All Forum Posts by: John Hamilton

I would look for a GC to inspect. He would give you prices on the needed repairs and maybe a deal on the actual repair costs.

An inspector is good, but sometimes pricey, hard to schedule, and can get downright persnickety. That is my experience.

I responded to your other posts...save your money. Fee works great and you get more information than a guru would ever teach you. 

I for one attended a certain guru with a business partner. We went to the seminar. She bought the package to attend the 3 day class. She was then talked into further education by paying $25K. I paid nothing, as I had nothing. I told her that was a lot of money and no way I could even start to pay her back. However, if we did some deals, I would use that as a means to pay back. Let me tell you, we got some information and training. I learned more in 2 months (which is how long the training courses were) than I ever did there. Wholesaling, foreclosures, probates and auctions where the topics. I learned most by researching and putting in the time.

I told her that we could have used that $25K+ she spent on this to buy an actual business license (she only had a county business license), by our materials (direct mail, bandit signs, etc), pay for some online sites for foreclosures and listings, and still had money left over to get started on our first deal. I then found out later she had got 2 close people to give money towards the business (because they believed in us) and she blew it on her now foreclosed house, which was in foreclosure to begin with. She ended up losing the house. I even think she thought that taking these classes would give her the means to save her in her situation. Yeah, not so much. I think she even blamed me for not coming to her rescue, since I was her partner. Homeless and no money, facing divorce and she is depending on me? If she had told me and trusted me from the beginning, I probably could have helped her get the business off to a grand start. Who knows, I maybe could have even saved her house by dealing with the lender.

Now, after 5 years of study and research, feel I can take on any deal and come out smiling. Yes, I haven't done a deal yet, but I'm at a good place financially and realistically to take on the deals. I can find deals and buyers with the confidence that I can quickly get things done the right way.

Hopefully, it won't take you that long. Due to life struggles and moving across the US, I was not able to do any REI until now. However, I always read, networked, talked to and met with other investors (no matter where I moved to), watch you tube videos, learned from sites like this so that when the day came, I would be more than ready.

Good fortunes to you.

There are plenty of tips, tricks, learning and other resources, as well as blogs, videos and networking with other investors to give you the knowledge you need to get started, no matter what your real estate investment interests are.

If you want to fast track your learning, this is the best place. It takes time, but you can digest based on how much time you want to invest. And just because you may spend a few thousand $$$s, or more to get the fast track learning from a guru, doesn't get you a deal. It may not even get you closer to making a deal than you'd expect. 

Understanding MF is very complex. If you have money to invest, there are less risky, though less profitable in some cases, than MF.

Are you in for buy and hold (cashflow) or fix and flip or straight wholesale? 

Do you know what "cap" or "rent roll" means? Do you know the tenant/landlord laws in your area? Do you have the money in case of vacancies or repairs? How are you going to determine the value and estimate repairs? 

I'd save the money you would spend on a guru for your first deal, especially if it's MF.

With my two cents, I probably saved you thousands of dollars.

By the way, there are plenty of MF owners and investors on BP. If you are serious and ready to invest, find a mentor that way to help you. Their time is valuable, but with some incentive, I'm sure they can help you tremendously. If it's questions and such, they would be glad to help with answers. That's free. Free is cheap.

@Dana Whicker

 lol, didn't catch that. No glasses on blind guy leads to confusion...

Anyway, I did go to the meetup and saw one for the 11th and a place on Baymeadows. I work in the area, so it would be easy for me to attend these meetings and start networking.

@Pennie NakashimaAsk and you shall receive Penny, lol.

Good fortunes to you in REI.

I'm not a newbie, per se. I have had the training and been networking and researching since 2010 in all markets of REI. So, I'm 5 years in. Due to moving around the country and life struggles since the end of 2010, I have yet to do my first deal. I am, however, in a position to start generating my network leads and doing so the last month. Trying to find the deals is half the battle, and the toughest part of the equation, in my estimation. Especially with little to no capital or equity. however, with this new job/contract, I will be able to start building some capital pretty quickly.

If I do anything that involves a deal, I can let you know of my progress as I work through it. I know what I'm doing, at least in theory. Of course, the real world is just that. A reality check. I plan on doing fix and flips (if I can find the backing) or wholesales. 

I did find an avenue to get to bank assets for REOs. There are auctions (both online and county), wholesale leads and other investor leads, too. Most require some kind of money down, which s fair. You have to have skin in the game to even play. However, I do see some good potential. 

The other equation is finding the cash buyers. You seemed to have added a couple more to your list. All you need is one, but two is double better.

I hope this helps.

Welcome and good luck. 

Have you ever done any deals before? If not, why MF and not SFH? Just curious.

I'll moving to the St. Augustine area and looking for deals myself in the SFH fix and flip or wholesale market. I work in Jacksonville at the moment.

I'm near the St. Augustine area. It's a hard market, but I'm sure there are deals. 

Your profile says you're in Hawthorne, CA. This would be an out of state investment? 

I can help by driving by to see what properties look like for ya. I guess I could bird dog for you for a fee payable on if you close. 

What kinds of deals are you looking for? Wholesale, fix and flip, buy and hold? There may be others here that have some deals ready to go.

Sounds like a good meeting to attend. I will try to make it there. Nothing else to do, lol.

In my estimation, you would be able to demand higher rent for Central as opposed to AC units. Someone said and I agree that is slumlord material.

$10K is extremely high. I would get a couple more quotes. 

However, if you need electrical and duct work, that could be the reason. If you got an estimate, let us know what they are charging for all the typ eo fowkr they are going to be doing.

Anyone ever leave a "welcome" basket for new tenants upon move in? 

An apartment I moved in did this (the only one, ever). It had TP, some local restaurant menus, local services/utility numbers (cable, police, electrical, etc), and a few other nick-knacks. It made me feel special. Not everyone would leave a place the way they moved in or not damage your investment, but little things like that might go a long way with the relationship.

I agree with others to be honest and open with communication and put EVERYTHING in writing. You need back up in case things go south and have to go to court or evict. Make the lease agreement your go to document for you and them. Put in all your unacceptable behaviors that would cause eviction. I'm sure you can think of a few right of the top of your head.

And for goodness sake, always have your place professionally cleaned, unless you are good at DIY. Never let it go with the tenant cleaning. Although I clean every place I have lived and left it exactly the way when I moved in, not all tenants are thoughtful and considerate.