All Forum Posts by: Cassi Justiz

Hey @Cody Spaulding, 

I'm in Edmond and would love to meet up sometime. I love getting to know other investors in the community.  

Hey @Bradley Chapple, 

Welcome to the BP forums. Luckily being in Colorado, you are a very short flight away from a lot of markets that are very friendly to out of state investors. It sounds like you've got a great game plan! You definitely can successfully invest out of state without ever visiting, but I think it's always a good idea to go out and get a feel for the areas you are considering. You can go see some houses, figure out what areas and asset classes you are most comfortable with and dive in! 

Best of luck to you in your investing journey!

@Tracy Streich, 

Do you have any good recommendations? 

The biggest thing that I tell people who want to buy is start saving as much money as you can now. People plan for the down payment, but forget about closing costs, inspections, insurance, furnishing the house, movers, etc. 

It was already mentioned, but go ahead and start talking to lenders. Have them check out your credit and make sure there aren't any surprises. They can give you a good idea of what kind of cash you should have available when you get to "go time."

If you have any outstanding debt, start trying to pay that down now. Make sure you are making on time payments, don't acquire any new large loans or max out credit cards, etc. Also, if you have a stable job you will want to keep it or get one. Switching jobs regularly or switching industries can freak out underwriters and cause issues. 

Hey @Kaden Dunlevy,

It really depends on what your goals are with getting your license. If you are just looking to do it for knowledge for investing, I would say there are better ways to learn about real estate investing. The actual license process teaches you very little about investing or the day to day real estate activity. The license process focuses more on technical knowledge rather than practical knowledge (how to calculate sq ft per acre rather than how to write a contract). You also should plan to spend about $2000-$3000 throughout your first year by the time you pay for the course, tests, MLS fees and broker start up fees. Many brokerages also take a percentage of each sales commission that you make.

If you want to become an agent as a career, it's going to be a different answer. At the end of the day, it's really about your goals and what you are hoping to accomplish with getting your license. It can be a great career if that's the path that you want to take, but it's definitely a career that requires you to be very self driven. 

I'm in Edmond, so I'd be happy to meet up and chat with you about pros/cons! 

@Wallace Zhen, definitely touch base with @Tracy Streich.
We've had several clients use his services and they've been very happy! 

You may have issues trying to evict him because of the eviction moratoriums. Especially since he isn't on the lease. The tenant is the one that is in violation of the lease, not her guest. So that could make things even more sticky.
You definitely want to consult an attorney before you start meddling in their drama. You may want to get them both out if she's moving in unauthorized tenants. 

Check out facebook. My area has several pretty active wholesale groups. Try to meet some local investors.  It doesn't take many connections to move a deal if it's a good one. Good deals travel fast in the investor circles. 

One thing to remember about a home warranty company is that they are in the business to make money. Not only will you pay the yearly premium ($500-$700), you'll also have to pay the service call fee each time they go to the property (in my area this is typically $75) regardless of whether they repair or replace the item that is having an issue. It's not uncommon to have to go through multiple repairs on an appliance before a replacement will be authorized.

You also to remember that when dealing with third party vendors, you are working on their time line and not on yours. You will still have contractor coordination with the home warranty company, but now there is just a middle man involved. You put in the service request, they send it to their approved contractor (that may not have availability), the contractor reaches out to you, you schedule the service call.  You could bypass the husband and warranty part of the equation and just send an appliance repair person out from the beginning.

I would CONSIDER a home warranty if you know you have several high expense systems (AC, Furnace, Water heater) at the end of their lives, but I wouldn't consider it for general maintenance or repairs. I have several units with systems at the end of their live spans. Instead of a warranty, I'm just saving extra cash for cap-ex expenses knowing that I'm going to need it sooner rather than later. I like being able to text my HVAC repair guy and know that I can have a unit replaced within 24 hours if necessary. 

@Blake Lennon, 

Thank you so much for the recommendation! 

@Jacob Jensen, I would be happy to chat! Feel free to reach out and I will try to answer any questions that you have!