Who all here is in real estate?

[massnup]

I'm a real estate agent here in my town and thought I would see what has helped the most in getting leads, listings etc? Any tips will be helpful.

 

[aeliop]

My wife is in real estate

I'm a real estate agent here in my town and thought I would see what has helped the most in getting leads, listings etc? Any tips will be helpful.

My wife had a successful career working for a builder and no she is out on her own



We try to help each other in our respective businesses.

 

[subby]

im int he NY area and i plan to also get into real estate.. i think im going to go into flipping homes and possibly renting them out. their is millions to be made

 

[bugaboo0]

I am in real estate too, in Vancouver BC, Canada.

 

[asleep]

what are you looking to do??? i was fortunate enough to have had a father who saved every penny he made, and invested in real estate. it is probably the best way to make serious money. stuff he bought in the 70's and early 80's is worth 20 to 30 X the original investment.
keep your eyes open, learn the market where you are, and buy wisely.

 

[Sassy]

We're not into real estate, but we've had two house for sale for over 1-1/2 years now. We're making three house payments right now and about to go broke if something doesn't give soon.

The market where I live just died. My real estate agent said that she looked how many contracts had been put on houses with in a two month time frame in my house's price range ($130,000) and there was only one. It was a condo. The only thing selling is under $90,000 or over 250,000.

There have been so many lay-offs in my area that people moving out of town looking for work. Normally our unemployment rate is around 2% and it's over 4% right now.

We did try renting my house for about 4 months, but didn't get any offers. I put back on the market.

 

[Designbuilt]

Two of my older brothers own the biggest real estate firm in my area. My oldest brother is an Attorney and Broker, and my other brother is one of the top sellers in the entire city. They both said that times are extremely tough right now. Compared to two years ago, it's at about 20% if that.

It's much tougher to get a loan, verification of income is much more stringent, the required down payments are much higher, as are the background checks.

I also have a friend who used to buy over 100 lots at a time, build cookie cutter two flats at a very low price then sell them. He was making 7 figures/year. Now that the market is tougher, he is just keeping the buildings and renting them out section 8.

A friend of my younger brother is also a top Developer, who owns a ton of business besides development (he own's all of the Connie's Pizzerias, for those of you from the midwest)
and he is doing the exact same thing. Keep in mind that these guys hire and pay top dollar for business consultants.

Right now, flipping homes is not as good as it seems. I also know a few contractors who own homes worth between $1mil to 2.5mil. They can't get sell them for $500,000, and that is in the most afluent of neighborhoods. Times are very tough and you should really consider your market and take a look at what's really selling right now.

Furthermore, I myself am a Building Code consultant and Site Designer. Right now I have almost no residential projects, but a great deal of commercial work. My clients who have business are making money and are buiding more commerical buildings or altering existing buildings to accomodate their needs, they decided that building residential is unwise at this time. On rare occasions I will get a wealthy client who wants to build an addition or a new home for themselves. Nobody is really going the rehab, house flipping route right now.

 

[bugaboo0]

what are you looking to do??? i was fortunate enough to have had a father who saved every penny he made, and invested in real estate. it is probably the best way to make serious money. stuff he bought in the 70's and early 80's is worth 20 to 30 X the original investment.
keep your eyes open, learn the market where you are, and buy wisely.

I totally agree! Long-term investing.

 

[Designbuilt]

Well sure if you have that kind of money to sit on something 10 to 20 years. Pay mortgages and taxes, then god bless you.


But people who want to make a quick buck and "filp" a place with a fast turnaround, it aint happening.

 

[Marvin Martian]

I am a mortgage broker down here in cajun country... Thngs have been pretty rough the last year or so but I seem to be picking up a little... Next week I am getting my insurance adjusters license though because I will NEVER have just one income stream again.

 

[tmax]

real estate rant

Boys anyone thinking of getting in real estate is totally out of your god given mine period I do not care if you have millions of dollare to play with. some of you know me I have been here since this board started. I live in Marco Island, fl very nice home I have 7 condo here on this Island that I rent by the week and 7 in panama city and 3 in vegas let me tell you Rents are down by 50 % I am also a day trader that is where I get my income from and yes I made alot from shorting the sub-prime markets I do not see a bottom yet because our friends accross the ocean do not start cutting there rates they will send the economies crashing I think we will see the dow 10000 before we start the up swing. right now the banks are not forclosing on the homes they should be just because of the flood of homes that are out there sitting and with all of the storms dummping all of the rain anyone buying a forclose home here in my state better understand they will need to gut the home becuase of the mold inside the walls. so if you get a 500k home for 250k and you have to put a 100k into it I know for a fact you will not be able to sell it for 350 for atleat 5 yrs. period Freddie and fanny will be own by our government or the tax payers. if anyone would like more info just PM me I will help where I can.

always lurking
tmax

 

[Pekkerwood]

I am a private lender and real estate investor. I also partner in a small hedge fund that is not real estate related (Similar to day trading, but futures rather than equities). It is the best time in the last 15 years to get into real estate in many markets. Resort areas, resort properties, are not indicative of the real estate investing most Americans do. When you subtrac the numbers from California, Florida, Arizona, Vegas, the area around Boston, you get a much milder "crisis". Like the gentleman in the post before saying "You would have to be out of your Mind....", his is right....in his area. We can take advantage of that disparity with the Headlines going national, but the real damage being unevenly disbursed. Many areas of the country are down less than five percent. Very few are down the 50% the gentleman implies. In fact, outside of the condo market in Florida, Vegas, Phoenix, and the home market in coastal California, no major market come close to approaching that drop. Just has not happened. Could it happen? Yes, but where else would your money be protected?

