All Forum Posts by: Siye Baker

Mech Engineering background, worked a couple internships, hated being a cubicle. Now work for logistics company. Great people to work with. Plan on going fulltime withing the year, and will build a spec house. Things don't always work out as planned, but I venture to say that there is a reward waiting after each obstacle(Napoleon Hill).

A lot of technical people on this forum! Interesting, and I wonder where everyone falls on the political spectrum...hmmm, time for a new thread
Sebastian

____________REAL ESTATE AND DEVELOPMENT
_____________DEVELOPMENT GROUP
________________DEVELOPMENT

hello
The fact that you are already making plans to pursue your career at thte age of 16...I would have to say that you would be just fine without a real estate degree. the information is the same, whether you learn it in a formal classroom setting, or from books/internet sites.

An RE degree would allow you to bypass the real estate class and sit for the broker's/Sale's associate exam. Since the real estate course is offered online for $100, I think most would agree that it is way more economical to go that route instead of spending the $20,000+ for an accredited 4 year deegree.

Compounding is your best friend. Get started in sales, and learn as much as you can through experience, collegues, books, and online resources(BP). Save your money, while you are learning the best places to put it to make it grow. Fast forward to the age of 22, when most people are graduating, and have either:
1) financed education = student loan debt
2) paid cash for education

You will have impeccable credit, several properties under your belt, and will be on your way to building wealth

either way you slice it, you have tied up your credit(which impacts your capability to borrow), or you have tied up your cash(which impacts your ability to purchase).

Rather than paying more for theoretical knowledge, I would get my Sales Assoc license, build credit, open a Roth IRA, educate myself on macro economics, stocks, and the banking system. This combined with the on the knowledge gained through hadns on experience gives you a distinct advantage over the one who went the 4 yr degree route.

I have a 4 yr degree in Mechanical Engineering, and although it trained me to think a certain way, I am cvertain that someone with no degree and a couple yrs experience in the field would run circles around me in the engineering field.

This is perhaps just the way I would do things "if I knew then what I know now". The fact that you are giving serious thought to your career at such a young age tells me that regardless of your path- You Will Be Successful.

There is Book "From Janitor to Multi millionare" by Rich Weese.
He started at the age of 21 and built an empire in a few years. All of this without a college degree. He went the sales assoc route and was incredibly efficient in his approach. I would recommend that you read it. Keep us posted on your endeavors and we wish you all the success!
Sebastian

correct, an accountant would be able to advise you on your business structure and how to claim max deductions. You can file the paperwork for LLC yourself(at least in FL) and it is incredibly simple and $135 or so.

Good example:

Say you decide that an LLC is most appealing. You can:

1) call your accountant to make sure that there is not a better vehicle for your business structure.

2) file paperwork yourself (if you can in your state)

3) make sure your attorney knows you have an LLC the next time you meet with him.

You may find that you get flexible taxing strategies with your new LLC, but you might not be able to file your own evictions on your rentals. In FL, the LLC is treated as a separate entity, so you are not longer able to file your own evictions, as you would be practicing law without a license. So now the cost for your evictions process just went up significantly. Always good to know where you stand, so that you are prepared. A standard eviction under your sole proprietorship that would only cost a few hundred- may cost a couple thousand with an LLC (paying for legal representation).

And you are correct, you can have a title company do the standard closing... so long as you have an attorney that you can contact to help you clear up any questions you might having regarding the wording. Make sure whomever you are asking for advice is not depending of the deal being made. An attorney will bill you the same amount for his legal advice, regardless of you getting the property (generally speaking). It's a lot easier to change the meaning of a contract Before you sign it ;)

Sebastian

@Account Closed well said my friend

@John Moore thanks for the support, that is very kind of you

@David Krulac cheers to that :)

@Jon Klaus that would definitely be awesome

@Andy Luck That is a good way to look

also- you will definitely need both, unless you can find an attorney that is also an investor and is very savvy with tax laws. But keep in mind the fees will be higher for an attorney typically. An accountant could not give you legal advice, while an RE attorney can advise you on the tax implications.

attorneys for keeping you out of trouble(way more laws out there than you will ever know even exist)

accountants for you taking maximum allowable deductions

Although I still have not found an accountant(waiting for tax season to end to schedule a sit down), I have found my 2 RE attorneys. I will use them for the following functions:

Attorney A: leases,

Attorney B: contracts to buy properties(subject to, closings), advice on upcoming ventures, and the legal implications

Accountant: in addition to doing taxes, offers creative options before I commit to deals, so that I can know the tax implications before I commit to a transaction.

Hope this helps

Sebastian

I have entered a knowledge-consumption stage, and due to there only being so many hours in the day, I must be efficient with my time. I have read perhaps a dozen RE books, with each of them saying more or less the same thing: "I have something else to sell you". The information given is usually too vague and/or loaded with theoretical examples for my taste. I am grateful for finding BP, as it has proven to be a wealth of information with a tremendous support structure built in. I only wish I had found it sooner.

2 weeks ago I read a very interesting thread by Rich Weese. I clicked on his profile to read some more of his posts, and found that he has been(and still is incredibly successful in Life- not just real estate). I visited his website and was delighted to find that he had written a book. I ordered it, and it arrived 2 days later. Opening the book, I found that the author had taken the time to not only autograph the book- but also wrote a letter introducing himself and welcoming me to the world of real estate. I found this to be very encouraging!

I have a collection of 50 or so books by my bed which I am gradually chipping away at(stocks, RE, Economics,German, etc...), and while I do find them interesting, I certainly would rather be playing guitar...

I sat down and began reading the book. Later on that night- I was finished with the book. I can't think of a single book that I have read in one sitting. It is loaded with traditional and incredibly creative real estate deal structuring. What is most impressive is that the author was creating these strategies imself. This book is packed with real world transactions(which the author does a great job of describing clearly) and discusses everything from residential, commercial, notes, tax strategies, business entities, property management, stress management, family, new construction, rental properties, fix-flip, to starting and growing a multi-state brokerage firm.

This book jolted me out of my paralysis by analysis and 10 days later, I am making an offer on a foreclosure. This book is worth its weight in gold, and is something that I will continue to re-read throughout my career(along with my Real Estate Fundamentals and Practices book).

I was also pleased to find out that all proceeds of the book sales goes to fund Alzheimer's research(my uncle suffer's from this terrible affliction).

I thought I would share my impression of this outstanding book, as I found that it assembled all the pieces of the real estate puzzle for me.

Thank you to Rich Weese for sharing your years of success

Sebastian

@Kathia L. welcome to BP

I would imagine that the near short sale experience provided you a valuable lesson on the risky nature of real estate. It is very front loaded and requires careful planning before the first paper is signed.

Yesterday I was reading the contract for an offer I am making on a fannie mae owned property. While reading it, I found a discrepency of $1000 which needed to be amended. I would make it a rule to read every single letter in a document before you sign it.

As for RE license, it is a pretty easy test(at least in FL). I got mine in '06, fiuring that it would teach me about investing-but once that proved not to be the case. I never used it, and it expired. I will tell you this:

I learned nothing about investing from taking the class/exam. They basically teach you 8 of the 20 chapters, and in my opinion, much of the fundamentals is missed entirely. I am now re-reading the book cover to cover, and have found it to be one of the 3 books I would recommend to anyone starting out in RE. It is a wealth of info! a license will allow you some advantages should you choose to partner up for rehabs or flips. And if you are good with ppl, you might also find yourself making a good amount of money through commissions, and not necessarily needing to wholesale.

Sebastian