All Forum Posts by: Neil Schoepp

@Mark Masiel Ahhhhh you'll get this real estate thing. Just keep doing what your doing. Reading and asking questions. One day it will all come together. Just don't stop. Everyday take one step forward. It doesn't matter if it is a small step or a big step as long as it's a step. 

@Ben Leybovich I think it's a coin toss on newbies and calculators. I absolutely think it's a great idea to be able to do the numbers without one. You should know how and why things work before doing it the "quick" way. 

I go through this all the time with my kids. They want to know why they can't use a calculator to do their math homework. My response is you have to understand the process first.  

As a noob myself I would love to see a very in depth post or webinar on how it all works. I will even volunteer to do some of the leg work to make it happen, if that will lighten the load.

On a side note (as it sorta relates to this)

@Brandon Turner thanks for recommending What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow... And 36 Other Key Financial Measures By Frank Gallinelli I am looking over it presently and have found it to be very helpful.

@Mark Masiel Mark type the @ symbol then the name of the person you are mentioning. No space between @ and name. The name will pop up on the bottom left of the post box. Click the name and presto. It took me close to a month before I figured it out. 

Welcome aboard @Geoff Eldringhoff this place is amazing.  Being a contractor gives you a nice advantage of knowing what the repairs to a property will be and the cost of said repairs. That's a pretty big advantage to be able to get those numbers right. 

Have you decided which field of REI you are going to do. Flip, wholesale, buy and hold etc.? Each has it's pros and cons. It took me awhile. After reading a bunch I am going with Multi-Families of five or more units. 

I look forward to seeing you around here. 

Brandon, Thanks for all the hard work. I am learning a ton of stuff and more every day.

I would #askbp for resources on where to look the information up and specific things to look at to determine if a market is worth the risk of my investment.  

        I have read that some of the things to look for are employment rates. Are employers moving into the area? Vacancy rates. Crime stats. School ratings. A podcast on how to really dig deep into a market would be very helpful. Things like how many rentals are in the market, how many are rented. Avg rent etc. You can find the greatest property every but if the market is going the wrong way...........ok I gotta say it Detroit :)

@Barry Cooper right now I am staying very local that keeps knowing the market fairly simple.  I didn't know Port had a 17% vacancy.  That's pretty high for me.  There's not much good employment in Port. Most commute down to the city or into Jersey. 

      Hey @Lawrence Cox III thought you might be interested in this post.

To leverage or not to leverage

I can't say much more then @Kimberly T. Said. She gave a very nice basic example. Given the choice of leverage or tying all my money up in one property I will choose leverage every time. Leverage is one of the things that makes real estate such a great thing. I can buy a 200k property for 10k. Stocks, bonds, CDs anything else and I have to pay the full 200k. 

Welcome aboard @David Rowland  the wealth of knowledge here is amazing. I am sure you are going to enjoy hanging around.  Some of the best information around is just a question away, so don't be shy in asking. If you drive a lot the podcast are a great way of passing the time.

@Barry Cooper though I do not have specifics for the Port Market I have driven through it on numerous  occasions. Parts of it can be rough, though nothing you haven't dealt with in Bed-Sty. It's an area that is block by block. There are some very nice homes there but they seem to be all large single family (large enough that they might be able to be converted to duplexes) on the outskirts of town. The commuter rail is convenient and takes you into the Secaucus Junction station in Jersey then you cross the river to the trade center.   If you need anything else please don't hesitate to reach out. If I can save you an hour in the car it would be my pleasure.