All Forum Posts by: Trace Garretson

You're definitely right about lower salaries in Florida, one of us will be taking a 35k annual pay cut, however we understand that. I should specify and say we must be in reach of working at a hospital/emergency room.

Also, the mortgage we currently are paying isn't too hard of a financial burden for us, it's just not a wise investment (large house for only 2 people).

It is time for a change and after making some money on our current home in Colorado, we are ready to get out of the mortgage while we are ahead. We are also anxious to stop paying our current $1350 monthly mortgage. We will have at least 60k that we can apply to investing. We also have a savings set aside so that we can take 6 months off and essentially do absolutely nothing but soul searching. 

When we begin to work again full time, we will be making between 90k and 110k in our respective fields combined annually, based on researching areas such as Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville and more.

We both want proximity to clear beach waters, a safe neighborhood, an active area with both day and night activities, and a market that we could eventually have a cash flowing rental in.

Where would you all suggest and why?

Hello BP, in a few days I am helping my old landlord (and now best friend) drive his possessions from Colorado to Norfolk, VA. He has retired this year, and in effort to provide housing to underprivileged students is relocating to Virginia. He has done such for nearly 20 years in Colorado, although the expensive market really limits his potential to do so. A 3/2 home in his neck of the woods in CO. is around 400k, where as he just bought a 7/3 fully renovated house in Norfolk for 250k. This has opened my eyes to a market I am able to get my foot in the door on. Where I have extreme difficulty getting approved for anything at all here in Colorado, in Norfolk I can use my savings for a 20% down payment on between 2 and 4 units.

I understand Norfolk has a few quirks, such as flood zones, historic districts, and crime rates that really fluctuate from one street to the next. On our 3 day drive there, I would like to research these and any other issues that are brought up to me before arrival (if you guys have any other suggestions to consider). Then, considering my budget of 60k for down payments (split between me and my girlfriend), and another 20k cash for any immediate repairs or emergency house related costs, I could use some insight on what types of properties I should consider.

My girlfriend wants one move in ready property for us to stay in before anything else. The rental unit/building comes after that. 

Currently after a week of scouting the property websites like zillow, realtor, and trulia, we have found that in the lowest crime zones we expect to find a fully renovated 2/1 or 3/1 single family home for 135k, and we also found that in the 150k range some move in ready duplexes exist. We also found a duplex with a top floor partially renovated and move in ready, that contained a downstairs unit that needs a full cosmetic touch up, but should be move in ready in maybe 2 weeks time.

I intend to visually inspect the neighborhoods and do several walkthroughs with an agent while down there next week. If the community checks out, my girlfriend and I will be relocating to Norfolk in pursuit of investing, supplemented by our full time jobs. 

We are curious to know if there are any other things unique to Norfolk/Virginia beach that we should consider. We also would like to know more about specific neighborhoods, and what to expect in them. Lastly we would like any advice on how best to allocate our 80k total real estate cash budget, or confirmation that what we found (one full renovated single family for us, and a duplex with one unit move in ready) is a good idea. If not please explain. 

Thankyou all!

Hello everybody, my name is Trace and I am new to BP. This is my first post so please make suggestions if it would be better placed in another forum. 

I live just north of Denver, Co. in Westminster. Although I'm brand new to Real Estate, I know without a doubt that I would like to become an investor and produce passive income as soon as possible. It is definitely a seller's market here, which means price points are much higher than other places in the country. My impression is that it would be a great idea to become a local agent, and take advantage of the market's current (advantages?) to agents. In the mean time I can network and learn my local market for investing purposes while hopefully earning a commission. Even if that proves wrong, I am also under the impression that it is valuable to be able to save on future purchase costs by having a license and have access to the MLS. Additionally, it may present some potential income that would never have fallen in my lap otherwise.

I have several questions about becoming licensed, some of which may be rather unique:

1)Does the source of my 168 hours of classwork matter to a broker?

2)How quickly can I complete a physical class in comparison to an online class?

3)Does a physical class provide worthwhile networking opportunities? Or am I better off finding those through a broker once I have passed my exam?

4)What schools are the best in my area? I tried accessing DORA's website but could not find that info.

5)If I study online, may I still receive physical mentoring (face to face)?

6)How much time am I required to commit to a broker once licensed?

7)How does the hiring process work with a broker once I pass my exam?

8)How soon can I begin to collect either a paycheck under a broker or a commission?

9)How will my hand tattoo (fully covered hand) affect me while looking to tie my license to a brokerage?

10)What happens if I become licensed, but then for some reason pursue investing out of state, and relocate there? Will my efforts amount to a wash, or will I be able to just take their exam and keep moving?

11)Will licensing benefit me for out of state deals? (For example, helping a client relocate).

12)Can I represent myself in out of state investment's for myself, or must I hire an agent? If so, can I do so immediately, or must I stick it out for 2 years under a broker first?

Thank you to anybody who has read up to this point. I would appreciate any input on my approach, feedback on my post, and answers to any questions, even if it's only one.