All Forum Posts by: Reed Starkey

@Andrew Bondarchuk

 what was the final offer price? Did it get accepted? Keep us posted. 

This is a difficult question to answer. I would say that 90% of the people in REI are not cut out for doing it full time. Heck, maybe I am not. There are many dangers of being self-employed in any business. RE is no different.

Money Management

 With a w2 income, there is a check every week or 2.  You really don't need to be very good with your money to make that work.  If you spend all of your money, just wait, more is coming.  In self-employment, you may have months with no income.  In fact, you might even be neg cash flow many months.  Can you handle this?

Retirement planning/ Health Insurance

 With a W2 these things are taken care of for you.  Again no responsibility besides picking a plan and letting your employer do the rest.  Are you able to stay on top of these things yourself?

Peer motivation

With a w2, you have peers doing the same thing you are doing.  as your own boss, you will need to learn on your own (Join a REIC or BP) There is not the same peer pressure to succeed.  Can you motivate yourself to continue to learn daily?

There are the few who love the thrill of making $100,000 one month, and loosing $50,000 the next.  They love the thrill of the hunt.

Good Luck!

I am glad it all worked out for you.

Thank you for sharing.

Okay, I don't really need to fire my dad, but lets face it, we all face the difficult challenge of firing friends and family. If you have a Realtor in the family, or a contractor, an attorney etc. Chances are they are not going to be the best suited for your needs. As a REI, you are going to require some of the best professionals in the field. Who have you had to fire, and why? How did it work out? Maybe you have used friends and family with success. Please share.

Thank you for your time?

 @Kelly Stevens

 Ah yes, the friends and family mess.  Having friends, family, and in your case husband in professional fields can make it difficult when you want to seek a second opinion.

@Matthew Olszak

 This could be true.  That is why I always recommend to ask an attorney.  Thank you for the link.

@Kelly Stevens 

 Please let me know what you find.

It might be safer to have a 2 year min rental history.  Where I used to work,  they needed to have a min of 5 years driving experience. Instead of saying they needed to be over 21.

The good side about making a min of 2 ore more years rental history, is you will be able to look at how they handled the other rental.

I don't know the law, but they have 55 and older communities.  I would run all of these ideas by your attorney before you do anything.

Can you share some more information?  A $200,000 profit seems huge for a $150,000 investment.

I agree with Chris 100%. Never get involved in any partnership without discussing the details with your attorney. If you do not have one...get one.

Is your friend experienced in this sort of work?  If so, what is his time frame?  Make sure he is capable of doing the work in a specified time frame.  Make sure you have control over the project at all times. (your attorney can help here)  You want to have the ability to remove him from the partnership if he does not perform.  Otherwise, if he looses interest, and walks away. (he can since he has no skin in the game)  You are dead in the water without the proper protection.

This can be a profitable proposition, or a very dangerous one.  My first deal was very similar, and I lost $40,000 on it because of those same mistakes.

Good luck!

@Daniel Almodovar

 Sorry, some deals just are not worth doing.  It is easy to see a motivated seller, and get stuck on trying to make a deal, but sometimes the numbers just will never support the deal.  Even with them putting money into the deal, I don't see it working.

The only thing I could think of is a possible short sale?  This will damage their credit less than the impending foreclosure.