All Forum Posts by: Jim Keller

The bank is unlikely to renegotiate with you or anyone else unless forced to.   Use the appraisal, and home inspection/contractor estimate agenst them.  Find an undisclosed defect and ask for a credit...... a $15,000 credit!

I never offer using a contingency and always offer cash no inspections.  With this said your real problem is how could you have missed $15,000.  Not to say I don't make mistakes, in my market the bank wouldn't even liston to such a request the agent would just ask for a cancellation.  Get better at estimating the deal, this business is won and lost in aqusition.  Look at it this way, atleast you didn't close and figure this out, cut your losses and move one

Good luck 

 Jeff

I would use this site and investment clubs in your area.  I have 2 friends/investors I met through biggerpockets and have done multiple deals with associates met at meetups in my area.  People may roll their eyes at what I'm going to say right now but capitalism is alive and free to be practiced by anyone willing to pay the small entry fee. 

Most new investors have way more time than money,  this fee is relitivly cheep for the huge returns I have seen in my first 18 months as a full time investor.  Go for it...... 

Hi Stephanie

I presently have 4 future real estate investors working with me, 1 has money to add to any homes he finds for me to flip. The other 3 have zero cash at this time, and have agreed to use my search methods to find homes with between 70 to 80% of ARV and give them to me for a small fee. I'm happy to teach what I do to others we have 2 deals done this year from my "bird dog's".

My hope is all 4 cut the mustard and become full time investors.  By then I will be on to the newest investment tend and will need strong well trained investors under me to handle bigger more complexed deals.  Just keep working, understand you have little to add, your attitude is what would get you a second look from me.  I want people on my team that make us better, that make us learn and find more deals.  Real Estate investment clubs are a good place to find that.  Stand up and the end of the club meeting and tell the room full of investors what you want.  You may get it!!!

we are a gentrification company we reestablish neighborhoods, so I tell them we want them to know that we are available to them.  When I say them I mean sellers of damaged homesmany of these sellers do not know that their house is even marketable. and a lot of the sellers do not even live at that address and this eyesore and this problem that they have is something I just take care of for them if you talk to enough sellers in that situation you will find little diamonds in the rough

This is the best topic i have seen in weeks, 

1. Fearless, Most of the time

2. Dreamer, always

3. Committed to growth, always

4. My own 10,000 foot view of problems/opportunity, my true advantage!

I think I will print this and read it every morning for the next 30 days.

I'm 50 years old and in my younger years I used to think the same way about MY DEALS.... in hind sight I see now I never did a deal,  so take our advise.  Surround yourself with heavy hitting multimillionaires and just pick up the little stuff they drop on the floor.  Build your nest egg and be ready for when one of your NEW friends has a real deal and needs you're to help close it.  This I believe is how the real world works.  

I never spoke of marketing and spending your money marketing.  Unless you see marketing as taking the most successful real estate investor you have access to,  to lunch and market yourself to him.... money well spent.

Great job...... but know what?  Wow have I been there, in the past I have lost track of my goals.  I have lost the vision that got me my first few deals.  I love making list and pulling back all the negative self talk that stops me/you from finding the next deal.

Commit today to doing the things it take to buy property to flip. I was in a simular rut and looked on the title application our MLS has connected to it. Do the same, search all of the cash sales in the last 30 days in a 15 mile radius of your last 2 deals. It will be proof that deals are closing. All may not have been obtained for the right price that would allow you to flip bUT deals areally closing.

In my area there was well over 50 properties most I knew about but for my lack of understanding how to do this business I lost.   I went to a great club meeting where the speaker/flipper opperated on a 5% margin, how cold that be.  Now they turn 40 million every year and make 2 million In profit just by getting a 5% return.  Just figure out your program and work it.  They're many deals out there, go find them and close on 3 this month.

I would be looking for another seasond investor someone you could just give this $5,000 to and help him close his deal.  I have several people like that in my opperation.  If the investor is $5,000 short from putting a deal that makes him $40,000 your 5k is very valuable.  

Network with every group you can, make it a goal to attend 4 investment clubs a week and with in a month you will have your answer to "WHAT CAN $5,000 DO"

I buy fix and flip in the southern California market and my company has been a member of the MLS for over 15 years. I would consider myself an expert when searching and navagating the MLS and in my last 18 month as a full time active investor the only properties I have gotten under contract on the MLS are short sales. All the other deals well over 200 of them, some homeowner or some cash buy and hold investor has paid a higher number for.

In my first years as an agent my biggest lesson was that real estate is all about marketing. Your success as an investor will be determined by your ability to market your ability as an investor. The MLS will be only used by you to get the highest price possible for other properties you own..... this is its only function.

Most real estate agents are agents not investors. A huge majority of them think the MLS is where you find deals....... if you are told that ask them how many they own. My guess is that in any office with 25 agents 4 or 5 may own an investmenthat property all the others are someone you shouldn't liston to. They just don't have enough experiance.

I know this because it was me for years.... read all you can. A good book is garry keller's book the millionaire real estate investor.  Good first start.

I love the shows...... and I love it when I'm at a cocktail party and someone asks what do I do and I say I'm in Construction/Real Estate then you hear.... "oh I watch a lot of HGTV I think I would be great at house flipping"  I just say "I bet you would be" and smile.  Then I ask them what they do and they say Im a nurse, or accountant, or what ever and I just smile and say I watch a lot of hospital shows or movies about accountants and I think I could do it just like ER NYC.

People have no clue what it takes to do this job..... I know how many times I'm surprised, most would end up crying in the corner.  Like I would be in the NYC ER