All Forum Posts by: Lucas Machado

Welcome @Anthony Jaffa! And congrats - hope your first deal works out well!

Welcome @Shayne Smith!

Welcome @J. A. Marin! You asked, "I want to find out if it really is as easy as Kiysaki says it is." - and the answer is no, it's not. If it were easy, everyone would do it! This is particularly true here in South Florida - there's so much competition that real deals are tough to come by. But everyone's definition of a "real deal" is different. You've got to decide that for yourself based on your current situation and future goals...Then look for deals in various places (MLS, wholesalers, craigslist, etc) and see if any meet your criteria. If not, then you either need to adjust your expectations criteria, or perhaps look into sourcing your own deals. My criteria is pretty conservative, so I know I'm not going to find a good deal (as I define it) through someone else. I'm going to need to source the deal on my own, so I go direct to the seller.

Hope this helps...Best of luck on your journey!

@Markene Mathis - If you actually intend to purchase and renovate the property, just bring in a couple contractors to give you bids/quotes. If they have a reasonable chance at being hired for the job, they typically don't have a problem with giving free estimates.

Welcome @Michele V.! That's a great mindset to have - relationships are incredibly important in this business...Good luck!

Welcome @Marc Bresseau! One isn't bad - gotta start somewhere! At least you started...A lot of folks read, listen, learn, etc for years and never take action. So congrats on that!

Laurie,

You are absolutely not stuck on the MLS until you personally have cash.

I can't speak for your area, but at least in the hot market of South Florida you are not going to (easily) get a strong flip property using a conventional mortgage.  Two reasons: you have to offer value to the seller, and typically that is you have fast cash for easy closing; you are buying the house as-is, which usually means in poor shape and in many cases won't qualify for conventional.

I would begin lining up hard-money lenders and deal partners. Meet people are your local REI and I'm sure soon enough you will find hard-money lenders and deal partners/mentor. Hard-money lenders may ask you to put 20% or more down, so perhaps that is not an option. With the mentor, you bring them the contract and they will handle it, for 50%+ of the profit. You are paying for your education and their skills/network. Of course, they will expect that you brought them the deal (cause that's really all a newbie is bringing to the table). Experienced real estate pros are more than willing to work with a hungry young investor. I've mentored multiple newer investors that had no experience on deals that I was experienced on.

Welcome @Steve Sellars! You might want to check out some of the REIAs - great place to meet and chat with other local investors. I'm always at our two biggest local REIAs, and attend some other meetings here and there as well. Broward REIA (www.breia.com) was last week and Dade REIA (www.dreia.org) is next week - I'll be there! I also love the Real Estate & Business Network lunch which happens every Thursday in Ft. Lauderdale (http://reandb.com) Hope to run into you at an event real soon!

Welcome @Matthew Ricci and thank you for your service! You should check out the next DREIA meeting on the 21st in Miami Shores (www.dreia.org). Hope to see you there!

Welcome @Kal Hendry!