home, well I did that already. But since then I have become interested in investing, so do you presently have any clients that are wholesalers or rehabbers. 

If yes, then you know I am looking for properties that I can make a profit on, If you want to make me aware of those kind of properties that would be great and you can make some money if I buy them. I also want an agent I can call and get comps from if need be if I am looking at an unlisted property. Some of those properties will not be investment material for me and if you provided the comps I will give you the lead and the info when I pass on them.

If no, just change then you know to then you need to know. 

Let the relationship grow from there .

I suspect some one will sue Ohio for interference. Licensed activities are those where agency is created. Buying and selling something without creating an agency situation is perfectly legal. Just a bunch of cry baby agents thinking it will give them additional business. I suspect a flood of investors getting licenses will take away existing business from those agents. Just a side note, agency can be created by for example telling a buyer you will find him a property. Your not a principle at that point in time, and the buyer may be thinking of you as sort of his agent, called implied agency, doesn't matter what you think, only what the buyer thinks.

Some smart broker in Ohio should create a central investors realty and have them all licensed for a small fee per deal. And many agents will find a deal they think they should have had is in the hands of an investor/agent, Not a investor deal but a normal retail listing deal with the same guy they were trying to get rid of. 

I know when I became licensed the agent I passed leads onto that I passed on as an investor when into a major funk and had to quit buying a new car every year along with many other things.