Exactly what kind of company is "working" on YOUR credit?? This would worry me as I feel I am the only one who can fix my credit and I am the only one responsible for my score. There are plenty of small things you can do to build your credit. Take your credit card and use it like a debit card. Make a purchase, then immediately pay it off with the cash you would have used.

You don't necessarily have to have a 720 credit score to get a good loan, anywhere in 600 is good and maybe even high 500. BUT, at your age you may be facing a bigger problem. Your history is not long enough. You can have a perfect score, but if its only from borrowing 1-2K over the past year or two, then you might as well have a poor score cause you won't get approved by your average lender.

I think you are better off trying to find a partner's credit to use and take that extra money your wasting to this "company" and use it to build your own credit.

 

Nice post!

My man, why not rinse wash and repeat step 3 until you raise enough cash for a down payment. #3 requires none of your own money or credit. Why do it only once?

 

Exactly what type of company returns 8-9% monthly? Either this is an extremely high risk investment, a fraudulent investment, or both.

If you can really get that kind of return without tremendous risk, I would suggest just putting all your money in there...

 

This is what I was thinking but wasn't familar enough.

 

Buy the book "credit repair to credit millionaire" -- and that should get your credit straightened out for about $20 bucks total.

Re: Flipping contracts -- A lot of people talk about it, but I still haven't met anyone who's ever done it, or definitely not anybody who's made a solid business of doing it. Agents can sniff you out, and if they feel like you're not a serious buyer -- they won't want to do business with you. In order to get the properties under contract, you're going to have to put up earnest money and get pre-approved for financing -- So what's your backup plan if you're unable to flip these contracts? You'll have to close on the property or walk away and lose your money. Don't believe the stuff you read about sticking "out clauses" into the contract, i.e. "Subject to my partners approval", etc... They will red flag you as a scammer with the selling agent, and they won't even answer your bids usually.

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

 

"Re: Flipping contracts -- A lot of people talk about it, but I still haven't met anyone who's ever done it, or definitely not anybody who's made a solid business of doing it."

Yeah ok buddy, thats a real logical reason to assume wholesaling doesnt work!

Listen, Wholesaling works. My mentor makes a living out of wholesaling. Through my real estate investment club I have also met numerous different investors who also make a living out of it. Anybody here who is part of a real estate investment club undoubtedly knows people who make a living out of doing it.

"Agents can sniff you out, and if they feel like you're not a serious buyer -- they won't want to do business with you."

Don't go through an agent. Through proper advertising you can make the motivated sellers come to YOU. Negotiate with them


"In order to get the properties under contract, you're going to have to put up earnest money and get pre-approved for financing "

Securing properties under contract can be done for as little as $10. Um, who do you need to get pre-approved for financing from? As far as I know, the only time you need to show proof of income is when you are dealing with lenders. Sell your deal to investors who use private lending aka cash buyers (you bypass the need to go through banks this way)

"So what's your backup plan if you're unable to flip these contracts? You'll have to close on the property or walk away and lose your money."

Clauses in your contract. With the proper clauses the most you can lose is your "earnest deposit" of $10! Gee, such significant consequences!

"Don't believe the stuff you read about sticking "out clauses" into the contract, i.e. "Subject to my partners approval", etc... They will red flag you as a scammer with the selling agent, and they won't even answer your bids usually."

Once again negotiate with the motivated seller.

The key to the deal is figuring out the proper after repair value + maximum allowable offer. If you do those two things correctly (ie leave enough in the pot for the rehabber/retailer whom you sell to) you should have no problem successfully wholesaling a property.

 

This sounds like a LOT of money to be pouring into something you can do on your own down-time. Do they guarantee a specific score within a certain timeframe? Talk about great systems to make money! Let's all start websites that cost their members $1950 per year! Re think this expense, Katalyzt.

...also looks fishy to me for some reason. Can someone else weigh in on this one?

 

I do know it works (I've bought from wholesalers before... they buy at 60% FMv and offer to me at 65%, 70% FMV so we both win).

I'd love to hear more about what your mentor and others are doing in regards to wholesaling.

What cities/areas are they doing it? what FMVs are they usually buying at? what techniques do they use to get leads and to market the properties once they get the contracts?

katalyzt, sorry to kind of hijack your thread, but I think this is important for your plan.

 

Looks VERY fishy to me. Just a pretty website with no details on their services. No testimonials(as if online testimonials how much credit anyway), projects are just pictures of random properties with stats on each. They say they do all the research for you, even make payments for all of 2008??? Seriously, there has to be a catch somewhere.

The website is very vague in general, it leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

 

I'm not sure about this process (never tried it) but saw this...http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Get-Triple-A-Credit-in-25-Days&id=11792

I was under the impression triple A credit was only achieved by businesses or individuals backed by businesses. There are so many 'mixed' messages when it comes to credit.

Anyone happen to be an expert on the subject?

 

Why go buy books if these guys are going to fix your credit? Just let them fix it...you have already thrown the money at them, might as well see if what they are actually doing is going to work. The books and research should of came before throwing the money into this company. I guess reading a book now though will help you in the future after it is fixed? Hope it all works out for you!

