All Forum Posts by: Jimmy H.

FSBO is a great idea - that is one palce I will focus on.

I am 24 with no prior experience (except that of REI on my own), which means me SOI is limited. I could sell me parents house, but that's about all I know - my friends aren't old enough to be in this stage yet (most are having trouble finding a decent job).

I have been thinking SEO, does anyone have any experience with SEO for RE agents - costs, best approaches, how to get it done, etc.?

SOI = sphere of influence
SEO = search engine optimization

I am a new RE agent working part time. I have a good day job, I know a lot about RE and my local market, I am young and I want to know - from your experiences what are the best ways to build clientele and get listings. I will work on holidays, weekends, after work hours, lunch break, etc. as a part time agent.

Now I know that doing a good job, treating you clients well, knowings what you are doing, and building a return customer base who will recommend your name to their firends is probably the #1 goal.

But if you are just starting out, what are the best and CHEAPEST ways to get listings? Remember this is part time, so I want to get started but I want to do it as absolutely cheaply as possible - I have time on my side and don't need to go overboard.

I have some properties I have looked up on my local master commissioner sale (my county foreclosure sale). I am have found one particular property I am interested in. The master commissioner's appraisal is $140,000 and the balance owed on the home is $49,603 to Chase Bank. I have the legal description of the property, the name of the the original owners who bought the place in 1978 (both elderly and deceased as of late 2009).
The master commissioner website also details that "by virtue of his (deceased owner) Last Will and Testament, devised the above described property to (his son's name). So I have the sons name who inhereited the property.

My question is (1) how do I directly get ahold of this individual, any easy ways online. I have typed is name into google in various manner swith no results. The property would sell in today's market for $120,000 pretty quickly.

(2) After I get ahold of the owner, how much should I offer him? He owes $50,000 and the property is worth about $120,00 IMO. He has not listed th eproperty on the MLS but has instead chosen to be foreclosed upon (I don't know why).

The foreclosure sale is set to occur in about 2 weeks so i want to move quickly.

I agree with Emilio. You only need to live in one side of the duplex if it is considered one property. If the duplexes have been "condoed" or are registered and deeded as seperate properties then that would be different. I am pretty certain it is one property if that is the way you purchased it so you'll only need to live in one side for 2 out of the next 5 years.

I think we need a stronger "indepedent" party. Now matter what you want to call it, we need more than two parties who give you a small choice in the primary and then down to two candidates for president - and the same for any other politcal seat. We need more choice so they stop blaming one another. We run a democracy but when it comes down to it theres really only two puppets to choose from, and none of them stick to what they said they were going to do.

I would argue that the mess we're in arose primarily from the housing bubble and was exacerbated by fund managers' over-leverged speculative plays on the housing market and derivatives thereof. The only reason these fund managers had more of an effect than individuals is that they had more money to play with.

Given the above statement I would actually argue that Greenspan had more to do with our problems than any of the policy makers mentioned above. Not that he is solely to blame, he had good intentions and is a smart fellow, but he essentially fed the bubble with cheap money for too long with the goal of making homeownership more affordable. Greed then took over, on all sides: lenders, broker, banker, assets manager, and even individual borrowers. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie.

There truly is no one person to blame, but the public will always seek a scape goat to blame their problems on. Dems, of course, used the opportunity to push hard at the idea of "Bush is to blame" and the angry and uneducated public jumped on the bandwagon. If BO doesn't bring about the change he's promised (and he won't) the collective anger of the public will be turned toward him and the Dems and the ebb and flow of political power will begin to shift back towards the GOP (as it already has in my perception.)

Now, Dems have no other defense but to continue to blame Bush, and some individuals are too ignorant to know any better.

Who's to blame? Collective greed IMO

As for the war, there weren't too many people in America on Septebmber 12th who weren't ready to go to war, as we were angry. In hindsight it was probably the wrong decision but even being Commander in Chief it is hard for me to put the sole blame on Bush - he was doing what he perceived the public wanted and what was perceived to be right. Did they conjure up false info to substantiate going to war? Likely, but I personally don't know the true details behind the scenes. But, I do agree that the war is a bit senseless and a waste of money. I would much rather spend our money and bring all of our troops home and deploy them around our borders etc. and have some serious border security and emergency response programs in place.

Originally posted by Charles Perkins:

Being in the business of real estate rather than just a real estate investor provides many additional tax options.

The type of investing one does also can dramatically affect the deductions available too.

There are a number of variables and scenarios so it can be tough to throw out specific tax deductions that everyone can take.

