All Forum Posts by: Glenn Espinosa

And Sam Craven - I thought I moved fast but man do you move fast!

Please tell me you still have a day job so I can feel better? :)

Glenn

Pete Nater: I hold a full time job and run a successful rehab business as well as manage a dozen rental units. We're doing three rehabs as we speak.

I "studied" real estate for exactly one month before I dove in and did my first rehab. During this one month I read numerous books on real estate. I read until I was blue in the face. It wasn't long until I realized that most every book I read was 10% practical information 90% motivational (don't quote me on these statistics, Im using them merely for the effect).

Anyway, what Im trying to say is that regarding real estate, the gist of it is pretty simple if you think about it - its the details that you learn only by doing it that can be tricky. Also, I find that for many new investors, the hard part is transitioning from studying and reading to actually doing. And, unfortunately, until you really start doing it, you will not uncover some of the real lessons that you need to further your real estate investing career.

I learned A LOT with my first flip and some lessons I doubt any book or program will ever tell you. Somethings you just cannot learn from a book, seminar, webinar, e-mail support, 24/7 hotline, etc - other investors will tell you the same thing.

While I applaud you for taking a step towards your real estate success, I only hope that you invest just as much time out in the real real estate fields and trenches as you are spending in the fortune builders program.

There are many paths to the same destination and while yours is one I would not to follow (I prefer hands on learning), if you work hard enough and are just a tad bit lucky, you'll find success.

Glenn

Using the numbers you provided I'm getting a 6.5% cap rate. You'd need to purchase the property at around $375k to hit a 10% cap. You're behind already but if you want to analyze further you may uncover opportunities to increase the value and make the deal work... Just to get you started:

- Avg market rent
- Vacancy rate, typical or atypical
- Repairs needed
- Seller motivation, is he willing to negotiate terms?
- Value add opportunities (increase rents to market, add bedrooms, decrease expenses)

Usually I wouldn't go much further than that on the analysis since the deal doesn't pencil in to my standards... but it may be good practice for you. Analyze 100, see 30, put offers on 10, buy 1 or 2 - or some variation of that ratio.

Best of luck,

Glenn

We have about 5 different craigslist e-mails last time I remember and between those 5 we cycle about a dozen or more posts throughout the day. Each post is different and links to a separate squeeze page so that Craigslist doesn't flag us and delete them. Our VA puts the ads out for about$5/day.

Regarding my first deal, I researched extensively for exactly one month before I pulled the trigger and put my first house under contract. We sold that one in a little under three months and a few days later found our second home.

$5k is what I'd aim for. I'd budget for $6k - $6.5k depending on the ease of installation...

Rich Weese - Thanks a lot for the great anecdote! I'm taking the next step and starting to really analyze lots and new construction opportunities in my area. Im going to the City tomorrow to figure out impact fees and the process behind permitting for utilities on a couple of lots I'm looking at - should be a good experience.

I know I'll have a bunch of questions but I'll take the time to do my research and due diligence first before I bombard you with them.

Lastly, while I don't plan on moving to any of your investment areas anytime soon, I would love to fly out there and take a tour like what Travis did.

As always, thanks for sharing your experiences Rich.

Glenn

Very generous and in my market 14 day inspections are having a hard time being accepted and 30 days inspections are just a waste of time.

The minute your contract is accepted you need to be on the phone with your contractors scheduling walkthroughs asap. 14 days is more than enough time to get anything done due diligence wise on a flip or a small SFH rental, in my opinion.

The last house I had an offer accepted on I opted for 4 day inspection and put up an EMD of 25% of the offer price. Suffice it to say, most of our due diligence was done prior to putting in our offer and we were very confident that we would move forward had our offer been accepted.

Glenn

Humility and humbleness goes a long way in real estate investing, especially when you are first starting out.

If you want any chance at being able to effectively network, I suggest you take steps to develop the above traits.

Best of luck.

Glenn

Similar to Will's method - I write cash offers and use personal POF but include an addendum that reserves my right to use financing if I decide to do so. I make it a point to include in the addendum that financing is non contingent to closing and that I will simply revert to cash if I decide not to use financing.

Karen Margrave Thanks a lot for the kind words. And, you're right - I am pretty busy nowadays. I don't know how some of you guys are doing it but there aren't enough hours in the day!

I'll be sure to take a look at the thread you mentioned.