All Forum Posts by: Paul Santos

This thread is what makes BP shine, in 12 simple posts, I have taken away a wealth of solid investing information.  

Might have to chalk it up to a valuable/costly lesson in real estate investing. Know/understand what you are signing because "a verbal contract is only as good as the paper it is written on."

Welcome, @Eric Wilkerson, you have landed in the right place. Make sure to make full advantage of all BP has to offer. BP Podcasts is a great place to start and will get you expose to a lot of the many concepts used wholesaling and many other aspects of real estate. The free material from BP direct that you can download and read at your leisure is great as well. Forums and books help fill in all the answers to the questions you'll will have... Get involved as much as you can, apply yourself, and find your way to take action. Good luck!

@Mark Sedarous welcome to BP and make sure to take full advantage of all the BP resources. 

@Chandler Smith my best advice to you is to do some research and educate yourself first before you jump in and buy real estate. You need to learn how to analyze a property that will either cash flow as a rental or allow you to fix/flip for a profit. Cheap houses does not equate guaranteed capital. No offense, but your posts imply that you really need to spend more time learning the basics of real estate investing before jumping in and buying real estate. Mortgage fraud is serious, buying cheap and "dumping good amount of money into it" is a recipe for disaster. 

Slow down, take some time and read some BiggerPockets books, forums, and listen to as many podcasts as you can, find a mentor in your area if you can, and gain some valuable knowledge first, you'll be glad you did. 

You can get an investment loan for as little as 15% down, with some lenders, but you need a good credit score, cash for downpayment & closing costs, and reserves. If you don't have these basics, then you need to look at an alternative means to finance and/or procure the funds to get a deal and this is only skimming the the complexity of buying an investment property. Good luck!

Not sure if this was mentioned already, but you can always take your prelicense courses through a local community college online. Usually competitively priced and you get college credits for your courses. Second option, Rockwell Institute, excellent online program and some community colleges use them for their online RE offerings. Just make sure to review California's BRE restrictions on how many course hours you can complete per day/week. Best of luck!!

Two I used in this past year, Cherry Creek Mortgage (Scottsdale) Kelly Zitlow - used her and her team for my primary residence.

Guaranteed Rate - Bill Rayman, California based, but licensed in all fifty states, used him at end of 2015 to purchase an Arizona SFR rental with 15% down.

Both were easy to use, flexible, and very knowledgeable. You can google with either of them for contact info. Good luck! 

Just wanted to make a general observation, while looking through the "Find Members" section of BP and scrolling through several pages of new members in the Phoenix metro area, I noticed a spike in the number of real estate agents joining BP.  I guess the word is out, and BP is growing like wildfire. 

Glad to be part of the BP Community!

Some things to consider: TSP General Loan has a maximum of $50,000 and max amortization of 5 years. TSP General Loans, as last week, had a rate of approx. %1.750. You can't use a TSP Residential loan because TSP regulations strictly prohibit TSP Residential loans for investments, only owner occupied.

Whether it is a good idea or bad idea depends on the numbers. If you think you save more money by taking out the TSP loan, compared to what that money could earn in the future, then it might make sense. But at only $50,0000 you still have a remaining mortgage balance of $48,000.

My guess is you might not get many responses here on BP to your question, because TSP is specific to military or government employees. Go to the TSP website, they have a lot information related to loans that may help you make a well-informed decision. Good luck!

@George Temes you have taken the first step in the right direction, stay motivated, and explore all your possibilities. Once you are licensed and are active with a broker, real estate will become a massive universe. Focus on what is important to you and your goals, and take on as much as you can, because the more you do in real estate, the more you will learn and experience you will gain, while furthering your exposure and networking capabilities. Good luck once again!