Newbie question (long) - Posted by jason

Posted by SueC on March 09, 2001 at 09:42:29:

Hi Jason, how great that you bring your 3 year old, my 2 year old seems to love rehabs already… or maybe he just likes wearing the boots…

Anyway, I’m fairly new too, here’s what I’ve found. You want to check the posts here, there was just a big thread about finding comps on the Internet. You can try your favorite RE agent (but then you have to cut them in your deal), or possibly call your county recorder of deeds to see if they offer info online (mine does).

You really need to locate motivated sellers, not just houses for sale. What books are you reading? they might offer some tips. It will take some time getting to know your market, which means you’ll make some mistakes. But that’s how you learn. Read everything in the Articles section here, and also search the Archives, to learn how to talk to your seller, what kind of deal would work best, and how to set it up. Being very new at this, you might try to find an investor to flip to thru your REI group, and then ask if you can watch how they do it to learn the ropes (hey, if you make them some money,…)

If you find that one of the FSBOs will lease-option to you or sell subject-to, then your credit won’t matter so much. Keep in mind that you are looking for a motivated seller, who will be willing to do a deal regardless of your personal situation, they just need out! Education is most important because as you learn new techniques, you’ll learn what options you have on any particular deal.

Read the thread below, but be sure to check the archives as this question has been asked many times, and there’s lots of info available! Best of luck!

http://216.46.238.11:80/wwwboard/messages/11569.html

Newbie question (long) - Posted by jason

Posted by jason on March 08, 2001 at 21:57:28:

O.K. so I’ve read some books and gone to a couple of rei meetings. Today I went out with my wife and very patient 3 yr old to find some houses. I have no clue what kind of deals i want to do so I figured I would just go and see what happens. I ended up with about 5 prospects. I found some FSBO’s and a couple of vacant homes. My question is what now?
I know I need to find out the real value of these homes before i can decide if they are possible deals. How do I do that? I am new to the area and I have no idea what a good deal is going to be? Also I am 26 years old with no credit, does anyone have any ideas about financing or the probability of a no cash deal for such a green invester such as me?
Thanks for the replies in advance, this site has been a great help to me. I know there are alot of really experienced investors here and I think it is great that they give their advice so freely to us young and stupid ones!

thank you
Jason

p.s. If you can’t tell I am really new at this. I have never bought any kind of real estate before and I am anxious to get started. I am taking somebodys advice that I got off of this site “…just start!!!..”

Re: Newbie question (long) - Posted by Rafael

Posted by Rafael on March 09, 2001 at 09:49:12:

Well Jason,
You can never find you the “real value” of a home until you sell it and set that value. Homes as all other things are only worth what people will pay for them. To find a value even remotely close to an arv(after repaired value) you must first find out how to get comps(comparable market analysis) on these homes. Then you need to see to it that you can find out about how much in repairs, if any, these homes need. Take your expenses(which are more than just repairs: holding costs, sales costs, ect.) and subtract them for what you can get from the property and also subtract what you have to pay for the property(to the owner) and you have profit! Now, I will caution you, do not do anything like this unless you have purchased some material or gone to a seminar of any one of the abundantly available Gurus for proper training in the documentation, cya techniques, and other info that you will need. My personal recommendation is Ron LeGrand but the choice is yours.

hope this helps and wishing you luck,
rafael