All Forum Posts by: Stephanie Dupuis

I just got my license. One thing I will say about one deal paying off the expenses is that, depending on where you live, you may need to be very careful about the office you are in. I've just spent 2 weeks looking for an office to work in where they'll let me do my own deals and where the desk fee is reasonable. After interviewing every company in town (literally), the options in my area are either a 65/35 split with a $100/mo desk fee (after negotiating them down from a 50/50 split, which is what most companies offer). There's one company that offers a $1500/mo desk fee and 95/5 split, but they want to own the IP rights to anything I create or bring into the company (no deal on that). These were the only two offices without restrictions on buying my own properties. They also offered the best commission structure, fortunately.

Contrary to what I've read on BP, I have not found a low desk fee and 100% commission structure. I am near Seattle, so perhaps the issue. Thought I'd share this for others looking into their license.

Paying rent with your scholarship and loan money is possible (that's how many pay living expenses during school - at least I did). It is not possible from what I know to get the money directly from the school.

btw, scholarships and loans (ask them which one they have) are typically dispersed in lump sums per quarter or semester, depending on the school's system. If you rented to these applicants, you could ask that they pay per quarter or semester.

WA State, from what I recall, does not provide scholarship for living expenses (is this a private school? If so, speak with their academic advisor - he/she will dispel any student smoke screens for you.). This may have changed, but I doubt it. This info comes from helping students obtain scholarship. I'd call their academic advisor at the college to verify any of their claims. You can also call the school's financial aid office, but they can be hit or miss on quality of response.

Month to month can be good for the landlord. You can stop the lease if it "doesn't work out" by giving the tenant notice. A much better situation than an eviction. Many believe that a year long lease locks the landlord into a lease agreement but not the tenant, who in reality, can break the lease at any time.

Hi Rosa -

Most people starting out have been in the exact situation you're in right now. After looking at a ton of properties you'll be able to make a quick visual call on the value of the property (what the property is worth to you). You will also eventually know the ARV within a reasonable range. An agent is good for this (or get your own license which is what I've also done...I see a pattern here). btw, I had the same problem you've run into.

Are you buying properties for buy/hold? rehab? other?

You can speed your own estimating of values up a bit by running numbers through your pro forma using list prices available on the MLS for practice. Don't worry about the repair costs during this exercise unless you're doing rehabs (you can make an educated guess for practicing - it's fun to see how it changes your numbers). This helps when you see a property in real life because you can then run your numbers immediately through the pro forma before you need anything from an agent.

If you're offering on a buy/hold property, you can make an offer before receiving a CMA or the ARV. The purchase price on a buy/hold is based on income numbers (get these from CL, property managers, etc.), not the sale price of a property. If you're purchasing for rehabs, you definitely need that ARV and solid repair costs (you need solid repair costs for buy/holds, also). But, when you're running practice numbers, you can estimate an ARV (remember this is practice). Practice running your numbers. Do this over and over and over.

Also, watch properties that you are interested in. Follow them through the MLS system from listing to pending to sold. Record what they sell for. See as many properties as you can. In my area, I've been in almost all the properties in my farm area that are in my price range. When a property sells, it helps me with estimating values later on. Go see as many properties as you can get in to, even if it's "too late" to put an offer in for your purposes. You'll gain priceless experience.

bump - hopefully someone will respond.

Wow...that's insane.

Hi Steven - Great to see you here and welcome to BP! I'm in Bremerton about 30 min. west of you.

Nice work both of you Dawn and @Mehran K. and congrats! Great to see this on BP!!

Yes. What it's looking like at some point sooner than later. What concerned me was that I thought I heard at the end of the video it saying it was going to Olympia...ummm...no need for that.

Interesting watch on King 5.

http://www.king5.com/news/cities/seattle/Lawmakers-listen-to-tenants-concerns-over-rising-rents-236664271.html

King 5 News Video

Same link posted, btw.