All Forum Posts by: Ozzy Smith

Timothy

first off I think you are going about it the right way.  I wish I had 10k in the bank when I was 23 and asking the questions you are.  Getting your RE license is a great way to start.  You can learn, and chose which markets you want (and the general public) to do business in.  You will see the retail side of things and learn to understand the costs from a buy and seller standpoint along with closing costs that a lot of investors somehow often times forget to include in their analysis.  That being said don't fall into the hype that comes from a lot of agents and training that brain washes you into thinking that the realtor is what makes the difference in selling the property or somehow has any effect on the sales price ( I know that is going to generate some hate mail for sure).

I got my RE license bc I hated dealing with realtors that didn't get what us investors do.  There is the traditional home buyer (retail purchaser) and then there is us... we do things and want things completely different.

With 10k there is still plenty you can do.  I don't know your market or credit or lots of things but that could be a 20% down payment on a 50K duplex that cash flows a couple hundred bucks a month.  I can find those all day long here in Dayton OH.  With that you could learn house hacking, buy and hold, pm skills, build equity in your own property while living there for nothing... and the list goes on and on. 

It seems like you don't have much time but lots of drive. You could still do a JV with a partner and learn by doing and make a small percentage of a deal (but the value is in the experience). You could possibly loan that money in short term financing to another investor or now is a great time to contribute it to a self directed IRA then use it lots of ways.

Finally you could get in touch with me and we can talk live so I quit burning up my computer because there isn't enough space on this blog to discuss everything lol.

I'm not by any means a guru or an expert but I like you started with just a little money (or actually less than a little money) and am slowly but surely building something great.  I get where you are coming from and would be happy to share my story of what I did (and what I would never do again).  Keep asking questions and getting as much info as you can, this is a great place to do that and at some point just pull the trigger and start. 

If I can help feel free to call me or drop me a PM

I am looking to try something in the Dayton OH area and want to know if anyone is interested.  I am a real estate investor with a few deals under my belt but want to crank up the production.  My biggest problem is that I start out really fast and then get sidetracked with the next shinny object.  It's kind of like new year resolutions of going to the gym.  I need a "brain storming work out buddy".

I have some experience in several different areas of RE and looking to find a focus.  I know I got my start with a mentor and learned a lot.  Now that person is growing and getting too busy to spend lots of time with me.  I find that I work best when I can hear myself talk out loud to someone and usually end up answering my own question.  I also (like most) have a very busy life and push things to the side. 

Many of the Meet ups are geared towards networking and just hanging out.  I would like to do a very small group that wants to actually have a topic, come up with a plan of action and execute.  This would be perfect for a newbie wanting to learn by doing and keep me on task and spark new ideas.  Obviously I'm not opposed to a seasoned investor involved in the group but I want to get back to the basics.  That's what made us successful and sometimes we need to go back and re-visit that point where we made money purely on passion and drive. 

If this sounds like something you are interested send me a PM and lets start something.

Thanks for the info  I have heard that name before so it shouldn't be hard to find  I'll look them up.  If you happen to come across anything you think is a good flip deal that you aren't doing yourself let me know.  Looking basically Lock Haven to St College area for flips

There is one thing in this thread that I haven't seen yet so I'll way in.  The point is not that you can only contribute a minimal amount into the account it's how fast it can grow and what you can do with it.  You can use the money in that account to buy, hold and sell real estate.  All of the money that is generated from that goes back into the account tax free and is not considered as a contribution.  It doesn't even matter how much money you have in your account it can be done.  For example:

If you want to wholesale a property use $500 out of your investment account to pay the earnest money fee.  When you sell and collect say $5000 fee that all goes back into the account.  You can rack up a lot of money very quickly that way, none of it is taxed or considered as contribution because it was generated as profits from a smart investment.

You can do the same thing with flips for even bigger numbers or rentals where the rent each month goes back to the account.  You can have as many properties in the same account as you would like or if you are looking for more deductions simply create new accounts like college savings account for your kids, or health savings accounts, or whatever.  There are so many different accounts that most people qualify for they usually can't max contribute to each of them each year.  This can be done very easily through Equity Trust (where I have mine) or several other self directed custodian companies.

If you want learn more about it get your hands on a CD from Robyn Thompson called "what wealthy women do".  It explains many of these ideas very well step by step and in simple terms.  I got it for free but don't know how.  I'm sure you could buy it direct from her or try google and see if there are any free versions or on youtube. 

Most people don't realize that all of the sites are linked now. Many of the different links are owned by the same company. If it's listed on the MLS (and even a bunch that's not) you can find on sites like realtor.com or Zillow. We actually just found a deal yesterday on one of those sites we made an offer on. Just be careful using their estimated value to do your analysis. Sometimes they are close but not always. Find a house that looks good numbers wise on those sites and then call your agent about that one specifically and have them pull the comps. If they know what they are doing they can give you good comps in about 10 minutes and write the offers for you.

I am looking for an investor friendly RE agent in State College Pennsylvania.  I would prefer someone that invests themselves or at least understands what an investor does.  I'm out of state but have boots on the ground there and we are looking to do a bunch of deals.  Any info you have would be helpful.  If you need anything in the Dayton OH area let me know I can help you there.  Thanks in advance

Dayton sounds like it would work for you.  If I can help let me know

That's part of my plan.  Obviously if someone would like to contract a service like this they would be a potential buyer in the future.  I'm also looking to actually use my RE license though instead of just paying my fees for basically letting it sit idle.  I don't want to be a traditional agent per say that works with the public that wants open houses and lets go look at 10 different houses just for the sake of looking.  I want to work only with investors because they typically are serious about what they are doing.  I know investors go by the numbers and always need BPO's and comps and especially out of area investors need boots on the ground.  This is where I was trying to leverage what I already do on a daily basis in my own business and expand my business to others.  Let's face it, there are always more deals than one person can handle all at once and factor in the different strategies some that I just don't have a care to get into but the numbers make sense for someone who does.  That's why I'm offering this service and curious if anyone has experience doing it and would care to share their input

Hi Max. I wanted to drop you a line and see if I could be any help to you. I'm local in the Dayton area and looking to get a new business idea up and running. I currently have my realtors license and do my own CMA for my deals and also do property preservation and inspections for banks on their REO's. I'm always looking for deals and if you would like to talk sometime and figure out what you are looking for or if I can be some boots on the ground for you I'd love the opportunity. Give me a call or send me a PM and we can connect

Hi Matt I currently do property preservation work for bank owned properties in the Dayton area.  This is my day job and have extensive experience in this field.  I would be interested in talking with you to see what you need and maybe I can help.  Send me a PM with your contact info or give me a call