All Forum Posts by: Sean Brooks

Ben, 

You should be able to check on your state website for the flood zone maps.  Also flood insurance premiums are a big topic, the cost may rise because of storms like sandy over the last few. Your agent may have assumed it would not increase. That's something that can only be confirmed by a county representative and that's on a location by location case. You'll need to assess what's best for your investment strategy.

Congrats! Anil good decision. As far as a brokerage. Before I passed my exam, I received letters and interviewed several different brokers to assess fees and what type of business agreement was being offered. I interviewed small to large companies and then made a decision that was best for me. 

When working in the field of real estate investing, the best advise I can give is to get to know the laws that pertain to the state you plan on operating because you can land in some legal trouble. You also want to have a real estate lawyer in your circle to advise you on what's legal and illegal. At some of the real estate seminars they shared some strategies that in some state are purely illegal so before using what's shared at these events, you want to speak with a lawyer. Taking advise from someone that's not a lawyer is risky. 

Damon,

College is not for everyone and the degree you study is not always worth going but I believe that when it comes to real estate, a degree can be a great asset. You never go wrong with Business and financing degrees. If a person doesn't go to college it's not a deal breaker but education is a solid foundation. Take for instance, the University Of Pennsylvania has a degree from their Wharton School of Business with a concentration in Real Estate. Well worth the money and you have a high chance of recovering the investment in education cost between the education and contacts that graduated from UPenn (example Donald Trump etc). This can help when you need to raise capital for a project. Also consider that at some universities the courses are being taught by experts in the field so your learning from people that worked in the real estate industry.

In most states, you have to be a real estate salesperson for the 5 years - commission based but well worth it. If you allow me to make a suggestion. Attend college but get your real estate license, you'll learn a lot in the classes alone (real estate law reading of contracts etc), then you get real world experience under other seasoned professionals, plus you can work selling real estate part time while attending classes. If you do well, that will cover tuition. Also, if you stay active for 5 years - you be a broker by the time your 23. You also can benefit from the sales and investor side of real estate as a real estate professional. 

The one thing that they do not reveal is that Scott & Amie Yancey are licensed real estate agents and broker in the state of Las Vegas. If you review his bio on the company that he owns http://goliathcompany.com/incm_prprts_about.html you will see how he got his start. He learned the business from Walter J. Plumb III as a runner. Walter suggested he get his real estate license. Walter was also the financing behind some of the projects. This is how all the gurus started. Now that information is never revealed on the show or at the seminars. 

I attended the seminar and sat down with a coach, the coach had his real estate license and started a company buying and selling real estate. I thought about the investment and they do a good job of hyping it, you'll have the direct number of the main presenter and he's normally very good at pulling emotion from the audience. After thinking about the large investment, I said I could invest that money into another home, even without knowing all of the information I could generating cash flow. I then decided to get my real estate license.