All Forum Posts by: Emily Valenzuela

Welcome Jacqueline!

Your spirit and determination are inspirational. I wish I were at a level where I could take you under my wing and work with you. I'm definately working on it, but not quite there yet. 

One of the things that makes me so passionate about real estate is all of the many possibilities that exist in this space. There really is something for everyone and I trust you will find a way that works best for you. 

I like Ghassan's recommendation to learn about Trusts and LLCs. Something else you might consider that would help you learn while you earn and keep you in the right circles is loan orignation for lenders that offer Fix and Flip loans, and DSCR loans. These tend to be jobs that you can do remotely. You may even be able to find resources or a lender that will help you with your licensing.

I wish you luck on your journey and hope to hear more about how it unfolds. Hopefully one day, we will get to work together in one capacity or another. 

Hey Shandra, 

Congratulations on deciding to take the leap! Bigger Pockets is a great resource to keep in your back pocket.

I am curious to know, what made you choose Houston, and do you have a particular strategy you plan to start with? 

I myself am based out of Georgetown and like Killeen and some of the other surrounding markets. I prefer single family homes with midterm rental potential, although I am currently working to flip some deals until I have enough cash to make holding properties more feasible. Feel free to reach out if you would ever like to grab a coffee and talk real estate. Perhaps we can find a way to learn and earn together.

Also, best of luck and many well wishes to you!

Hey @Mattia Borrani

What a great intro, happy to meet you! It sounds like we work the same market and share some similar interests. 

I am a former real estate agent/loan originator with a passion for real estate, a Propstream account to analyze deals, and a Matterport camera for creating virtual replicas of properties. 

I would love to connect and see if there is any way we can work together. Please reach out if anything comes to mind. 

Hope to hear from you soon!

Hi @Kerri Asekeme

I recently dropped my license because I realized that my data was not all inclusive, and it was costing me a lot of money. In addition to your classes and licensing fees you have to be a part of a National, State, and Local association and pay fees to all of them. Then there is the split and any fees you have to pay to your brokerage. After paying all of those fees you only get access to MLS data from the local association you are a part of. If a property is listed in your area by an agent that is part of a different association, their data does not show up on your MLS. It is much more economical to pay for a Propstream account (or something similar) you have one monthly fee and access to all kinds of data.

Also, if you have already done several deals with an agent and feel confident about the process, you do not require an agent (particularly with the recent changes to real estate regulations). If you know how to place an offer and get yourself through the buy side of a deal, an offer where the seller is not asked to cover a buyer's agent fee can be very attractive. However, on the sale side, I highly recommend working with an agent for a couple of reasons. Marketing, showing, and selling a home can be a full time job when done properly. Also, it is good practice to have a buffer between you and the buyer (or their agent). To save money on the sale side of the transaction consider looking into a flat fee listing agent/broker. There are several out there. 

I know this response was late, but I hope it helps. 

Hi Michaela, 

Congratulations, what an exciting position to be in?! You are on the right track with your thought processes. In order for your numbers to work, you will need the purchase side of your deal to be somewhere between $90k-$125k, ideally with ARV somewhere around $175k-$250k range. This will help ensure you have enough to put around 20% down, cover your closing costs, and have money to get the work started on your project.

Since you and your partner are new and you mentioned that your area is really expensive, I would encourage you to look at smaller cities bordering your big city where numbers might be a little better but still within driving distance. I would also encourage you to look at the condos in your area as an option to find something in the lower price point. Just be careful to pay special attention to monthly HOA fees charged by the condos and any special rules they have that might hinder your flip project.

Best of luck to you and your partner!

Welcome @Kenny Zheng!

After reading your post I have a couple of questions:

1) Do you currently have a W-2 job with steady income?

2) How much do you have saved up to help you get started? 

3)Do you have a decent credit score?

4) Now that you have done so much research, what are your long-term goals when it comes to real estate? 

Knowing what you are starting with, and where you hope this journey will lead would help me give more personalized feedback. 

@Luke Mertz Good for you!

I recommend offering door knocking or cold calling services to a real estate agent or investor. That way you get experience getting in front of people and having conversations early on. It will also help to build character and learn to handle rejection well and keep right on going (arguablly one of the best skill sets in this industry) 

The agent or investor you work for will likely have a script already in mind that they would like you to use. Agents are not allowed to pay referral fees to someone who is not licensed so unless you can find a creative way to charge them for your services- one in which you get paid when they get paid- they will probably want to pay a small hourly wage. However, an investor is not tied to the same rules. They can pay you for every lead (off- market willing home seller) or every closed deal that they get as a result of your efforts. I have heard of some investors that pay $500 per solid lead, and some that pay up to $2000 per closed deal. 

Best of luck to you, and I am looking forward to hearing how your journey unfolds!

Hi Finley, 

Welcome! That sounds like a great plan. If you are a contractor I recommend partnering with an agent. Agents often help homeowners decide what renovations to make before listing their home for top dollar. Investor friendly agents often visit homes in need of repairs for their clients. In both situations, agents could use help understanding the numbers. You could offer to provide free estimates and submit an offer on the homes that fit your buy box. This way you can potentially walk away with a deal or a client. 

Hope that helps and best of luck to you!

Hey Joshua, 

Propstream used to host alot of events in the area when I lived there. Just googled Propstream meetup DFW and it looks like they still do. Looks like they have a major one coming up soon. Their events are usually free and educational. You can also reaching out to investor friendly title companies such as Patten Title Company. They used to sponsor a lot of educational and networking types of events. You can call and ask if they still do that and if so, ask to be added to their email list for future events. 

I know when I had access to agent data and could see what homes where closing for more often than not, the homes that closed at top ARV where nicely staged.