All Forum Posts by: Lavonn Warren

I am interested in attending. Please let me know if there are ever plans to start this up again. Thanks in advanced.

Hey guys!

I'm Lavonn. To be honest I am not exactly a "new" member. I have been here for a few months as a lurker and just never got around to introducing myself. I am a 30 year old Fitness Coordinator and a personal trainer for the city of Port St. Lucie. I became interested in REI after reading Rich Dad Poor Dad. I immediately went out and bought How To Invest In Real Estate which was very informative and introduced me to the BP website and podcasts. I have listened to a million of them and they have given me lots of ideas and quite the reading list. I am currently reading Set For Life and The Book on Managing Rental Properties.

On top of working full-time, reading books and, analyzing deals, I am taking an online home inspection study course. I plan to be licensed within a few months. Would it make sense to become a real estate agent as well?

I have been in contact with a lender and real estate agent to try and buy a duplex. It seems that all of the ones that I have analysed over the past few months have been sold with in the last few weeks. Did I miss the boat? 

I look forward to learning more and connecting with you all. Have a great one!

@Brian Greenway It has almost been a month since I started and I actually enjoy it. I am learning a ton of things that will help me in my investment career even I don't decide to become a home inspector. So far, I am "certified" in roof, plumbing and electrical inspection (I use quotations because I feel that knowing information isn't the same as applying it).

For me, the biggest factor was the pricing of online courses. I work full-time so its the only option. ASHI also looked great but, it seems much more restrictive and expensive. Maybe they have better information? I dont know. With NACHI, I can put myself on a schedule and finish in 6 months for roughly 1/3 of the price of what the online course for ASHI costs. Or, if I decided that I no longer want to pursue inspection or just want to take a month off, I can simply not pay for the next month. With ASHI, you seemed to be locked in for that $1000 and need to finish it all in a year. 

@Brian Greenway I know you are waiting for a response from @Jacob Cooper but, I am currently researching options on becoming an inspector as well. Seems to be valuable knowledge to have as basis for entering the real estate investment game.  I came across an organization called InterNACHI. 

In Florida (where I live), you are required to be licensed and insured before practicing  as an inspector. To obtain a license, you must take a 120-hour pre-licensing course and then pass the exam. If you become a paid member of the InterNACHI organization, they allow you to take the courses and exam for free online... although "free" means a $50/month or $500/year membership. However, I have seen courses cost as much as $1500. I think I will give it a try for at least a month to see if I want to fully commit. 

How do you determine how much to rent each room for? Do you divide what you can rent the entire house by the number of rooms? Should I try to rent each room for an amount that will cover the entire monthly cost? Should I think about making a profit? Please help me. 

@Paul D. I have some excel training from college and previous jobs and decided to create my own calculator. I works almost perfectly. I tested it against the BP calculator and I get the same numbers. It requires more work if the amortization is anything other than 30 years but I am happy with it. I haven’t done a deal yet but it is helping me run numbers on at least a few deals in my market everyday.

Sounds awesome! Would love to know how this deal goes for you. Good luck with financing and finding contracting. I will hopefully have a similar problem soon. 

@Braeden Henry I am in a very similar situation. Very interested in learning what others have to say. I am currently analyzing multifamily properties but, it seems I will need a little more cash or outside funding to make any of these deals work. @Karl B. mentioned that he was able to find a multi deal for 80k... That is my dream!

I’m not looking for any sort of mentor relationship at this point. I am so new that I don’t know if I would even comprehend what you were talking about anyway.

My main concern is saving money for the next few months and learning as much as possible in the mean time. I am a full time fitness coordinator/person trainer in Port St. Lucie and I am currently reading How To Invest in Real Estate. It’s given me a lot of valuable insight into this world but much of it seems foreign.

My goal is to own rental properties so I also purchased The Book on Rental Property Investing. I plan on reading this as soon as I’m done with the How To.

My question is basic: what information did you wish you had a handle on before starting your investment journey? What should I consider learning before I commit my time and money?

Thank you for any help!