All Forum Posts by: Karl B.

Hi, Ellis. One thing you can do is find a successful local investor (on BP or at a local real estate meetup) and offer him/her value (show their rentals to potential tenants, offer to find them deals, etc). 

In return, they'll likely share insight, information, experience, etc. with you. And this will form a relationship. 

When this happens you can ask them if they'd be willing to fund a deal/enter a deal with you (after you find a great deal). Tell them you'll manage the property as well. Chances are if you've given them value and they trust you, they'll be open to the idea.  

@Henry Thomas Austin  Hello. No. Meaning I will have someone working for me who will help manage my properties for me (as opposed to hiring some 3rd party PM business). 

@Linying Zou If I was starting out I wouldn't. But I plan on buying enough multi-family properties there where I'll hire an in-house property manager who will start part-time and it will become full-time when the need is there. 

I'm not an expert by any means but I'd try and do what Brandon Turner preaches and look for 'a hidden bedroom' (for example, if it's a 2-bedroom home and it's 1000+ sq.ft. then you can likely 'move some walls' to make a third bedroom; this would almost certainly add to the home's value). 

Hi, Linying. I self-manage from across the country. I own a handful of multi-family properties. I've only ever had one middle-of-the-night call and the tenant was on 'something' (which was later confirmed) - he called to tell me there was a puddle of water underneath the refrigerator. 

Turns out the plastic water line connecting to the fridge had gone bad. Aside from that, no late calls. 

I can understand why someone who doesn't have the time nor patience chooses to have a PM (especially if they're high-income earners in something other than real estate and they would rather have a PM do everything so they can focus on their high-paying profession). 

But for me, that extra 10% a month (which is higher because many PM companies tack on a percentage of work done by a tradesman - often a set percentage of the total bill the tradesman submits; plus when I look over my properties I'm often getting a lower price (electrician, plumber, handyman, etc.) than a PM because I am proactive about it). 

The area I invest in is notorious for bad PMs. My limited dealing with one was prior to purchasing a 4-unit and the seller's PM failed to show up to let a contractor in for a quote. 

From time to time, my dad (who lives where I invest) will go to a property to meet with a tradesman, unlock a door or perform a random task (like empty the coin op washer/dryer). He's doing these random tasks maybe once every four weeks. 

The way I see it, I'm running my properties well and I'm saving 10+% that goes toward buying more properties and/or improving my current properties. 

I will always be indebted to Than Merrill because after attending his free 2-hour seminar I Googled 'Than Merrill scam' and found Bigger Pockets. And the rest is history. 

There's nothing wrong with going and spending 2 hours there because there's some interesting information  but I would recommend NOT spending a cent on his other programs as you can learn everything for free on Bigger Pockets and use the money on toward a RE deal. 

However, if you're in sales or marketing I would recommend going because it's amazing (yet truly saddening) to witness people running to the back to drop money on his programs. They seem so hopeful and looking back of it I wonder how many of them actually purchased an investment property. 

They hype it up so much and the people at the back of the room likely silently judged me and others made for the exit with our wallets intact. My feeling was if they lied about Than Merrill being there (they even claimed he'd show up after we'd arrived for the free learning) then why would I fork over money (to them) for a program?

Hello, Ken. Find someone local with experience (you'll find them on BP or at a local RE networking event). There's no need to pay someone for coaching. 

Amost everything I learned about RE I learned from BP and from personal experience once I started buying multi-family properties. 

As far as learning about rehab, you can learn this from an experienced local investor who's cool enough to bring you along to a new property they've purchased or even a local contractor. Or you can work for a property management company that deals in multi-family and get paid to learn about rehab and much more.

Hi, Byron. Are you working with a buyer's agent? Also, is your offer a cash offer? If yes to both, I'd have your agent tell the selling agent you need to know now whether or not the seller will accept your offer. They'll either accept, counter, or will tell you they want full asking or something of that nature. Let me know what happens! I'm hoping you buy the property for well under asking price!

Of course! Go and tell everyone you're interested in real estate, you're reading books and you want to learn lots more. Talk with people, ask questions, make connections. You'll likely find mentors and will move closer to buying your first property. 

There was a point where all RE investors were newbies and we enjoy sharing RE knowledge/experiences with others. 

@Brian Ellis That flooring is NICE. Talk about a wonderful bonus. While you're at it, it may be a good idea to see if there's a mahogany rocking chair hidden beneath the material of that recliner. :-)