All Forum Posts by: Tamara Elliott-Deering

Mark, 

Finance is an excellent choice. So many new investors get burned because they don't understand the numbers. If it comes to a choice between getting your CPA and or a finance job and pursuing your real estate license go the job/cpa route. Look for a job with one of the big commercial real estate/property management firms and you'll learn a ton and get paid to do it. Best of luck.

Sometimes asking questions especially the "new and confused" ones is the best thing to do. It gives people with more experience the chance to look back and sometimes discover that the way we do things is outdated. Also, if you are of the millenial generation my ancient gen X mind always needs help with marketing ideas for the newer platforms like snapshot, periscope and whatever you are using right now that I've never heard of.

Driving for dollars is great. Make sure you follow up on what you find, send letters, door knock etc. Follow through and tracking leads are the hardest part for me.

I'm originally from the Seattle area and moved to Texas to get away from the high real estate prices. I was talking to another investor the other day and they suggested looking in smaller towns with colleges so you are on the right track. Ellensburg, Bellingham, an Wallla Walla come to mind as well. But I've been out of Wa a long time.

Jordan,

I have a college degree a nd a real estate license but what helpS me most in my investing business is my construction experience. I started by managing commercial construction projects for large companies but I learned most of my residential construction by working on my own houses. If I were to do it again I'd go into the trades, especially plumbing or electrical because those two require licenses to pull permits in my state and are the biggest headaches and expensive line items in my projects.

Because you are young you will need to know more than the people working for you because they will try and take advantage of you. So go into the trades, save some money and buy a house for cheap to live in. There are some really affordable properties in Ohio, you may be able to find a vacant one and work out a deal with the owner, if it's in rough shape you might offer repairs in lieu of a down payment. Once you own it start looking for roommates, live in the house for two years and repeat. Split the equity from house 1 into 2 or  more properties when you sell in two years always living in one to maximize tax advantages and by the time you turn 21 you will have a couple of houses done, paid no rent and will be able to send me a bottle of bourbon to thank me.

Go get started.

First a caveat, I am not a buy and hold investor and I look at the cash flow after the mortgage is paid not the cash flow after expenses and to my way of thinking $55 a month return for an investment of $63,000 doesn't make sense to me, that works out to an interest rate of about 1% in the early years. Since I could get that for no risk at a bank it's not an attractive use of my money. With the numbers presented I would use the 63k to buy into a flip, but I'm a flipper at heart. 

The secret to all investing is to figure out what your goals are and what they look like not what someone else says they should be. For me right now 63k is a lot but maybe it's not for you and you can afford to wait to get your returns, if so this could be a great deal. Unfortunately or fortunately, no one can answer that question for you but you. 

You're doing great. Keep working on the analysis and get to the point where you truly understand what the numbers mean both on their own and to your situation and you will do great.

I'm not from Philly but my guess would be that you answered your own question. The low income housing complex will probably not go away and will continue to be a drag on the property values, also with the not in my backyard mentality if future low income units are to be built it will probably be there. Crime rates are higher than average which usually means that the best tenants will want to live somewhere else. I'm all for buying into gentrifying areas but I don't think this home will appreciate much. If I were you I'd keep looking.

Tamara

@Brandon Allen

Here's a brief summary of what makes up a valid contract in Texas: http://www.thetaylorfirm.com/pdf/texascontractlaw....

You could use a simplified one page contract but TREC has spent a lot of money to create the 1-4 resale contract, various clauses have been tested through the courts and it is probably your best bet for ensuring the protection of you and the seller. While the TREC contract is wordy there aren't many lines that have to be filled in, and those that do are the key points of negotiation like price, closing date, option period and special conditions. As a Realtor I am required to use the form and since it's the most common real estate contract used in TX it will make everything easier for the professionals that you will have help you close the property like the title company and/or your attorney.

Tamara

David,

One of your biggest problems with fixing up older homes in my part of TX is that a lot of the homes built in the 80's and early 90's have really narrow (like 24") doorways that enter the bathrooms, because of the configuration of the baths there is no easy way to accommodate the turn radius and entrance requirements for wheel chair access, so you will end up having to do a total gut on one of those properties. Also, the fact that most houses here are built on slabs makes plumbing retrofitting more expensive. That said it can all be done just be aware that if you're not really careful with the properties that you choose your rehab costs may be higher than average. One final thought, if you're going to rent HUD homes you will have to follow ADA requirements and the thing that most people get wrong is the access ramp. Make sure you have a good understanding of the required slope and landing spaces and turn radii because this is an expensive mistake.

Good luck to you.

This could be a great niche to market to but I would focus on a neighborhood. I also look for older owners or in transitional/rougher neighborhoods I look for people who have a car seat or a mini van and market to them. You want to focus your marketing on the people who are the most likely to sell. Some people say it's absentee owners, others say just the opposite. Pretty much you'll have to put your mailers out there and stick with it for 3-4 months so you can gauge your results.

Best of luck.