All Forum Posts by: Donna Salmiery

Welcome! Find a real estate investor club in your area and attend. You will meet so many people. Check out the free how to guides under the "learn" tab at the top of this site. I have been taking listings off realtor.com and analyzing the deals based on the tutorial in the how to guide. It is like doing homework, but by doing them over and over, you get quicker at it and I am starting to recognize a good deal vs a bad deal much easier. Also, start setting up meetings with a banker, a real estate agent, etc and let them know what you are interested in. You will begin networking that way and learn a lot of information. Best of luck!  Donna

This is good to hear. I have been listening to the podcast and it sounds great, but I was nervous as I have not done any deals yet. I may contact those of you that have done deals if I have any questions as well! Thanks!

Congratulations! It's nice to hear and learn from others. I haven't done any deals yet, but am working on it!!

@Jacqueline Gonzalez

I am currently looking at properties to begin my investing career and was contacted by a real estate agent today after I had searched on her website and entered my info. We had a nice chat on the phone and after I hung up I was thinking, what is in it for her to find me a property? If she works for the seller, then she gets commission, but what if she finds me a property and she is not the listing agent? Is it moral/ethical to have more than one agent looking for deals for me? Am I obligated to any of them, do I pay a commission? I just want to be fair and make sure I understand "the rules". 

@james Wise - Thank you for your response. Being new to real estate investing, I have questions that may need further clarification it would seem. Ha ha, but if you don't ask, you don't learn. So I contacted a bank today to get pre-approved for a mortgage and it turns out they only loan on properties that DON'T need rehab. I was a little surprised at this. Here is their conditions:

Just a couple things on investment property loans:

-15% minimum down payment

-$995 closing costs for single unit properties only

-20 year loan term

-no pre-payment penalty

-no rehab funds available, property must be in livable and marketable condition or you’ll have to set money aside for a contractor to fix

-4.59% 5/5 ARM rate, maximum adjustment after 5 years is 2% where it remains another 5 years, and 4% lifetime adjustment

-no PMI (we don't charge mortgage insurance even though you aren't putting down 20%)

I must admit, I don't understand the terms of the percentage rate. I think if I am understanding this, it starts at 4.59% and goes up 2% after 5 years??! I don't think that is very good. Again, thank you for your response.

Donna Salmiery

@Curt Davis I might have used the term turnkey inappropriately. I meant just buying a house in good condition. I realize now that turnkey refers to a company finding the deals and helping people through the process of purchasing properties, rehab, etc. My goal is cash flow. I see that you are a turnkey company. Have you ever heard of EPIC turnkey real estate? Is that also what you do? 

I am a newbie and am wondering if there is any money to be made in buying a property that is in excellent condition and renting it? I keep hearing that the money is made in the buying, and the properties I have in mind are beautiful new town homes that are pretty inexpensive, but wouldn't have the equity that a fixer-upper would have after rehab. There is a new factory coming to the town that I am looking at and it is supposed to bring a lot of new jobs to the area. 

@ Nick Noon I am also "getting into real estate" and am taking a real estate investing course, reading books, talking to people and of course listening to the BP podcast. I get the same negativity from people when I tell them my goals. I remind myself how miserable those people are at their jobs and at least I am trying to get out of the rat race.

I am a newbie, so this may be a dumb question. Can a single family home be split to make 2 units? I imagine there are concerns like separate water and sewer would have to be run. A kitchen would have to be added. I just wondered if it would be allowed by the local ordinances. Thanks!

@Robert Leonard I like the way you think!