All Forum Posts by: Ryan Donohue

@Harold Valencia & @Claudia Fernandez,

The meetings and updates are through the meetup websitehttp://www.meetup.com/New-Jersey-Real-Estate-and-B...

What are you guys into? Meetup is great but theres a million out there and not all are about educating.  Luckily, the first two I've been two have been good.  Message me if you'd like! :)

@Jen BoydI'm from Waldwick NJ and I'm actually already planning on going to the meeting which is now today.  I don't have any serious leads yet, still working to find the right agent and a more "inside scoop" on the area.  It'll be my first time so hope to see how this one works and learn how to analyze a deal from soup to nuts with the pros.  

Hey there BP!

So I'm looking to move out and to my first house and would absolutely love if it was also my first stepping stone into REI! So I'm looking anywhere from Montclair to Bloomfield to Glen Ridge to Clifton and even up north to Mahwah. I have my first pre-approval for $300k and I'm looking for investor friendly real estate agents in North NJ to find a property I can do FHA or FHA 203k and have some cash flow come in. I've been working with a few agents but I cant seem to find one yet that has been on the same wavelength as me. Any tips or referrals are greatly appreciated. :)

Thanks, 

Ryan  

@Kish D. welcome to BP! Excellent source for people just starting and its where I started just a few months ago! Hope to see you around the forums.  :) 

Hey @Claudia Fernandez , 

Throughout my networking I met Justyna at Regal Kitchens and is well known in our meetup group.  Heres her link:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/Justyna

Thanks, 

Ryan 

So I'm currently in the middle of a short sale negotiation and feel like I'm in a pickle.  The owner(ill and in nursing home) doesn't have mortgage statements.  The son(same name as father) was just going to let the house go to foreclosure but I brought up a short sale and being able to help his father and he's interested.  So I dont know how to get authorization from the lender if he doesn't have the mortgage # or have his father call in.  Is the only possibility to have power of attorney? If you need more info please let me know but I'd like to act ASAP.  Also, I'd be eternally grateful if someone has been in this situation and might be able to jot down a list of steps that would help make this as easy as possible.  I want to make this as least frustrating on the sons end as his father is ill and house is in foreclosure so any tips would be killer. 

Thanks, 

Ryan    

@Nicole Rojas Congrats on making the early decision in doing REI. Although I'm only 25 myself, I still regret not knowing the possibilities earlier. I got my first spark of interest in REI around this past Thanksgiving and educate myself every second I can. I'm currently in the midst of what might be a killer deal(short sale) and would love to tell you more about how I got it(feel free to message me). At this point this is my opinion on your questions:

1) I need money to get started. Would wholesaling be a good strategy to start with in order to build capital for my long term goals? if not, any other suggestions?

So far I have not spent money on anything besides gas and buying a domain name($20) which I wanted to lock in for the future for my site.  My recommendation is do some driving for dollars when you have a good chunk of time and take pictures and write down addresses of crappy looking or vacant houses. Then I'd look up the owner and try to find their phone number online and cold call them. What have you got to loose right? No money and direct answers.  

2) Should I attend both REI clubs in MA and CT? Even though I attend school here in MA.

I recommend both. In my opinion have these in mind BEFORE you go: what do you want to do(wholesale, fix n flip etc), where do you want to, some out of the box advice you can provide others you might want to partner with.  You want it to be a win-win and gain peoples attention when you go and if you tell them something that might help that they've never thought of they'll be more inclined to help.  I've been to 2 so far and working on my short sale with the guy who runs my REIA.  Please feel free to reach out to myself or anyone on here in regards to REIA meetings and what to expect. 

Good luck @Nicole Rojas with the remainder of school and your REI business. You got this! See ya around the forums!

@Jorge Mendez welcome to the forums! I'm about 60 days in here at BP and can say I've certainly learned a lot.  My suggestion at this moment from my experience is to listen to the podcasts. They really rock and you'll get tons of ideas and certainly learn a lot.  I listen every second I can.  I hope to see you around on the forums and maybe even the neighborhoods as I'm in NJ too.  

Hey BP, 

So I'm pretty certain that my first deal(short sale) is going to work out! The seller was just going to let the house go to foreclosure but is open to a short sale. I'm working with a partner(supplies capital) who runs my local REIA. So its my first deal, the house needs a LOT of work and its a short sale....What could go wrong, right? So I have a few basic questions below and looking for any other tips experienced short sale flippers have on partnering or in general.

-Joint venture LLC or agreement to split profit/loss document?

-List of tasks I don't know I should be and can be doing on my own. I dont have capital(only $10k) or experience in short sales and not sure the best way to pull my weight.

-Estimate of how much to ask for in the split? 50/50? 40/60...?

-Should I get estimates on my own, an appraisal, and inspection? The guy is a veteran in the industry and has his own construction company as well.  I feel like he's going to do most of the work and I just found the deal...what do you look for in a partner in my case? 

So I posted this previously but I think I did it in the wrong forum so heres another go:

So I believe I have what looks to be a good potential of a short sale:

-Owner is an elderly man(incompetent) in a nursing home and family(his son) was just going to let the house proceed into foreclosure(bank messed up foreclosure ~3 times apparently).

-Son is open and willing to cooperate in short sale. He said I should call the bank and see where in the process the foreclosure is.

-I've been keeping a friend I met at an REIA meeting up to date with my research and he is currently looking into whether its a good deal. He has done short sales before and is willing to teach me the process and partner with me.

How should I go about doing a joint venture(paperwork etc)? Is it too late because I told him about the property already? What questions should I prepare for both the owner(son), and my partner? Has anyone dealt with a situation where the actual owner may be unable to cooperate and a family member had to step in? Ask any questions you need and I'll help you help me!

Thanks,

Ryan