All Forum Posts by: Matt DuSold

I am wondering how long it takes on average (i know it differs greatly) or what you have seen for how long it takes people to be full time REI. I have made a business plan, which is ever so changing of course and am looking to change it again.

In my dream world I would goto grad school which will be three years and have to work very little afterwards and be full time REI. I want to buy and hold and will start day one at grad school but how much can someone really accomplish in that amount of time? I have already been looking at markets where I might be and finding deals and playing them through in my head.

In my mind I think once I get a certain amount of properties paid off that it could replace my other work is when I will go to REI full time. Luckily my work will most likely be out of my home working with people in the evening so even after school I will be able to really work at getting a great foundation set for myself in REI. I guess ideally I would want about ten homes paid off free and clear before I were to make the transition.

How long would this take a majority of investors? 5, 10, 15, 20 years? I do want to wholesale and do lease-options to pay off these homes so I hope I will have some income coming in. I guess thats a plus to starting early that because I won't have to make much money to be happy I would much rather live like an average dude out of college for 5 years and be set for the long haul real well. Again, I know this varies greatly and it will depend on how hard I really work, but I have been dreaming a lot and I just want to know if my dreams are too good to be true.

Once you go mac you never go back my friend. They are just MUCH better than any PC made. The only thing I don't like is they are getting much bigger then before so we might just start needing to worry about viruses.

What is the differences between the new BB and the iphone? I need a new phone but with my mac world around me and there only being one phone that is fully mac compatible it is kind of an easy choice...

This thing is real nice. Did you make that using an excel kind of thing? Are you selling this or is this available somewhere?

I know the obvious ones, where, cost, loans on home. What other questions you ask when you get leads from someone looking to sell their home?

I ask because I am looking to get into wholesaling and getting rentals. I will likely get most of my rentals by sub-to or any inexpensive way because I will be in graduate school at this point. I know if I want to wholesale I will need to figure out ARV but other than the standard and obvious questions I don't know what else to ask to figure out if a home would be a good buy.

So again, I guess my question is, What questions do you ask a seller when they call you, so you can evaluate the deal quickly and easily before you go see the property?

Sorry I sound like an idiot in this thread but I am a newbie... :D

PM companies handle your marketing and take care of your marketing fees? If this is true and you did get charged, say 10%, would that still save you expenses from the "50% rule" because you wouldn't have to market?

Also, they will goto your evictions in court? This all sounds great to be I do see how you would save money even though you need to hire out maintenance. So I guess in the long run your OE would still run around the "50% rule". Am I understanding this correctly?

Can you guys give me examples of how much your property managers do. You say you never see your tenants so do you hire people when a repair is needed in the rental? How much does this cost per unit 10% rent?

Obviously it would be great to not deal with the headaches and stay to money making activities, but I don't know if I would like that for losing thousands of dollars a month.

I am just curious as a newbie, and I am having trouble understanding how much a PM company really can and will do for what price.

You guys all say no and you could use the times as they are now for the business (which I totally understand why).

But, my question to all the full time investors is how long do you think this housing market will stay this bad? Essentially, I'm asking how long do you think people can thrive off sub-to's and the like?

I know this is very hard to predict just interested on what you guys see.

Haha yeah I understand that. I should probably get used to that too.

Yeah, these are all good points. I guess my main concern was some programs give you all the contracts and what not that they use and I figured this would be beneficial.

All the books I have, have these in them though so can you just take those and goto your lawyer and make sure they fit for what you are doing?

I guess that is the only thing that I am worried about because I am a self starter and going to REI clubs and marketing would not be a problem what so ever for me, it would be the fine print like that. I think when I get out of grad school I will be focusing my work toward HS students so I would technically work after 5pm most nights and over the weekend from home. Leaving A LOT of time to really put toward rentals, wholesales and lease options.

I know many people believe it is very important to have a mentor when you start the business. My question is, is it smart to pay for one? I have seen a few people who believe each way but I thought it would be best to put it all in one thread.

I have been studying REI for a while now and am going to get a jump on it shortly. I didn't know if it is better to have a mentor from the local REI club or to pay a "Real Estate Coach" kind of thing. Any feedback would be great!