All Forum Posts by: Scott R.

Correct, the $2500 I was talking about was just MLS fees.
Classes were probablly another $1500, this was the very basics just met requirements for license. Only thing half way useful I think was the contracts and contract class you had to go to.
Licensee Test was around $100.
Then there was another $300ish in other required classes (contract writing, and another one i forget), fingerprinting, stuff like that.
Seemed the MLS nickle and dimed me to death, had to buy this and that and this.
Continuing education classes are generally $25 for 3 hours, and 24 hours are required. this is required every 2 years. Really not much.
Overall these cost are VERY cheap as far as becoming a professional, and not very time consuming. A House is generally the biggest investment most people will ever make, yet to help them make this decision you need almost no traning. Kinda scary., Most realtors always push you to spend the most you can afford, as the more you spend the more there comission, As you can tell over the last couple years, forclosure is booming, this isnt always the best move. I had a friend at the same time I was getting my real estate license getting his massage therapy license, and to give someone a massage he had to have more state required class time then I did!
-Scott

P.s. there are EXCELLENT investor friendly realtors, there just very hard to find, good person to find, and keep on there good side.

Personally I think id LIKE condos as investments, althought I dont own any. Your HOA is due every month renter or not, on top of you mortgage, and raises your cost every month its not rented. some HOA's are VERY strict, and some dont even allow rentals, some allow but are very against it. Condos are GENERALLY cheaper then a SFR in the same area, as you have no lawn, no privacy and such. Taxes are also normally cheaper. This can all help the cash flow portion, so if you cut out the cost for insurance, cut out any yard maintance, subtract a little for the difference in taxes, sometimes this can help offset the cost of the HOA. Also some friends I have that have condo rentals charge so much for rent, lets say $750. then charge $25/month for water for the first person, and $5 for each additional person. Very similar to what apartment complex's do, this will actually make your rent a tad bit higher, but your average person wont realize it, as they see that additional cost as covering the water/trash/sewer.
Property doesnt seem too far off, depends on the HOA specifically.
1 Bedroom condos will have alot higher turn over then 2 or 3 bedrooms, doesnt say what this condo is.
Condos generally are going to be alot harder to sell, and appriciate slower. depends what exactly your strategy is.

Texas does allow it, although most average title agents are clueless as to it, a good title agent makes all the difference.
-Scott

1. The difference being the $10800 you have invested (20%) to obtain this property. Since youve invested your own money your making $72 a month on your $10,800 you put in it, if you didnt put this money down you wouldnt make that extra $72.
2. Your HOA DOES need to be included in the 50% that has your payment included. MOST condos will not fit into the 50% rule as the lowest HOA on a 1 bedroom I've ever seen in southern Arizona is little over $100/mo.
HOA DOES generally cover water and trash, as well as landscaping, sometimes roof, termites and exterior building insurance. this GENERALLY doesnt require you to have any further insurance, it will not cover the property inside the condo, but you would not be covering that anyways, and recommend your renters get rental insurance.
3. Most realtors should be able to tell you or give you a good idea, but I recently looked at some one bedroom condos in tucson on the MLS, and 3 of the 6 listing had different HOA prices for the same size units, generally the HOA is based on the unit/square footage, so I believe some of these prices were wrong, but they were all within $25., They ranged $119-145 month for the 1 bedroom.
-Scott

Most realtors dont deal with investors, dont deal with cashflowing properties, dont deal with real "wholesale deals" Realtors generally consiter "Wholesale" anything not at FMV, even if its a $100,000k house for $95,000 I've had Realtors send me these "wholesale" houses and try and convince me how good of a deal it is, Or cashflow properties, consitering cash flow anything over the payment cost, Well I'll be one to tell you that I WAY under estimated this when I got started, and it cost me, alot. the 50% rule is pretty damn close and I now stick to it. I dont care how good of a deal and realtor or broker tells me it is, 99% of them arent.

I've got my license in Arizona and California, and I'm going to let both of them expire when the time comes. First off I'm no longer interested in those markets, currently in Texas. From my experience its just not worth obtaining your license. ANY time you make an offer, you have to disclose, and your sellers automatically think there selling way to low, or you, the realtor wouldnt be interested. I think it creates problems and more questions and such, being a realtor thats buying vs an investor thats buying. The MLS information isn't worth the cost, as there is public access to the MLS current listings, and CMA's and days on market and such is easily obtained by most realtors.
In Arizona its easy, california seems to be a different story as far as having your license hung with a broker who will allow you to be not active, not currently dealing with sellers or buyers, as your not producing them money. Even the pay per month Brokers start to get annoyed after several months of no deals. You CANNOT have access to the MLS and have your license hung with the state in Arizona atleast I know for sure, you have to have a broker and permission from that broker throught the MLS (tucson specifically) for you to obtain access (www.tarmls.com) The comission split means your making 1.5 maybe 2% of the deal. If your buying high dollar rentals it might make sense, doesnt make sense to get my license in Texas to recieve the comission on my $25,000 houses. (Plus only one was bought where any comission was offered, most wholesale deals wont pay out to a realtor)
The real estate classes to obtain your license dont really help with ANY aspect of Investing I dont think, Nor really selling property. They provide you with laws, fact, information of which you will almost never use. Nothing about actually day to day Realtor work. The Arizona state test is useless information for being a realtor is a joke. id say 75% of questions have no relation to day to day realtor or investor duties. Yea I knew how many square feet were in an acre for the test, dont know anymore, dont need to know, and if I do I can look it up.
Initial start up cost for the Tucson MLS was pretty costly, believe I spent around $2500 in fees, setting up your supra account and such. I'm half way done with my broker license in the state, but decided to not renew my license.
In arizona 24 hours of continuing education is needed every 2 years, although this isnt much, if your not making much money from having your license I dont see it being worth it.
I'll let it expire then no longer disclose!
-Scott
Although,since I'm buying in Texas, I DO NOT have to disclose I'm a licensed realtor, as im not licensed in this state, but then it does not help you in your investing either. Texas is one of the few states that makes you retake the entire sales course to become a realtor, In california I took like a 5 day program on the California laws then were only required to pass the california exam.
-Scott

Although it does happen, Believe Eddie does it himself, most first time landlords want to be or need to be closer to the property, Doesnt say where you are located or looking to invest, theres tons of areas that will cash flow greatly for $40,000. some areas you could buy 2 - 4 houses for that same $40,000.
What do you plan to do with this house? who will repair it, who will clean it, who will rent/manage it,?
Seems like alot of first time investors have no clue on the real cost of owning rental property, although it would help you'd have no mortgage!
-Scott

my vote is balloon boy..
http://www.microflight.com/Balloon-Boy-Halloween-Costume-Kit
-Scott

Ryan-
Just out of curiosity why would/were you consitering expanding into McKinney? It just seems a bit far, much further then Lubbock, even further then DFW. Any special reason!?
-Scott

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/23/home-depot-puts-an-eco-friendly-twist-on-trade-ins-for-holiday-s/?icid=main|main|dl5|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailyfinance.com%2F2009%2F10%2F23%2Fhome-depot-puts-an-eco-friendly-twist-on-trade-ins-for-holiday-s%2F

Nice little 15% of drills if you trade in a broken one!
-Scott

luckly I dont have anything with such a steep slope!
-Scott