All Forum Posts by: Mindy Jensen

@Bryan Bacallao, I bought a homepath house. I wanted to purchase it to live in while I was looking for a house, because my market was ridiculous and I couldn't find anything else. I thought I would just be there for a few months. I learned of the 1-year rule and decided to buy and stay for just a year, then move on to my dream house. 

It was at the very end of the owner-occupant timeframe. I made an ultra lowball offer, then came up a bit when I found out there was an investor offer. Homepath wants to put in owner occupants, and that was the reason my offer was accepted. 

If you can swing living there for a year, put the offer in as owner-occupant for the best chance to buy the house. If you aren't going to live there for a year, don't say you will. I had to sign all sorts of documents saying I would live there. I never had to prove it once I moved in, but mortgage fraud is mortgage fraud, and why chance it?

Like @George Hermann recommended, do your math, come up with your price, and make the offer. You make your money when you buy. If you over pay, you could make nothing for a long time. Let someone else overpay and not make money... Stick to your number.

@James Masotti, Have you listened to @J Scott's Podcast #10? He talks about what went right and what went wrong in his first flip and specifically mentions building your profit into your calculations, rather than having your profit be whatever is left over. You make your money when you buy.

@Jason Hern's advice for contingency plans is spot-on. It never hurts to be prepared and upfront work saves backend hassles.

Welcome to BiggerPockets, @Sean Sedlock. 

You have found our forums, and they are a great source of information. Did you know that we also have a top rated podcast? New episodes come out on Thursdays.

Have you discovered our blog? Yet another great source of real estate investing information.

Have you set up your keyword alerts yet? Reserve at least one for your local area, to keep up with conversations and connect with investors in your area.

Welcome to BiggerPockets, @Nino Randazzo.

Can you expand on this thought? You'll get a lot more interaction on the site if you ask specific questions. Our members are really helpful!

Welcome to BiggerPockets, @George Hunter. As a contractor, you will make a lot of friends on this site!

Have you set up your keyword alerts yet? Reserve at least one for your local area, to keep up with conversations and connect with investors in your area.

We have a pretty sizable bunch from Florida here on BP. Have you found a local REI meetup yet? Another great way to network.

Welcome to BiggerPockets, @Phil Bastnagel.

Have you set up your keyword alerts yet? Reserve at least one for your local area, to keep up with conversations and connect with investors in your area. Also use one for 'raw land' to keep up on those chats as well.

I'm going to move this to the Local Networking Forum for Kansas City and see if anyone there can help out.

Welcome to BiggerPockets, @Michael Lezcano. 

As a contractor, you will find lots of friends here. Investor-friendly agents also make lots of connections.

Have you set up your keyword alerts yet? Reserve at least one for your local area, to keep up with conversations and connect with investors in your area.

Welcome to BiggerPockets, @Alok Aloo. 

Have you set up your keyword alerts yet? There is a big Texas representation on BP. If you know what city you want to invest in, use one of your alerts for it to keep up with local conversations.

Welcome to BiggerPockets, @Jimmy G. You're in the right place to start learning about real estate. 

There is a local meetup in New York. That is a great place to start networking. 

Set up your keyword alerts. Keep at least one for New York, so you can keep up with local topics.