All Forum Posts by: Christina R.

get to a REIA or Meetup (google the following)

MAREIA (Ownings Mills)

Baltimore REIA (Timonium/Towson)

Real Deal Meetup (Arbutus)

Baltimore Washington Meetup (Columbia)

start networking at one or more of the above and it will dovetail nicely with everything you are learning here with the BP Nation

@Stephen Lofthus @Eric Menefee

- is there a REIA near you? Befriend someone there who specializes in tax liens/, offer to buy them coffee, lunch - particularly sushi (inside joke) - and ask questions and have them explain the process to you in your area.

One thing about tax liens, depending on where you are most of the time you are going to have to be patient, very patient. This is a slow and steady wins the race type of investing that has to cycle up.

After thinking it won't really happen, something will come up at the last minute, don't talk about it because then it will be jinxed . . . I received a very generous finder's fee today at a closing and consider myself "officially" in the game of RE investing. This will be one of many closings and I already know this will be the easiest deal of all I will ever do.

I want to thank the BP Nation for all the quality, indispensable advice and also because never in my wildest dreams 10 months ago (give or take) when I first found this site and started combing through it and digesting everything I could, did I EVER think my first paycheck would involve 2 BP rockstars. I'm truly blessed and hope to pay it forward in the same vein as these two share their time and expertise.

And another confidential shout out . . to my BP wholesale king who texts and keeps me accountable for marketing and moving forward in conjuction with the other BP wizard whose product makes those calls come to the phone.

To those who think it can't happen, don't give up. Just keep on it!

I know this thread is about a month old but hoping some people will chime in . . . I'm looking to open a business credit card as well and want to know if there is a "piercing of the corporate veil" if you use a business credit card reward - such as SWA flier miles/points - for a personal trip.

a.k.a., I get a Southwest business cc because I travel a lot to TX (and elsewhere) for personal, not business trips, but I put my business charges on it to rack up the miles in order to do this in the first place.

Can I do this and maintain that veil?

Thnx in advance!

(maybe @steven Hamilton can respond?)

@Ryan

@Ryan Phillips - for calculating the ARV probably THE most accurate way is to have access to the MLS - either via yourself if you are a real estate agent or by hooking up with an agent in some fashion (family member an agent? Agent willing to run comps for you? etc). This is because you can get SOLD data on like properties by running it through various filters (location to target, age, size, bedrooms/bathrooms, year built, upgrades (or not), etc).

HOWEVER, if you don't have access to the MLS - you can determine ARV with a fairly solid degree of accuracy by drilling down to your target farm area and studying comps - both listed currently and sold - on Zillow, Redfin, and maybe some regional sites. We have one here in our area that gives pretty broad information. What I've done is I've sent up Zillow searches and some regional searches for my target zip codes and I get notifications when something hits the market and when something closes. After just reading through these emails for several months and driving around these target zips during my spare time to get more familiar with street names, etc., I have an instant "feel" for whether that MLS list price is market price, or if it's below and whether its a SFH or a townhome, etc. If it's out of the norm, I know to research further by actually opening up the email and looking at the listing.

Once you have ARV - and I would suggest you always lean to the conservative side of that number - you then can take 70% of that for holding and costs and subtract out your estimated repair value and your fee to get what you - as a wholesaler - would attempt to get the property under contract for. If you don't factor in a fee you are hopefully going to be able to partner on the deal and get your $ on the back end (which is a great way to get into this business with not a lot of money or experience but it takes time and trust to cultivate these type of relationships - hence, again, try to find a Meetup and/or REIA in your group where you can start networking).

@Ryan Phillips

welcome to the BP Nation. I think one of the best ways for you to find out what you need for a "good deal" is to network with the buyers in your area, via Meetups or REIAs where you are. For wholesaling, you have your "gold standard" of ARV times 70% less repairs less your fee for the max number you can offer but I'm learning quickly that knowing what your buyers want and also how they go about with their business is essential. For example, I know a successful investor who has partnered with someone who can do quality new construction for less than other builders. This allows me to look at a potential deal that may not hold up numbers-wise for other buyers who cannot build as inexpensively (relatively) as a potential deal for this particular investor.

Welcome to the BP Nation!

I WILL MAKE AN OFFER (and a "re-offer") IN THE NEXT 5 DAYS

I've been hemming and hawing at looking at an MLS property here that is a 2-unit. This thread has inspired me to go see it.

@Patrick G.

- looks like this Wednesday is the day. Welcome to round 2 - hard to believe a year has gone by already, right?? I mailed in the $ to start foreclosure this morning. So officially I'm all in from last years sale.

Let's strategize after the list comes out.

If you decide to go new or lease - check out

http://www.fightingchance.com/

Used it to buy our new Odyssey in 2007 and saved about 5K. We buy new because we plan to keep our cars for 15 years at a minimum. Hubby's Acura is on year 11 and still going strong.

However I did promise him that if the RE "gig" becomes successful he can get his Audi S7 . . .