All Forum Posts by: Ryan Huggins

Lord help us!  But as long as people use me to manage their properties I'm fine with that!  LOL.  I do blame shows like "Flip or Flop" for making it look easy to be an investor/flipper.  Crazy profits (because they didn't include labor in their costs in some of the episodes) and the entire project takes an hour (ok 45 minutes with commercials).  People just don't get the reality of it, sadly enough.

 LOL!!!!  I'm still waiting for that too.  I've gotten a few treasures over the years, but never anything fun like money.

"Those who do not learn from history's mistakes are bound to repeat them."  In my view, we have been on a course for another crash for a long time.  Rental backed securities are the new mortgage backed securities.  Same problems exist as before, just under a different name... like when high fructose corn syrup "rebranded" itself.

The problem is the idea that "everyone should own a home" when in reality not everyone is financially cut out for it or responsible enough.  Once we get out of this mindset and get back to "if you want it, earn it" things shall improve.

YES!!!!  For your protection and theirs.  Interviews, backgrounds, rules, regs, etc.  Heck, maybe you can even throw in "landlord gets invited to cool parties" into the agreement (just kidding).

Before doing anything, of course, investigate all the laws of the land in relation to room renting.

I can't speak to NY but in CA taxes are based on the sales price, unless that price is well under market, then they'll bump you up to market value and it's up to you to argue it down.

Yes.  First off, you should identify houses you would actually be interested in purchasing.  Then get very rough estimates from the contractor to see if it'll be profitable.  You can usually get a rough number for a bathroom (say $5k) and use that time and again in your estimates.  Once you have the house under contract, then bring in the contractor during your inspection period.

 Yes, those shows are staged and have artificial timelines for drama.  Flip or Flop for example never factors in labor costs.

What? No cement in the drain pipes?  No animal feces under piles of clothes left behind?  No dead bodies?

Honestly, this house isn't bad.  I've seen houses worse than this and at least you didn't have to go through evicting the prior owner!

Awesome!  Congrats!

Direct MLS access is typically the domain of licensed professionals. Many agents offer apps that give the public MLS access and IDX sites and Realtor.com usually have all the active MLS listings (or darn close to them). Afterall, that's why agents pay hundreds a month for an IDX on their site or partner with lenders to give out the phone apps to the public.

As to your follow-up on "how many deals per year to stay active" I've never seen this, just a "keep paying your fees".  There are plenty of agents out here that pay their fees and do zero business.  If you're worried about the broker level, go to one that is a desk fee model (like remax).  You'll pay a monthly fee to hang your license there, but that's it.