All Forum Posts by: Taylor Pelzel

Sometimes sellers may be or may not be aware of their current situation. I've had sellers call me, interested in listing their house. After viewing the house and preparing CMA I let them know what they can expect to sell the house for. Sometimes their numbers are way off as to what they "thought" the house was worth. Subject to short sale means they are underwater and the sale of the house would leave them owing money. It also means that the short sale process typically hasnt began or is in early stages. Having a short sale approved by bank can be a nightmare of a process.

Pay the dang money for a CPA. Surely you can find a way to come up with money for a good CPA. Not just any CPA either. You need to make sure you have an aggressive CPA. The money a good CPA will save you on your taxes will make the fee you pay look like mincemeat.

Welcome! I remember saying the same exact thing when I was 20 years old. I was obsessed with everything having to deal with real estate investing. Books, podcasts, videos, you name it. You can have all the knowledge in the world on this subject but if you don't FULLY COMMIT and believe in yourself, that knowledge is worthless. Just like money, its worthless if its not spent! It took me 10 years to get over my fears of failure and learned how to become comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Now its become an obsession. Fighting though a deal sucks sometimes. But, when you start winning those small battles and making **** happen. Things really change. Its like golf, you can just absolutely suck. You hit 125 horrible shots but that one good one will keep you interested. Next time you hit 2 or 3 good shots. Next thing you know your playing golf everyday because your obsessed. Take action and FULLY COMMIT to what your vision and goals are! Hope you kill it!

That's a great question.  I would think it would depend on the comparable houses that the appraiser uses in his report. If every other house has HVAC I would imagine he would ding you for it. I've had plenty of issues with appraisals and appraisers in the past. To the point where, as a broker, I show up to the appraisal if I have the house listed. I follow him/her the whole time. I tell them from the beginning, " I just want to make sure our notes and records match up." The last appraisal I went to was a house I was buying. I measured the house before the appraisal. He had a laser shooter trying to get the length of this ranch house. He told me it was 45 ft. I had measured 53. He measured it again and got 45. I asked him if he would measure it with an actual strap tape. He didn't like this, but did it anyway. Came back and measured it again right at 53ft. A 7 ft measuring mistake can mean THOUSANDS of dollars.

Welcome! What area are you looking for a duplex? Price range?

What does the offer to purchase say about breach of contract? As a buyer, your typically less liable for breaching than a seller would be. His frustration about the 90 days isn't your problem. He obviously agreed to it. Take your loss on the earnest money and due diligence and any other expenses you had and dont worry about any legal action threats. 

Just a thought... Have you ever thought about partnering with other investors and structuring a partnership and combining money. 150k downpayment CAN POTENTIALLY buy you something a lot more than just 40k can. Do you try to network with other investors? I'm a real estate broker and network as much as I can with investors. Whether its meetup groups or REI conventions. I never solicit or even mention that I am a full time broker. I'm not there to sell a service. Im there to build relationships.

Congrats. Make a plan and set goals. Commit 110 percent!!! Read and study the worlds most successful RE investors. Be careful about putting a time frame on when your going to "start" investing. It's like people who don't have kids. They say "well we're not ready yet." When an unexpected pregnancy happens people learn and are forced to MAKE IT WORK. I'm not saying jump in immediately, but we all know how that "I'll start investing in 2 years goes." You lose the interest, you get sucked into buying "dumb stuff," you end up acquiring negative debt instead of positive debt. Good Luck! Stay motivated, EDUCATE YOURSELF, and commit 110 percent!

Personally, my favorite "guru" is Grant Cardone. He is very influential to me. Every time I'm looking for motivation I go back to his videos because hes so passionate about what he does and there is not doubt he is 110 percent committed to what he is doing. Everyone is different so he might not resonate as well with others. One thing I've noticed with most all gurus whether they are as successful as they say they are or not. They all talk about the obsession they have with studying the most successful investors ever. Most of these gurus piggyback off of what other have already said but the delivery is different. If there is a guru that can get you motivated and pumped up, I wouldn't care if he wasnt making as much money as he claimed. 

You should always be looking for deals. Whether your "ready" to take the jump or not. Finding deals is an art and takes knowledge, persistence, and knowing people. You should be looking for deals EVERY SINGLE DAY! Get out and network. Meet as many people as you can. Have a plan for how you are going to find your deals. Whether its through a realtor sending you properties, fsbo on zillow, loopnet, ect, ect. If you see contractors working on a house, stop and start up a conversation. "Is this house going to be sold anytime soon?" Connect with as many people as you can.