:bobble
Hello everyone,
My name is Michael. I started learning about real estate investing near the end of 2007, but did not buy any houses in 2008 or 2009. Whether or not this was a good decission or not, I am glad I did because I kept seeing the property values go down.
I got out of the Navy as a Nuke Electrician in Feb. 2004 to pursue a carer in Physical Therapy. I completed my Bachelors in March of 2008, and had planned on submitting my application to the University of Florida for the Doctorate in Physical Therapy. However, when the economy took a nose dive I was forced to reassess my goals because going to school for three years did not seem practical when it came to supporting myself and my family. In a way, it was a good thing…eventhough I lost a lot of money in investments, because I have a new direction in life. I had started to find physical therapy depressing because the I notived that 50% of the people I was helping in the civilian world (while doing observation hours) were not as motivated to recover as the people I helped in the miitary (who asked for advice because they felt I was more competant than the coreman or doctors)…nor were they as greatful when you helped them. I learned about medical device sales and I am sure that I will enjoy it more than if I had become a physical therapist, because I enjoy dealing with success driven people and travelling. I know that everything happens for a reason, but I wish I could have learned about medical device sales much earlier…it would have changed a lot.
Unfortunately, most medical device sales jobs require some experience in B2B sales. While it is not a substitute, I began pursuing an MBA as I felt that knowledge of how businesses are run will make me a metter marketer and liason to business customers. I have been trying to find a job prior to graduation, and it has proven rather difficult. I am considering a part time job and would like to get into real estate investing…hopefully at a better time and with a little more knowledge.
I was glad I came upon this forum, as I belonged to another forum but they seem to be somehwat inactive and some of the resonses by people were a little rude. I think this could be a better place for me to learn.
As you may have gathered from above, I live in Gainesville, FL. I am a little nervous about getting into real estate investing, not because I am afraid of leaving my comfort zone, but because many of the investors that were buying and selling houses seem to have disappeared (no website activity or local advertisements), and the local real estate investing club GatorREIA seems to have been inactive since June or July of 2009. I was wondering if anyone might have a theory as to why or where they have gone, and if there is any advice/feedback that I can use to safeguard me from enduring the same fate (strategy, other areas outside of gainesville that I should look into, ect).
In any market, the vast majority of newbies fail. During the bubble, there are a LOT more newbies than normal, which gives rise to a large number of get rich quick websites, investment groups, clubs, etc. When the market turned down, those newbies lost their butts and went back to watching tv. That’s where they all went.
Those of us that are successful in real estate know that it’s a BUSINESS! We know that starting a business requires money, credit, and a LOT OF HARD WORK!
As far as your question - NO, it is not “safe” to invest in central florida or anywhere else. If you want to be safe, stay in bed. Is it a good time to buy property in Florida? Yes, it is ALWAYS a good time to buy property provided you know how you will make money doing so. What is your plan?
What? :shocked Opportunity without an element of risk and the possibility of failure. :banghead Thats obsurd! :smile I was just hoping to get advice on how to position myself properly to take advantage of the opportunity and how to manage my risks.
My plan, thus far…recognizing the potential risk and possibility of failure (having seen many of the real estate investors that were in my area disappear), would be to try and get advice from the experts prior to formulating a plan. This way, I can use their advice to formulate a plan and safeguard myself against failure.
I think my marketing and networking abilities will probably be superior to the investors have gone before me; however, I will still need to buy right. For that there is more than just getting a good price, as certain buy strategies work better for certain amounts of equity. I would love to do subject to deals, since house prices have dropped significantly, and most of the people that would have been ideal for buying subject to do not have the amount of equity needed to make the strategy viable anymore. Hence, I will probably be most interested in doing short sales and REOs, but the questions is how low should I go, or better yet…how do I determine my offer given the current houseing market.
you can obtain a warehouse full of information on this site. there are plenty of e books courses seminars webinars etc. but if you are looking for warm bodies to mentor you , just start pounding the pavement. contact title companies, real estate attorneys, mortgage brokers for referrals. offer to assist the investor/ mentor by doing grunt work for free in return for teaching you the business… focus on the area you want to pursue and find someone who is doing it. there may be fewer investors but the pros are still in the game. seek and you shall find:, knock and it shall be opened unto you. there is a lot of help on this site
My advice is not to wait for the “bottom” but invest in propoeprites tha make since. For example if you can get a house tha twill have a PITI of $350month that will rent for $1100, buy it. Even if next month you should not wait for the best deal in the world before you do one. If you do you will never make a deal.
