All Forum Posts by: Mark Rogers

The last few books that have really resonated with me haven't been strictly real estate books, but I loved The One Thing by Keller and Papasan, and an old classic that I had somehow missed all these years, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Covey.  If you haven't watched the BiggerPockets video of Jay Papasan speaking at Google, I HIGHLY recommend it.  It's filled with little gems.   https://www.biggerpockets.com/videos/jay-papasan-wealth-building-with-the-one-thing-and-the-milionaire-series-talks-at-google 

Hi Rachel,  Welcome to BP and to Central Arkansas real estate.  You're taking the right approach by soaking in all that you can on the topic, and the BP podcasts are a great way to move quickly along your learning curve.  The CARREIA meetings are a good place to network, especially the subgroup meetings.  If you don't have a library card, you might want to get one of those.  Many of the books that guests recommend on the podcasts are available for free from the Central Arkansas Library, many as ebooks and audiobooks.  

Hi @Gabriel T. & Welcome!   One of my all-time favorite road trips was with some friends to do the Green Mountain Steelman triathlon in Brattleboro in 1986.  It is GORGEOUS up there.  It sounds like you are building a solid base of knowledge and getting an early start.  You might also get a library card from the Central Arkansas Library.  They have a decent selection of downloadable eBooks and audiobooks with many that are mentioned in the podcasts (including Think & Grow Rich, which is excellent).   Best of luck with your new adventures.

The requirements for getting a real estate license include the following: 

•  (6) Evidence of good reputation for honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity sufficient to safeguard the interests of the public; and
• (7) Completion of a criminal history background check through the Department of Arkansas State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as set out in § 17-42-315.
• (b) The commission shall determine what constitutes adequate proof of meeting the requirements of subsection (a) of this section and shall deny a license to any applicant who fails to meet the requirements or who fails to pay the appropriate fees.

I have no inside scoop or knowledge of the process, but my best guess is that it would be extremely difficult to get the Arkansas Real Estate Commission to approve an application that included a recent felony record for theft of property.  

You might consider attending a meeting of the Central Arkansas Real Estate Investors Association to see whether you might still be able to find ways to earn money in real estate without violating criminal prohibitions against engaging in unlicensed real estate activity.

Best of luck in your new adventures.   

Neither of my high bids were accepted by the seller.  My annoyance was with the lack of communication on the first one involving the short sale in which they left me hanging with no information for a couple of months instead of giving some indication at or near the end of their 15 day decision period. 

I have no problem with the way the second auction played out.  On the second auction, I had bid what I was willing to pay and was basically just using the best and highest bid rounds to learn a little more about how the process worked.  Also, since they had switched from $1,000 bid increments to $25 bid increments at the end of the second auction and since I was pretty close to what the bank had paid to buy the house back at the courthouse, I thought there was at least a slight chance that a $100 bid increase might work.  

The bank never got back to me, and their real estate agent could never get a response from them other than to let me know that the bank was considering a better offer.  Two or three weeks ago, the status of my bid showed up on xome.com as "Cancelled."    

I was recently a high bidder on a Newly Foreclosed property but did not meet the reserve.  After about a week, I did get a response on that one.  I received three emails from xome.com letting me know that the bank did not accept my bid and offering me a chance to submit my highest and best offer within 48 hours.  I resubmitted my same bid, and got a rejection back the next day, along with another invitation to submit another bid.  I submitted another bid $100 higher and received a rejection an hour or two later indicating that they were putting the property back up for another online auction.  

John Martin, with Moses Tucker, is a friend and an excellent commercial broker in Central Arkansas.  

Sam Strange, with Hosto & Buchan is a great guy who does a lot of that type work.  I've known him since the 70's and think VERY highly of him.  His firm specializes in debt collection and real estate, and his boss/partner is one of the more successful real estate investors in the area.  I'm a lawyer, and when I was thinking about buying an occupied property at foreclosure, I went to Sam for guidance on eviction.   

The Arkansas Realtor Association put out a call to action this morning to support a bill which will likely receive a warmer reception than the last one we saw that was of concern to many wholesalers.  The Senate is trying to fix the problem created in 2015 when a circuit court found Arkansas' criminal eviction provisions unconstitutional.  Senate Bill 25 attempts to reinstate an earlier version of the municipal eviction statute (which had been ruled constitutional) to give landlords a more cost effective remedy against tenants who fail to pay rent.   Here is the link to the bill:  https://legiscan.com/AR/text/SB25/2017

Welcome @Marshall Butler!  It's great to have someone with your background and experience here in our local BP community.