All Forum Posts by: Colin Jones

Hello Noa! 

I am a beginner investor in the United States. I am 21 years old just coming out of Undergrad and trying to begin my investing career while starting a PhD program. I'm not sure how much things will differ in Switzerland but one of the problems I ran into out of college was getting a loan with not enough consistent job experience. I was told that if I had found a job during undergrad and worked there for at least 2 years consistently, I would have been able to get a conventional loan a little bit easier. Since then I have been able to get a loan but I thought it might be useful to share that information with you! Best of luck!

I am nowhere near telling my success story yet as I am just starting out but my hope is that I will be able to document my journey so that I can one day thank BP for helping me to get to where I am! I just began my real estate journey in Delaware County, PA, so stay tuned!

Thank you both very much, that was very insightful! I have been working with a buyers agent and looking at homes with her but I happen to find this home on my own. I don’t want to offend her by pursuing this transaction without her, how much would a buyers agent commission be? I am in the Philadelphia, PA region. Also my father has a RE Attorney he trusts so if I don’t pursue the deal with my agent, I will reach out to him.

Hello BP! I am working towards closing on a property to house hack in. I found the seller on Craigslist and they do not have a listing agent (I.e. it's an FSBO). I have never bought or sold a home before and so it's not quite clear to me what documents I will need to get together for closing. Does anyone have any guidance on this or advice on how to close with an unrepresented seller?

Hello BP!

Although it may be possible to scour the forums for information on wholesaling and methods for finding motivated sellers, I thought it would be beneficial to create a new post that engages current members of BP in the current market! 

With that said, I am new to investing and have found that one of the most actionable steps I can take (besides reading A TON) is wholesaling in my local market. I have been driving for dollars the past couple of weeks to help generate potential leads with direct mail; however, I anticipate running into a reasonable barrier in the near future---running out of side streets to drive down. Although I don't anticipate hitting this wall within a month, I am curious if there are other ways that wholesalers use to generate leads. 

Tying along with finding leads, I am also interested in specific techniques used for finding motivated sellers specifically. I have had an interesting experience recently with an FSBO on craigslist which taught me that not every person selling their home is actually interested in working with investors. One concern I have, as many people on BP do, is that I don't want to "take advantage" of anyone that is in an unfortunate situation. I understand that seeking out houses in forclosure is not necessarily taking advantage of sellers but ideally, I would love to maintain a good reputation with both sellers and investors.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading my post!

Hey @Francis Nguyen! Thank you very much for all the information! The numbers definitely look good and I hope that I will be able to learn as much as possible as I worked towards closing my first deal on my own. I have been driving for dollars in the area and getting advice from different investors which has been a huge help. It sounds like you are local so I hope our paths will cross some time soon! 

Wow! It’s so affirming to see how many people are so close to their goals for RE investing. I am just starting out now at 21 years old so I’ve got a little ways to go before I retire. For those who are close to or already reached the goals they set for themselves at the beginning, do you have any advice on how to maintain the ambition you had when you started out throughout the years?

Hello Brandon! That is very exciting that you are also looking to house hack in DELCO. It is so great to know that there are other people like you starting to invest in real estate at the same time I am! Interestingly enough, my wife and I live an apartment in Glenolden currently so perhaps we’re closer than just County neighbors.

In regards to the conversation with the lender, it went surprisingly well. I had emailed him specific details regarding our available assets and income and he seemed hopeful that we could make an FHA loan work. The conversation was short; however, we will likely pick up the conversation again once he has time to review the numbers this week.

Since then actually, @Shawn Kostoff reached out to me and recommended that I try driving for dollars to find deals which I did yesterday. I found a little more than 20 properties that looked like they could either be unoccupied or unmaintained around Lansdowne. I have the addresses recorded and I plan to look up more information on them in the county tax records on Monday. Perhaps this method will also be a good option for you as you start your real estate journey! I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Very exciting! Well, let me know if you are ever looking to partner or work together with someone in the future. I am a step or so behind you; however, I intend to keep working until I've built a sizeable portfolio. My first investment will be a house hack as well! In regards to the meet ups, if you go on eventbright.com and look up Joseph Scorese, he hosts a lot of real estate events throughout the year. 

Wow! Yeah, that would be excellent. I'll see if I can get in contact with a representative at Bank of America. Thank you for the advice!

I am curious to know, since you are investing around the same area that I am, did you find a mentor to help guide you through any of the deals you've done thus far? And if so, how did you find them?