I have bought and sold over one hundred properties already this year and hope to do another hundred before the year is out. Iregularly do over two hundred a year. It can be done, you can make money. There are risks, however, no investment affords the leverage of real estate with a somewhat limited downside risk.

Are we at the bottom? No. It doesn't truly matter to me as long as I am picking off the current "mistakes" the banks are making. I am looking to buy for 50 cents on the dollar or less. I don't really care if Case/Schiller index drops another 1.6 percent. I am much more concerrned about the availability of credit and elimination of seller financed down payment assistance.

Please remember, that this is the enviironment in which great fortunes are made. They were during the S and L crisis and they will be now. When the papers are reading "Gloom and Doom" the wise man is readying to strike.

I think is was no less financial wizards than the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" who said "Destruction leads to a very rough time but it also breeds creation".

Be wise. Study your markets. Use common sense, and take advantage of the "sale" in your areas if it make sense for you.

 

[Designbuilt]

Well I agree with Peckerwood in certain aspects. You are correct if you have a few bucks to invest now is a great time to find good deals. Lord knows I got a great deal on the home I'm in now! But the original post was in regards to finding homes or poorly maintained properties, investing money and flipping them. Right now that is tough to do. I know a ton of contractors going broke doing this because they are having a tough time unloading Million dollar plus properties for half the amount. (Chicago BTW)


It's tougher to get a loan now a days, my brother was made 750K two years ago, as a real estate agent last year $100K this year $80K. He has a lot of interested buyers but they have a tough time getting loans.

Now may be a good time to buy low and hold, but as far as investing money into a property putting time and work into it, hoping to make a quick sale and profit. I think would be a poor investment at this time, and that's what the original post was about.

DB

 

[Ness]

Agree with most posts said, positive and negative...

Dont forget to mention that if you find some sick condo in a highrise in the downtown area...check with the HOAs....many people have quit paying them and the HOAs are sinking..as a result, we have buildings that are falling apart, leins, and lawsuits...and since no one is going to pay..guess who picks it up when they buy their new kick ass deal condo? Buyer beware!

 

[blackhole2]

I live in Canada therefore can't say much about your market.

A friend of mine bought a condo in Puerto Rico and goes there 3 or 4 times a year , when he is not vacationing there he rents it and 1X a year he rents a few apartments there and teaches a week of booth camp.

As in any other business a little creativity and some contacts can be quite helpful.

If I had the funds I'd do something similar find a apartment in a desirable area, make it desirable to stay in and rent it year round.

J

 

[Pekkerwood]

Well I agree with Peckerwood in certain aspects. You are correct if you have a few bucks to invest now is a great time to find good deals. Lord knows I got a great deal on the home I'm in now! But the original post was in regards to finding homes or poorly maintained properties, investing money and flipping them. Right now that is tough to do. I know a ton of contractors going broke doing this because they are having a tough time unloading Million dollar plus properties for half the amount. (Chicago BTW)


It's tougher to get a loan now a days, my brother was made 750K two years ago, as a real estate agent last year $100K this year $80K. He has a lot of interested buyers but they have a tough time getting loans.

Now may be a good time to buy low and hold, but as far as investing money into a property putting time and work into it, hoping to make a quick sale and profit. I think would be a poor investment at this time, and that's what the original post was about.

DB

I agree its challenging for the inexperienced. I sell a "flip" house virtually every day. In this market. With these lenders. It can be done. With that said I am very experienced and only deal in my local market. Bottom line, the oppurtunities are better than they have been in my lifetime. That is just my preference and experience. I have not bought properties to buy and hold for six years and I recently started adding again to that portfolio which I thought I was through with growing.

Be wise but do not close your eyes to the opportunities this market is presenting.

 

[tmax]

I agree its challenging for the inexperienced. I sell a "flip" house virtually every day. In this market. With these lenders. It can be done. With that said I am very experienced and only deal in my local market. Bottom line, the oppurtunities are better than they have been in my lifetime. That is just my preference and experience. I have not bought properties to buy and hold for six years and I recently started adding again to that portfolio which I thought I was through with growing.

Be wise but do not close your eyes to the opportunities this market is presenting.

I agree with you in what you are doing. and like you I started right after the s&L flop so we are both in a different place and can take bigger chances not caring about the short term as i am writing this i know you just made a boat load of cash if you were trading Sunday fut as i was already short the fin for a long time .