All Forum Posts by: Derek W.

Construction Contractor
2nd grade teacher
Radio DJ
I was only good at 1 of the 3!

In California to join an MLS board you do have to have your license active with a broker. In California, only brokers are allowed to be members of an MLS board, and licensed salespersons can join under their affiliation. But if you just need to "park" your license, there are brokers who will let you do this without the monthly costs and E&O insurance. If you begin to do deals, you will need to pay your own E&O and pay a flat fee to the broker per deal, but if your license is parked inactively, there are no monthly fees, except to your MLS board. Helpfull?

Most of the MLS boards in CA have restricted their access to non-members. Sharing user names and passwords is a thing of the past. I feel it is a huge advantage to having a real estate license if you want to get into investing. I think you have a really good idea to hunt for deals for other investors as you sharpen your skills and save commissions for your own investing. Right now, in the Southern California market, I would look at SFRs and multi-family. Condo, senior, 433 etc. in a declining market...I would pass. What an investor would want from you is a strong knowledge of your local inventory, what rent prices are in that area, and what the house could resell for if it were "perfectly" fixed. Get good at studying comps and recognizing when a property is listed under market value. You are in a very exciting geographic area with tons of deals everyday. Good luck!

I have been an agent for years, have never put my face on anything, and often wondered why others do. Thank you for asking the question so that others like me can hear the answers.

This is REALLY frustrating to me. In Southern California there is really a huge need for affordable lower income housing, in the 50-100k range. In some areas an investor could walk through and buy for 50k and sell for 90k. At 90k the home owner would have roughly a $740 dollar a month mortgage with only $2,700 down, and the investor could net 25k per property. But as investors we are handicapped by the long turn around. You can’t even receive an offer in the 90 days for FHA, so you are typically holding property 120 days or more. I am stuck in this holding pattern with a house in Lake Elsinore. It will probably be the last I do in the low price range because of the nightmare this escrow has been. They keep coming back with more hang ups, like “subject property value has increased more than 5% in less than 90 days and requires a detailed breakdown of all improvements with the associated costs and may require a second full appraisal.†Does anyone have any thought or ideas on this?

What alternative strategies do you mean?

The Norris group has 41 properties currently being rehabbed. I was at their office yesterday and was told they bought 15 more in the last two weeks! All in Riverside County (mostly Moreno Valley) Only 1 in O.C. but I don't know what city.

That show is staged, scripted, ridiculous, insulting and annoying....and I have watched every episode! See www.flipthislawsuit.com for some entertainment on the fraud of some of the cast.