New Investor - What to do? - Posted by Mark

Posted by jodie on July 23, 2007 at 05:24:13:

hi mark,
It depends if you have the funds to back you up.
if not then wholesale but if you do and you have the funds why not let a re investor help you it might cost you a little bit its better than losing everything

New Investor - What to do? - Posted by Mark

Posted by Mark on July 23, 2007 at 02:58:40:

Hello, my name is Mark.

My FICO score is 725, if that matters. I am very interested in flipping properties. I am a new investor. I think that I would estimate the repair cost pretty close on the flips. I have a Real Estate Sales Degree from a local college, so I know a little about pricing of houses. Could anyone help me, by telling me if flipping is a good investment start. If not, what is? I do want to work hands on in Real Estate, not behind the scenes, like a scout or anything. Anything helps here.

-Mark

Re: New Investor - What to do? - Posted by Ronnie

Posted by Ronnie on July 28, 2007 at 20:32:59:

No, your fico score does not matter. What matters is how good the deal is because if the deal is good you will get the cash.

As you’ve already read on the other replies wholesaling might be a better way to start until you get more familiar with the rehab process. Your risk is very minimal and you’re in and out of a deal just like that. Rehabbing isn’t as easy as it sounds. You really need to know how to plan and what to plan for. If you think you can do it then go ahead but be very sure you are ready. Most investors will advise you against doing a rehab as your first deal.

Hope this helps!

Re: New Investor - What to do? - Posted by Trevor

Posted by Trevor on July 23, 2007 at 22:51:47:

Hey Mark,

Congrats on the Fico once again. That definetely doesn’t hurt. However, if you are going to go about it as a legitimate business that fico won’t matter as much as you may think.

Flipping is definetly not usually a starters avenue into REI. However, it sounds like you know real estate and how to accurately estimate repair costs.

You have two parts of the puzzle down:

  • accurately estimating repair costs
  • accurately estimating the sales price

Now, you need to get the other parts down and you’ll be golden.

You need to begin marketing and bringing in a steady stream of qualified leads. I’m not talking 10-20 leads a month. At that pace you may not get a deal for 4 or 5 months. I’m talking 100+ leads a month so you can pick out only the most motivated sellers and make max profits.

Anyhow, with your knowledge, a good place to start may be to wholesale a few properties to experienced flippers first.

Basically, you will be learning the ropes without the risk.

You will still learn how to identify the right properties.

You will still learn how to accurately estimate the properties (even better than you already do)

You will still learn how to calculate the profits and purchase price to ensure a profit.

The only things that you will not do are put up the cash to purchase the property and worry about repairing anything at all.

You will simply find the properties that will turn a profit when repaired, find experienced flippers who have cash to purchase the property, assign the contract over to them, collect your fee, and do the next one.

After you have done a few wholesales and are very comfortable with your abilities in all aspects of the deal, go and do a flip from start to finish on your own.

This is just my 2cents… but, wholesaling is one of the best educations on learning the ropes on the basics of flipping you can get. Learn from the experienced flippers who buy your first couple wholesale deals and use what they did good and avoid what they did wrong.

Good luck!

Trevor Mauch
theREIbrain.com

Re: New Investor - What to do? - Posted by camgere

Posted by camgere on July 23, 2007 at 14:42:56:

Congratulations on the FICO score. Most investing is based on the illiquidity of the market. One man’s burden is another man’s dream home.

What area (zipcode) are you investing in and what have you identified as having bargain potential? e.g. 3/2 SFR, 1600sf.

There are few valuable things you can categorically say about real estate that apply to every state. Why not fish for advice that applies to you directly.

Since most desparation/motivation comes from a lack of cash, what access to cash (desparation proofing) do you have?

Or are you using some “0 down” method?

Re: New Investor - What to do? - Posted by Gene

Posted by Gene on July 23, 2007 at 08:38:02:

Invest in you education. Read a few good books on investing. You don’t need to spend huge $$ on courses…just spend a few hours a day reading and you will learn a ton.

This sites archives can help you find recommended books.

Re: New Investor - What to do? - Posted by Phil

Posted by Phil on July 23, 2007 at 07:34:40:

Joe Kaiser has a new course on flipping called The Blue Pen Flip. And since it’s from Joe, you know it’s a decent course.Its on this site. Check it out.