I think Alachua County and surrounding areas are a great place to invest in this economy. The question is, do you know a strategy well enough to take action with calculated risk? When I mentor newbies, I teach them to do small transactions, ones that will not consume their business if there is a bump in the road.
If I were actively investing in your area, I would start with cheap mobile home deals as well as mobile home and land packages within 30-40 minutes from the U of F Campus. These will be cheap deals and manageable to a new or experienced investor.
You would need to learn some safeguards if you are buying mobile homes on rental pads which you can find online or through a mentor who has that experience. These will generate high yield notes with you financing the resale, then you can sell those notes at a good yield to investors in their IRA accounts. I usually sell mine to investors at 18% and I’ve never had a problem liquidating.
The doctor would say do small and manageable deals for profit in today’s market, then repeat often.
I agree with tampa. Just because it seems as though many investors in your area are not investing any more doesn’t mean they’re not buyers in your market. In fact, I just sold a bulk reo deal in your area recently. tampa mentioned something that I do a lot that I will expound on…build relationships with title companies. find out who is lending money on deals they’re closing in your area…this helps you find funding for yourself or your clients. also find out which clients have recently closed on transactions. Don’t just straight up ask them though…they won’t just come out and tell you (unless you have a relationship like I do with mine). Tell the title agent that you’re in the market to buy properties and you’d like to do business with someone who’s still very active in the market. See if they’ll point you to someone or leave your name and number for the agent to pass on. Trust me…they’ll call you, even if it’s just to inquire more about how serious you are. Everyone is looking for buyers. When they call…it’s up to you to sell yourself. You can also talk to the lenders that the title agent put you onto to see who they’re loaning money to, or you can check recent comp sales in your area (the cheap houses…usually investors) and research to find the owner and cross check to see how many deals they’ve closed recently etc etc etc. They’re sooooo many ways to find buyers right now. You just need to know where to look my friend.
Right now is a GREAT time to get started in real estate. I just said this earlier in another post, but I’ll say it again. Find your buyers first, figure out what areas they like to invest in, what areas are houses still selling fastest in, and what price range are they looking to stay within. Once you find out those key points (and a few more), go find that bargain deal…trust me, they’re plenty out there.
The only guarantee I know of in live is that there are no guarantees (except for death & taxes.) I believe that there is nothing wrong or unsafe about investing in central Florida right now, or in the past, or in the future. You just have to be safe & make cautious decisions. Just do some research in the area you looking to invest in, find out what the properties are selling for(not what they are listed for, what they are actually selling for)…to do this just get some comps from properties that have recently sold.
Then you can determine what is the most you can pay for a property and still be able to make a nice profit. You live in Florida, so you live in what I consider to be the best state for tax liens & deeds. There are more properties for sale here than any other state (TX will have more sales…over 2,500 a year)…but many consider FL to be the best stae because they offer tax certificates in every county once or twice a year…and then every county has deed sales sometimes every week, every other, once a month, or even once a quarter like in Jacksonville.
I would definitely recommend that you take a look at these county sales in your area. Just go on your local counties clerk of courts websites…they will have the listing of properties and the next sale date. All tax deed properties are auctioned off with the starting bid being the total amount of unpaid taxes (unless homestead exemption which is 50% of assesses)…only liens that will survive issuance of tax deed are county & municiapl assessments (check the title through county records)…then jsut buy for 20-30…minor fixup…sell for 40,50, maybe even 60.
Good LUck with it, let me know if you have any questions or issues finding the required information to research.
either flip or rent with minimal or no improvements…don’t invest a lot of monies to fix up because if it doesnt sell…then the prop is sitting there and you have extra monies that you could be using to generate cash flow elsewhere.
