All Forum Posts by: Stephen Barton

@William Perry Well I sing, and I play guitar, bass, and drums and Brandon Turner who is the co-host of the BiggerPockets podcasts plays drums too! So, you fit in perfectly here. Do not be shy, ask questions and really reach out to others. I am available almost everyday and if I cannot answer I will call you back if you leave me a message. There is so much good information here. I hope you have read to Ultimate Guide to Real Estate Investing? If not here is the link for it:UBG

William just stay active on these forums and become colleagues with as many people as you can that will be willing to talk to you. There are so many good people on this site who really want to see you succeed. Good Luck to you!

@Vicki Gleitz I used to be a contractor before my back was injured to the point I could no longer do physical labor. I know what you mean thought about fixing up something that was run down. I am so happy for you to have found a passion in your life. It feels so cool to build and fix up something and I know the feeling of satisfaction one gets when they do it all themselves. You are a rock star! Keep on rockin' Vicki!

@Jared Rinaldi Welcome to the greatest Real Estate Investing site on the planet! Man, you are really in the right place at the right time. I have to say that you already have a lot in common with us here on this site-we are ALL characters (in reference to your acting)! Ha ha! I highly suggest listening to the BiggerPockets podcasts and the Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing click here:UBG

Also, one of the biggest moves I have made was to find someone whom I looked up to and someone who was willing to work with me. Just try to learn as much as you can and reach out to any of us on this site and ask questions. Pretty much any question you will have you can just type it in the "Search the site" box at the top right corner of this site and you will find more information than you could read in 10 lifetimes. Good luck and feel free to ask me any questions. I would be glad to help you for absolutely no charge-ever!

@Elizabeth Colegrove you and I are in the same position. Thank you for the advice! 

I have been to a couple of the guru's weekend shows. That's what it really was-just a show! I did get some good motivation from these events, and feel just like it was too expensive for what they were charging. Fortune Builders was like 10k, I mean, who has that kind of money to throw down? Certainly not someone who is just starting out like my wife and I. I do have to mention we need to spend marketing dollars. I really want to encourage as many people as possible in this business because others did that for me and those few encouraging people really gave me the confidence to make things happen.  We bought a list of 1200 absentees in June of this year and we are at around 1400 marketing pieces that we actually did half by hand and half typed. We are about to send out 500 yellow letters from yellowletters.com instead of doing them myself. So far, we have 2 deals out of the 1400 mail pieces we have sent out which is not very good. For us, the first deal has already paid for our entire marketing expense since we have started in June of this year. Not to mention our other 3 deals that we found from other marketing sources. I mean the return on investment is out of this world and we still have the rest of our list to continue to mail to. As the big dogs say, "It is all about consistency." We did not get our first deal until the second letter was sent to the first prospect group. I hear the response rates for motivated sellers increases with more mailings. 

Thankfully I found this site and was blessed to have found a mentor who really cares about my success! The best part is...he does not charge me a dime for his help! Wow! Having a place that brings investors together and promotes showing new people how to do things the right (legal, moral, and ethical) way is how things should be everywhere. I feel so blessed to have people on here that I can just message and ask questions and they do not make me buy their $997 course on this or that! I get my answers for free, and better yet, they give me more information than what I knew to ask for. How cool is that? So, granted we are not making big profits but I am learning this business with someone who genuinely cares about me having the ability to do this on my own someday. We are problem solvers and I am so proud to bring value to peoples' lives by removing a burden from their life and replacing it with what they really need-money! Thank you to all who make this website possible and to @Joshua Dorkin for having dream and taking the courage to follow that dream and making it a reality. I am so proud to be a part of this community!

@Sheldon B. 

I have been to a couple of the guru's weekend shows. That's what it really was-just a show! I did get some good motivation from these events, and feel just like you...It was too expensive for what they were charging. Fortune Builders was like 10k, I mean, who has that kind of money to throw down? Certainly not someone who is just starting out like my wife and I. I do have to mention we need to spend marketing dollars. I really want to encourage as many people as possible in this business. I bought a list of 1200 absentees in June of this year and we are at around 1400 marketing pieces that we actually did half by hand and half typed.  I am about to send out 500 yellow letters from yellowletters.com instead of doing them myself. So far, we have 2 deals out of the 1400 mail pieces we have sent out which is not very good. For us, the first deal has already paid for our entire marketing expense since we have started in June of this year. Not to mention our other 2 deals that we closed on from other marketing avenues. I mean the return on investment is out of this world and we still have the rest of our list to continue to mail to. As the big dogs say, "It is all about consistency." We did not get our first deal until the second letter was sent to the first prospect group. I hear the response for motivated sellers increases with more mailings.

I wanted to reach out to the biggerpockets community to see what others do in their business when working with a spouse. One of the best pieces of advise is to "know your role" and that makes so much sense. We have only been married for about a year and a half. We love each other very much and feel very grateful to have one another. My question is: How can we separate our business from our marriage? I mean we are both very passionate about real estate and my wife is the one with a full-time career outside of our business. She has really been busy with her job and it is becoming difficult to include her in every decision due to her busy schedule. I am hoping others on this site could tell me what works for them and what we need to avoid. Thank you for taking time out to read this, please give us some guidance.

@Bob T. 

I would have to say (besides run title search) is to get real conservative comps. Make sure you are not betting that your deal will generate top dollar. Be conservative with your numbers and account for rehab costs to the nearest 5's. Like, if you think the rehab is going to be 3k then set aside 5 thousand. If you think it will be 7k then account for the rehab to be 10,000. Just a tip I have heard around the site from someone on the podcasts. You also need to make sure you do a final walk-through the day of the purchase(right before closing). Just to ensure there are no major defects or vandalism. Finally, I think you should make sure you have a system in place for what the end use of the property will be. On top of that-have a contingency plan in case your original plan doesn't work out. 

Just my two cents worth, and noticed that no one has sent you any messages. Good luck and try to look up people on here that do business in your area and colleague request them and send them a message. Take care!

@Jim Dickerson 

I have only been doing this for almost a year and still have much to learn. That said, I never heard of this site so I went there to check it out. My findings were somewhat ok, however, I would like to point out that the first one I tried was off by $20,000! That could be all of your profit on a deal like this one that I checked findcompsnow.com on. That would have killed our deal so hear is my two cents:

• Find a realtor that you can get to know and totally disclose to them what you are doing and that you need comps (if you do not have your license).
• If you cannot do that then what I do is look on Zillow, Trulia, and a couple of others for recent sold within a .5mile radius. Make sure you are comparing "apples to apples". If the recently sold has been rehabbed and the "deal" you are looking at has not then you need to factor rehab costs.
• I highly recommend finding someone in your area who would be willing to take you on as a mentor. Someone who you look up to, and who has access to real comps. This step has turned me into someone who thought I could find deals-to someone who IS getting deals.

Jim, it is not easy being in this business but with some dedication and hard work you can do it! Also, put up a picture in your profile-it will make you stand out more and people will take you more serious if you really put effort into everything you do. Adding a picture also can make your profile stand out over others on this site, and you are more likely to connect with like-minded people! You can do it, if you want it bad enough!

@Bernadeau C. 

Welcome to the greatest website in the world! There is so much good information on here, and I wish you all the success in the world. There are times that can try your patience but just hang in there. Good things come to those who work for it!