All Forum Posts by: Richard Ball

@Dominique Hill Welcome to BP!

For homes around 50K or less a lot of people are paying with cash, above 50K a lot of people use loans. As for a loan I know personally that CitiMortgage would give you a loan in that amount. @Thomas Smith

Wow great write up @Account Closed

@Christopher Oliver I too recommend visiting before making any commitments.

@Nate Julianj Hello, I think the problem you may be having is that you think there is a right and wrong / black and white answer to your question regarding the appraisal/value of your home where in actuality it is all grey. There is no true method of determing the value of your home the best you can do is look at comps and get an idea BUT just because you look at comps in the area does not mean your appraiser willl look at those same comps. The best you can do for ensuring you will get the number you are looking for is either 1 wait until you have 3 great comps in the area or 2 save up some money so if you fall a little short you can make up the difference

Welcome to BP!

@Andrew Abbott The best market is the market you know the best.

@Kelly Choate

Pick your "farm" area, see who is the reputable Agency in that area and go interview with them (If you are thinking about St Clair Sine and Monaghan may be a good place to start). Now that you have your reputable Agency that gets calls in the area you are farming get as much floor time as you can because you will need it. Join local groups and make sure you tell everyone you know and will meet that you are a Realtor. Finally and this is the most important, DO NOT QUIT! You are going to have adversity, friends won't want to help you, people are going to lie to you, you will waste hours upon hours of your time on the phone and talking to people that have no chance of ever buying a house, bills will keep coming (ETAR is 542 a year, RealComp is 110 a quarterly and there are other expenses) and you will ask yourself "Why am I doing this?" but you can not give up, you have to keep grinding it out and know that some day you will make it. 

Having an Agency that can train you on what to say and the process is very helpful so while I mentioned Sine and Monaghan don't pull the trigger with them until you've talked about how they train new Realtors.

Hope this helps!

@Shawn Daniel This is off topic but why are you investing in Grand Rapids when you live in Southfield? Are you originally from Grand Rapids?

@Chris Virgilio You have been living on beans and rice and rice and beans since you've started your debt snowball. Keeping with that method and putting all of your money towards purchasing a rental property (after you have your emergency account funded) how long would it take you to save enough to buy an entry level rental property cash in your market (and I mean all of your money). This rental will needs work that you will have to do after work and on the weekend but will be below market value.