All Forum Posts by: Clay G.

So, as a person that has a hard time networking this seems as good of a place as any to post this. Maybe there is a blog or other thread about this, but I seem to see a couple different types of advice about networking, which seem incompatible with each other.

Basically "track 1" if you will is the "get out and meet everyone and let every RE agent, contractor, etc., know you are in the market" so you might end up with a deal coming from one of any of a hundred people.

Conversely, "track 2" seems like it's "get laser-focused with one agent and make sure that agent knows you will buy, so they bring things to you first and just always buy any deal that guy has that is reasonable." 

To me, if I'm shot-gunning every possible contact, that seems the opposite of really trying to make one guy bring me all the best stuff. I guess due to introversion, the effort to network is hard, so I'm trying to wrap my head around this. I mean, ultimately, I'd like to have somebody bring me an off-market deal, but I'm trying to be respectful and not waste people's time. Is it more of a thing where you have to shot-gun every person you can find when you are starting out and eventually you end up with one or two guys you work with? But even then, it seems like some of the agents, etc., have kind of a "if you're not with me 100% I don't have time for you" kind of vibe -- at least on BP -- so, I guess, if the guy is good and has that kind of attitude, how would I know he's good and worth focusing on when I'm a newbie investor?

I thought I did clarify ("...so we are looking for something a little more passive (NNN or Apartment Syndication are the two that seem the "jump out" at me through my research)"). Seems like maybe there are some people doing Syndication at Marei, but not Triple-Net, at least nobody that I talked to. Someone in this thread did mention loaning money, which, on some levels is interesting and on other levels seems just as hard as doing the BRRRR method, with capped upside. I will probably be around some more, because marei seems interesting at least for some networking and learning more about this, even if I'm not ready to start swinging hammers yet. If nothing else your note you sent out today was a definite facepalm moment for the contractor that took us to the cleaners recently. I've been having a lot of facepalming moments about that issue lately. Probably worth the marei membership fee just for that.

As far as the rest of your posts, but I got a vibe of a lot of "defensiveness" about the speaker at the last event. Maybe I'm misreading it, but I think you thought I was complaining more than I was. I know the guru approach is presentation -> Workshop -> coaching, and people gotta make money, but I am trying to see if I can find any reviews about his Workshop/Boot Camp. I'm not interested in fix and flips and most of what his presentation is targeted at, so I would not be taking it to the coaching level, so I'm trying to see what others have though of his boot camp. I've tried googling it in different ways, but really not finding any "reviews." That was all I was saying... and trying to see if there was a subforum at BP about reviewing or otherwise discussing particular gurus.

Not sure if this is the right place for this, but maybe someone could recommend or direct me to the correct forum for this (since I can't seem to find it), but I went to the MAREI meeting last night and found it quite interesting. Probably did not reach out to as many people as I "should have" but I think it was worthwhile.

My question would be that the presenters/speakers were a couple that are doing this 3-day "boot camp" at the end of January. I thought there presentation would be more of an actual presentation or shortened version of their camp, but it really was more of a 90-minute infomercial for their upcoming boot camp. The camp itself is generally outside the scope of what I "want" to be doing (more fix n flip), but still looks like it could have some information that I would be interested in (particularly marketing information). Plus, in general I'd say the "fix n flip" realm is a toolbox I've always wanted to know more about, even if it's not where I am heading right now. The cost of the camp is negligible, but the time investment (3 days) is substantial. I'd like to be able to find some "reviews" of the camp or recommendations about the camp before thinking of just going ahead and doing it. These guys also do coaching and my concern would be that their presentation last night was a 90-minute infomercial for their camp, is their camp going to be a 3-day infomercial for their coaching? Or is it worthwhile... Anyway, I don't see a place/forum for seeking that kind of info and I can't find any reviews for their camp online (one of the problems is that the guy's name is apparently a pretty common name and there appears to be at least 2-3 people here at BP with the same name even, which are not the same guy).

That is definitely and interesting idea that I had not come across (I've seen it mentioned with respect to seller-financing deals on here and around, but never thought about it in terms of lending as the main goal). I'm very interested in learning more about that and ultimately I do have a self-directed 401k through my LLC that has a relatively smaller amount of money in it that would be worth pursuing if the education in that regard looks promising. I assume lending could be a minefield both in terms of regulations and in terms of doing due diligence, so I have a lot more learning to do.

This seems like a great question to maybe toss around this evening to talk to anyone that is doing something like that.

Heh, I definitely need to get to work on that. I'm always getting "homework" from my counselor about trying to try a little harder with gratitude and I definitely need to start doing that homework. Thanks for the kind words and the reminder about education. I definitely am not in any kind of rush to start investing at this point, so educating myself first is a must! 

Hello BiggerPockets, I've been sort of lurking for long time and trying to educate myself, but after doing a little math at the end of 2019 and realizing that from mid-2017 to the end of 2019 our net worth went up about 10% total, I have realized that I need to try and make 2020 the year I try to start actually making deals.

A little about myself: My wife and I have "decent" paying W2 jobs which take up most of our time, so we are looking for something a little more passive (NNN or Apartment Syndication are the two that seem the "jump out" at me through my research). I definitely understand that these offer less in gains, but given our schedules, I think that this arena is where we should be looking, especially based on our previous experiences in this area.

Real estate experience: My wife and I don't make enough money to accurately describe ourselves as "whales," but we make enough money that I would describe our experience as "whale-like" in the sense of people taking advantage of the fact that we had some money and no experience. We lost money on the first house we bought (a duplex where we lived on one side and rented the other) when we became landlords on both doors when we could not sell it when we bought a different house in 2007 (which we also lost our shirt on). Bad tenants, bad property manager, losing money based on timing... the whole thing soured us. Here in Kansas City we rented for a while before buying and, again, it seems like we perfectly timed being out of the market and getting back in, to miss any growth and buy at/near the top again -- and then get taken advantage of by the trades before moving in.

So, not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but that is kind of the "mindset" I have going into this, but I know I need to change.

As far as my plans for making a change, I've tried to take some of the BP advice to heart and I am going to the Mid-America REI club meeting tomorrow. If I were to have a single question for BP as I am introducing myself it would generally be what you would advise for trying to get to know people while I have my background of skepticism? (For example, I want to be clear that I think what I offer right now is really just as a passive investor, but I don't want to give off the vibe of being a novice that can be hoodwinked in that process - what would you do? I also get that my current mindset is probably overly negative, so I don't want to be sending that out into the universe and driving people away as my first impression)

I am also realistic about what I offer (in the form of investor) is really just money and in 2020 everyone is just flush with money and infinite lines of credit at 3.5%, so it's not like it would have been in 2008 or so. But I just want to start digging in and meeting the people in my area that can actually lead to deals rather than the negative rate of return stuff that makes its way to loopnet.