I have read about the tax benefits of being a "real estate professional". My particular situation would likely be buying and holding commercial rental assets. What other tax "tricks" do you know?

I agree Vikram, I think our views are quite similar and we tend to agree on alot as i've noticed, I was simply clarifying my points as well. It is also the case that you can find many deals that are nearly equally as profitable on a cash flow basis that are in areas with better long term growth prospects - something to consider.

I think baby boomers and generation Xers sometimes fail to realize that investing for the demographic demands of generation Y will be the way to profit in the long term future. Being a gen Yer I think a move back to inner cities and a revitalization of such areas is likely. And yes local knowledge is undoubtedly needed (I have been interested in the Over-The-Rhine area in Cincinnati, do some brief reading on it - you'll find plenty of content).

I am curious as to why you avoid investing in India, too unstable at this point? I think many such developing countries are due for LT growth similar to what America saw in its' developing days, but they also have concerns as simple as providing food,water,and health for a billion people. The growth potential is larger due to the population being significantly larger, but so will be the complexities and "hiccups" along that path to development. I also agree with your points about being a contrarian. I have noticed contrarian views are a consistent theme among successful individuals, but I will not go against the trend just to fight the herd, rather buy when others sell and sell when others are buying. What are you shy to invest in India?

Vikram, You are right in many ways about the Mid-west being overpopulated out of neccesity as that is the way the country developed. I would argue though, that unlike Japan(although our economy is stagnate at the moment) our demographic is entirely different. Japan has an aging population with very little immigration. The US on the other hand will see around a 30% increase in population over the next few decades or so, and our economy will rebound. I will also assert that the contrarian aspect of such investments provide opportunity unto themself as well. As you and the majority of others on BP will stay away from the midwest I think it provides more of an opportunity as you all fight for profits in the sun belt states, I have investors like the majority of those on BP to thank for 15%+ CAP rates. I agree that sun belt states are growing, and will continue to do so, and I believe those areas to be good investments for the most part. But the thought that people conjure up in their minds that midwest cities will continue to bleed people to the point that tumbleweed blows through vacant ghost towns is incorrect (exggeration, I know, but makes my point). There is a reason the CAP's are higher in these areas, and it is for the reasons you described, but i think investment opportunity abounds as opposed to what the majority on BP believe.

Secondly I want to counter the point about wealth being created through appreciation. People makes this argument as though you will not achieve wealth through cash flow investing. I very much think you can achieve wealth by earning a 15% return on your investments (not to mention the use of leverage in RE). That cash flow allows you to take out bigger loans and acquire more property, which builds wealth in another manner - by acquisition. Appreciation is great, but as we know, appreciation in property values may have a MUCH slower pace and longer time horizon in the new economy of tommorow, no more bubble appreciation. So touting success stories of those who rode the bubble is no indication of the future. the realities of the "new" economy should in itself be an indication that cash flow investing should be even more desirable now, as appreciation will not be achievable in the way it was 5 years ago. Furthermore I see potential gentrification and redevlopment of inner cities and "main street" initiatives across the country as a sign of what the future demographic will desire in the future. As I mentioned, what is considered "inner city" oft includes the first ring of burb development from decades past that has turned to "ghetto" itself. Neighborhoods rise and fall in "class", and investing in areas that are gentrifying is a great idea IMO. If i can buy cheap inner city property that is gentrifying and cash flows at a nearly 20% return I will be happy to do so and take the potential rapid appreciation of inner city property as a potential plus if it happens. If it does, the appreciation rate will far exceed what is experiened in the burbs.

Again, I am not knocking sun belt burbs investment strategies, simply arguing the point of the minority of investors on here investing in the midwest and other such areas. In particular I like Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

Originally posted by Bill Walston:

Originally posted by Jimmy Hamilton:

This sounds great in theory, but would likely be considered a sham transaction.

What makes you say this Jimmy? Has this been your experience? I have to go with Denise on this one. This technique (also called "equity stripping") has been around for years and is recommended by quite a few prominent asset protection attorneys. It does have to be carefully structured but can work like a charm when done properly.

Bill I have come to this conclusion not from experience (fortunately). I was researching the best asset protection strategies and was led to believe that splitting whatever equity you had leftover in any LLc's properties by holding a note for all equity in another LLC was a good idea. I posed the question to BP members who told me it would be a sham transaction and told me to reasearch more to that end. I can see how it could possibly be considered a sham because the transaction has no legitimate business purpose. If you have a different experience I would love to hear about it, as I was a bit disheartened when BP members shot the idea down. Please enlighten me as to how to properly execute such a strategy.