All Forum Posts by: Jim S.

@Lori Cooke The risk is certainly a lot less at your point in the game. You could quit your job and give REI a full time shot and worst case scenario if it didn't work out, you could probably find a job that was as good or better than the one you left. You are really at the best point in life to do something like that (especially with no kids). I was in my late 30s when I quit my job and started my own business (not in real estate). My partner and I sold out a couple of years ago and I now work for the company that bought us. My point is that it worked out for me and was much less of a risk for me then than it would be now. At that age I knew I had plenty of time to make back the lost income if I failed.

Best of luck on whatever decision you make!

@Lori Cooke  I think it kind of depends on where you are in life.  I'm fairly new in real estate investing but I'm I have a good job that pays well and a couple of kids I'm putting through college so I have no plans to quit my full time job anytime in the near future. In fact, I wouldn't even consider it until I was able to replace my current income. If you're younger and don't have a family to support, leaving your job wouldn't be as big a risk.

One thing I can tell you for sure is that it's a lot easier to get financing from banks if you have a normal job and income.  Good luck in whatever you decide to do!

I think it really comes down to the individual's personality and maybe to some degree how they learn or process information.  Some people are better at just jumping into action, making some newbie mistakes and learning as they go.  Other people need mentoring and perhaps a more straight forward and organized "course" of learning than can be found anywhere online. I don't think there is anything wrong with paying for a course and/or a mentor if the course and mentor are reasonably priced and not guru-type scam artists.

@Marie Fries  Thanks for the heads up.  I'll shoot them an email and see what they say.

I was wondering the same thing.  I've been working my way through the topics that interest me the most in a chronological and suddenly they were no more.  I listen to a podcast each morning on the treadmill but I like to be able to go back and take notes on the important points later.  It kind of defeats the whole purpose if I have to listen to it all over again when I'm in a position to be able to take notes (kind of hard to do on the treadmill- LOL).

@Brian Jordan I'm in Cleveland and really appreciate your insight about wholesaling particularly since it seems like Ohio is one of the states taking a fairly hard line stance against illegal forms of wholesaling.  

I'm fairly new in REI and have been looking into wholesaling as something additional to the fix & flips I've done in the past (I was primarily the private money lender in a handful of fix and flip deals). I've been seeing so much conflicting information regarding wholesaling that it has me a little bit gun shy. My situation is a little different than the "typical" newbie looking to start wholesaling because they have no money and this seems like an inexpensive way to get started. I have the funds to close on any deal that I would be putting under contract and the last thing I would want to do is back out of a deal and leave the seller high and dry.

You recommended wholesalers get their real estate license and this seems like a logical course of action however I have a few questions. Would you recommend then trying to find a broker to work under or just have the license for the education and training it provides as well as additional benefits like access to MLS? I really have no interest or intention of selling homes as a realtor. From my research it seems like most brokers aren't going to want to sign on for such a deal since I wouldn't really be selling homes for them in the traditional way and there are obvious risks on their end. Finally, assuming I would be acting ethically and following the proper procedures are there different fiduciary responsibilities between just having my license as opposed to working under (or eventually being) a broker?

Thanks in advance for any info you can offer since we are in the same state.  I want to do things the legal and ethical way but am running across a lot of conflicting information.

As somewhat of a newbie to real estate investing I'm completely confused about the legality of wholesaling in the state of Ohio.  I just finished reading a 22 page forum post here on BP about this topic and quite frankly I'm more confused than I was when I started.  One thing I'm certain about as far as a takeaway from this post is that Ohio is one of a few states that have really cracked down on wholesaling activity with regard to marketing a property that you don't own.

My situation is a little unique as I have the required funds necessary to pay cash for any deals I would do.  Because of this, I would have no problem in buying a property for cash, taking title and then marketing and selling the deal to another buyer.  As I see it, in my situation the biggest downside would obviously be that I'd have to hold the property at least for a short period of time before being able to resell it.

However, so many people on the aforementioned thread (and other threads) really stress that if you want to be a real estate investor you should just go ahead and get your brokers license.  This is where I'm confused. If I understand what I've read, I would need to first get my agent's license and then have to basically work underneath a broker.  Am I understanding that correctly?  It seems it could be a little difficult to find someone willing to do this when I would have no real intent to sell real estate other than as an investment for myself.  And it also sounds like there are other legal issues that can arise if as a broker I attempt to buy and sell real estate for my own profit.  I consider myself a reasonably intelligent individual but I find this whole thing kind of confusing.

I guess my question boils down to these:  If I have the money to close on these deals and then turn around and resell them is there any real advantage to having my license?  And if I did get my license how does the whole brokering situation work and what are the pros and cons?   Any advice from some of the pros here on BP would be much appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

@Christopher Lane I feel your pain. 20 years ago when myself and a partner started our own business (not in the real estate field) my wife was pretty skeptical and would preferred that I stay working in sales where I had done fairly well. The first year was pretty rough and I made significantly less money than I had in my sales job.  What kept her off my back (at least a little bit) was that nearly every month our business showed steady growth.  By midway through year two I was making about the same as in the job I had left and our business grew exponentially from there.  Obviously by the end of the second year she was completely on board.  Two years ago I sold the business on my terms and made a nice profit.  I'm currently working for the group that bought my company at a very comfortable salary.  

Over the last 10 years I've also been involved in a handful of real estate deals- mostly as a silent partner and private money lender.  Initially my wife was very skeptical about these ventures too but since I made money on every one of them she quickly bought into it.  

Currently I'm looking into branching out on my own with a mix of wholesaling, fix & flip and buy & hold.  I'm not looking to do this fulltime (yet) as I'm pretty happy with my current job situation but more as something to generate some additional income (some passive) and eventually be something I could do when I retire from my current career.  I guess by now I've proven myself because I'm not getting any of the pushback that I've gotten in my previous ventures.

All this preamble to make a point- you may have to just take the plunge with or without your wife's blessing and then cross your fingers and hope that it works.  If you can show her some success and probably more importantly growth (even if it's small) I'd be really surprised if she doesn't come around fairly quickly.

Best of luck to you.

Hi Gus.  I'm hoping someone can chime in on this as well.  I'm actually closer to Tri-C but they don't currently offer any real estate courses so I was looking at LCCC too.

Thanks everyone for the input.  Much appreciated!