All Forum Posts by: Juan Contreras

Dang! Just missed it! I would love to attend the next one. How often do you have meetups?

Quote from @Brock Dowis:

@Juan Contreras you think I’m planning them too far in advance? No one is signed up for this one lol

Maybe lol. Is there a way you can tag past attendees to this post? Some people probably have to actively search for the meetup to see it.

I am a newbie real estate investor but I am a real estate agent and a certified Pricing Strategy Advisor, which is a fancy way of saying an agent that can proficiently run comps lol. I say all that to mention this:

If you aren’t considering this already, look at what amenities that new or hot homes in that market have to determine the VALUE of the upgrades or rehab. Are there specific trends that you notice or amenities that buyers and tenants  expect? A pool, for example, will cost just about the same no matter the market, but the value of a pool in a warmer climate area is way more than in a place that experiences cooler weather. So if the home has a pool that needs to be rehabbed but the market doesn’t value pools enough to justify the cost of repair, you may want to explore other options to get the most value for the costs. This applies to just about everything in a home (exterior style, flooring type, kitchen amenities, floor plans, garage size & type, landscaping, etc.)

This may help narrow down what you should look for in a rehab and give you a better idea of how to estimate rehab costs. If you know what amenities are expected in a home, you can find out the cost of each item and use that as a point of reference when estimating rehab costs. Don’t forget to adjust for cost of labor too.

Hope that helps!

Hello all! I am a newbie real estate investor (currently 0 deals, learning as much as possible while saving up) and a rookie real estate agent with a year’s worth of full-time experience. In fact, I may be running late to the meet up due to some showings I may have that morning. Just wanted to introduce myself beforehand. I’m very excited to meet and connect with you all on Saturday! 😎

Side note: avoid commuting through Old Town that day, there will be a music festival happening at Stampede this weekend so you may experience road blocks and heavier than usual traffic in that area. 👍🏽

Quote from @Eliott Elias:

Hard money lenders do a percentage of reno + purchase price

Thanks Eliott! I’ve considered HML for off market deals (where I’ll have a bit more leverage when negotiating price) or if I find a duplex, triplex, or quad that I can HH (especially if units are already occupied with tenants). The only issue is the higher interest rate of a HML in tandem with the high price of homes in CA, it may be expensive (more money out of pocket) while I work on renovation before rent & refi. But I am open to any strategy that will help me with my goals. Also, as a newbie I’m sure I’m overlooking a few things there. I will look further into it and I’ll talk to a few HM lenders this week to explore my options. Thanks again!

Quote from @Kevin Woodard:

Welcome aboard. Your first stop in person after here should be to some local meetups. Because they are investor oriented you’ll run into someone who at least knows a lender than will help with your plan. The second approach would be to learn the ropes with a more experienced investor, and come away with a treasure trove of knowledge/experience. Both of these routes comes with meeting locals.

That’s awesome advice Kevin! Thank you. I’m planning on going to a meet up that takes place in my city next month! Very excited to connect with a few of the local investors there. 

Hello all! New member here! My name is Juan, I am a real estate agent and a first time buyer looking to house hack in Southern California (preferably south west Riverside county or north San Diego county). I’ve just started learning about real estate investing strategies a little less than a year ago.

I am interested in utilizing the FHA 203k loan or Fannie Mae Homestyle conventional loan because of less competition against other buyers, and I wouldn't mind doing some work to force appreciation. Since I'm a licensed real estate agent, I have MLS access but I'm also open to finding off market deals. I spoke with a couple of lenders today and they said there aren't many lenders that currently handle renovation loans since there is too much risk. I plan on doing some more shopping around for a lender but thought I'd reach out on the BP forums. Anyone have lender referrals for renovation loans or advice on House Hacking in SoCal?

The strategies that I'm interested in for real estate investing, other than HH, are out of state rentals (I feel that the capital I have can go a lot further in a market outside CA), and BRRRR (mainly with out of state rentals). But I currently live with my parents after several years of renting throughout college so my priority is a primary residence but if long distance investing can help me get there quicker, I can put up with my living situation for a bit longer. It's allowed me to save up about $10k in a year but that's not enough to cover a down payment and closing costs in my area.

Anyway, I look forward to connecting learning, and growing with this amazing community!

One other tip that I don't see listed on here: Work as an apprentice or assistant for a top performing agent in your area.

Many of them will be happy to teach you how they run their business (lead gen, systems, tools, etc.) in exchange for help with that business. I've been an agent for about 1 year now and I've been working as an assistant for my team lead the whole time. It allowed me to leave my day job and get paid to learn the duties of an agent as well as how to be an effective team leader & broker associate. Because of the pipeline that he already spent years building, I was able to go out every weekend, show homes, write offers, close deals, and everything in between. You won't get paid as much as if they were your own clients (used to get paid hourly, now I get paid salary + 10% of all closed sales), but it can help fast-track your training and growth. Depending on how demanding the job is, you may be able to work your own clients at the same time as well. I've learned a lot in the past year and made so many connections with clients (which I didn't prospect for myself, but I can turn into repeat business or referrals when I'm on my own because they saw me more than the agent they actually hired) and industry workers that are essential such as lenders, TC, title, escrow, home inspectors, etc. I just signed on for one more year as an assistant because my team leader is slowly moving out of real estate sales and is now building a lending team. I can watch and learn how they build that business, while I ultimately work towards replacing him as leader of the sales team or build my own team if I have my broker's license by then.

Of course, you can train and learn on your own as well. There are plenty of podcasts, YouTube videos, and books that you can consume if you want to excel as a real estate agent. If you have any questions about being an assistant, please feel free to reach out to me! I'm more than happy to share my experiences. :)