All Forum Posts by: Chris Lopez

@Heather Rudy connect with @Justin Cooper . He's a hard money lender with Pine Financial and they have 100% finance programs. I'm not familiar with the details, but they do have some program to convert the hard money to a long term loan. 

@Joe Sampson why don't you want to use an agent? Unless you need to sell fast, you'll typically get more money listing with an agent (even after commissions). I don't have my finger on the pulse in Boulder like @Frank O'Mahony . Get a CMA from Frank and post your condo on the market place here. See what bites.

I'm an agent in Denver and help an investor/wholesaler out of state with lead gen. I've done a lot of side by side comparisons, and the agent / MLS route almost always puts more money in the sellers' pocket.

Jump in. With the resources you have, there is no reason to shadow anyone. Put together a list of properties from the MLS and then take your dad and spend the afternoon looking at them.

With his experience, I'm sure he can walk through a property and know what needs to be fixed, how much, how long, etc. Plus you know you can trust him.

Evan,

Do you have financing figured out for a 5plex? That's commercial lending territory and is a whole different ball game, with usually 20-25% down.  

You'll get better rates and lower down payment options by sticking with a 1-4 unit place.

Advanced Real Estate Investing in Denver, CO with @Charles Roberts on Monday, August 28, 2017, from 530 to 830 PM. 

Description:

Is your performance as a landlord being held back? We’ll discuss:

• 4 ways to measure investment performance, and when to use (or not use) each metric
• How real estate investments tend to perform over time, and how that stacks up to the stock market
• How buying at different phases of the market cycle impacts your returns… and how can you best take advantage of the market cycle?
• If you are short of equity and want to build your portfolio faster, what’s the best way (and WHEN) to use a refinance
• How, when and why to use 1031 exchanges to maximize your return
• Out of state investing vs. Denver case study
• Preparing for a market downturn

Location: First Alliance Title - Central Office

1777 S. Harrison Street

Suite 1100, Conference Room D

Denver, CO 80210

Cost: Free

RSVP:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advanced-real-estate-investing-charles-roberts-registration-36900998881

About Charles: Charles is President of both Your Castle Real Estate, a 530 person real estate firm and Live Urban Real Estate, an 85 person luxury boutique real estate firm, in Denver, CO. He is a registered appraiser, licensed Realtor, and a former loan officer. He has invested in Denver real estate for the past 19 years, completing dozens of fix up projects along the way, and currently manages his own portfolio of properties in metro Denver. His specialty is helping investors buy cash flow properties.

Read his full bio here. 

@Dmitriy Fomichenko I didn't say I was against it.

I said based on the info that I know about them, make sure they have a big cash reserve. Leaving a full-time job is a big deal. Mixing that in with investing real estate can create situations where you need a large chunk of cash to cover personal finances or deals going south. In that scenario, it's prudent to have 1 year of expenses set aside. 

My advice was to make sure they maintain high cash reserves. Money in the stock market is liquid. Money in real estate generally is not.

I believe in a diversified portfolio. 

I've also been through a cash crunch myself in the past. I never want it to happen again to me or other people. It sucks. 

@Account Closed

I don't know your complete financial picture, but I wouldn't recommend cashing it out or converting it to a self directed account. Keep it in the 401k (or rollover to a regular IRA if 401k fees are high). I consider my 401k (invested in stocks and bonds) as my ultimate cash reserve / emergency fund for if things go south.

Can't make your business work without cashing it out? Then keep burning the candle at both ends and build up a bigger cash reserve.

Cash is king. 

@Max Allendorf, I agree with @Brian Ploszay , work it from both angles. Jumping in full time when you don't know what you need to do and have enough "money making activities" to keep you busy 40+ hours a week is playing it risky. 

Keep your job, minimize expenses, save as much as possible and learn RE on the side... when your skills and income build up, you can make jump.

Talk to at least 3 brokers as well. Don't marry the first girl you take on a first date!

@Christian Roman - I'd recommend checking out SoFi for student loan refinancing. I helped my wife and talked with a bunch of different companies. SoFi was the best by far (and best rates)

@Bryan O. You got your process backwards - buy the alcohol first, then the ideas will flow! :)