 

Hey I was just trying to give the guy some realistic expectations from someone who has 8 years of real estate investment here in the real world. Sorry if I was raining on your "pie in the sky" parade of "no money down", and flipping contracts LOL.. Reminds me of where my mind was after I read my first real estate book back in 1999!

Yeh, sure you can take out "We buy houses!" ads, and compete with the hundreds of other newbies in your town who are fresh out of real estate seminars putting in 60 hour weeks trying to get people to deed you their homes... And when you lock up a seller into one of your bogus contracts with no earnest money, and all these scammer "out clauses" -- you'll see just how well one of those contracts stands up in a court of law, or even in the court of public reality. When your reputation is trashed because you've walked away from some deals via your "out" clauses, nobody will want to work with you in the future.

I'm sure some have to learn for themselves though Let us know how it works out.

- Hakrjak

 

Maybe your specific geographic location is flooded with RE investors who are snatching up all the deals... I doubt thats the case, but even if it is thats YOUR market, not necessarily others. There is always going to be competition wherever you are, but don't let that be the reason why you give up on something. Am I confused about putting certain clauses in your contract that limit your risk? If you back out of a deal due to a "subject to inspection" or something else of that nature, a clause that was in your contract and signed by the seller, how can you be in trouble by the law? If you dont go through MLS, then your only dealing with that specific seller right? How is your business reputation at stake here. Maybe I am wrong, I very well could be. I'm just confused as to why you are so negative about wholesaling in general.

 

Hey it's just my take... Based on nothing but pure experience in the industry. Try it, and see how it works for you. My experience is that to make money in this business you have to come down to Earth and plant your feet firmly on the ground. The more you get caught up with the whole "No money down crowd" and "Make money with no money" -- the further you get from establishing the real world contacts and experiences you'll need to be successful in the real estate business. My suggestions are:

#1). If you don't have good credit, get it as soon as possible. This is your most important asset in this business.

#2). Save money, and be prepared to put down 10% on any properties you are interested in buying. Cash is king -- and is your 2nd most important asset in the real estate business.

#3). Be self reliant. There are too many people in this business that will screw you, beg borrow or rob from you. You need to make your own success, and not depend on anyone else in the long run.

#4). To raise capital, flipping houses still works better than most things (Play Cashflow a lot). Use your savings for the down payment, and use credit cards or whatever you have to pay for the rehab -- but be darn sure of your outcome before you start. 1 bad flip can terminate your real estate business.

#5). Re-invest your earnings in buy & hold cashflowing rentals. Once you've held these for awhile, you can dump them if you so choose -- paying less taxes, and you'll have enjoyed cashflow while you've had them. If you can sell into a good market and make massive profits then proceed to step 6...

#6). Exit residential, and jump into commercial. By selling your residential and pocketing the profits, you should have ample funds to buy into a large apartment complex where your per unit returns will greatly increase your overall net earnings.

#7). Retire, enjoy life.

I must add that I'm currently between steps 5 and 6 right now, and I've gotten there in 8 years because I made a lot of mistakes along the way, and had to "learn things for myself" like a lot of people do. I expect someone could get there in 5 years if they really applied themselves and listened to good advice from people who "do" -- not people who sell books or theorize.

Cheers,

Hakrjak

- Hakrjak

 

Hakrjak, your comments just made me value even more the mentor I have. It has made a difference in orders of magnitude in what I believe I can accomplish as I know these things are possible. My mentor did it in three years (yes, three years) and he was out of the rat race and went from mid-size deals into multi million dollar deals. That is the type of inspiration and model to follow, at least for me.

 

I'm hearing words like "Cashflow" and "rat race," and I'm betting some people here are familiar with Rich Dad, Poor Dad?

 

:nono::nono:RE: Flipping Properties

I am here to say I have the materials from "Russ" and after putting an earnest effort into his program; needless to sat it is somewhat bogus!

You will continually get phone calls, emails, whatever trying to get you to loosen your purse strings and "better" yourself with their "successful" teachings!

As the old saying goes, "If you have the cash (and lots of it to throw away), I have the time.

Just be money conscious!:nono:

 

Please define "an earnest effort."
Months? Years?
Thousands of dollars?

Also define "somewhat bogus."
Didn't work the first time?
Didn't work the hundredth time?

'Cause Russ has a history of results
so I'm finding it interesting that his reco's aren't working.

 

bigmako, let me ask, what "Russ" are you talking about? Russ Whitney?

There are lots of people making money in flips. It may not be as easy as three years ago, but it is working for many people. A fellow investor here in my area is making money like crazy by doing a combination of flipping/rehabbing. Yeah, the same thing that many say does not work. Go figure. And no, I am not say that Russ Whitney's programs work or not, I haven't use them.

 

From my experience, it IS Russ Whitney!
Please don't take this the wrong way. I have read the whole bio on Russ Whitney, and although I do not know him personally, he sounds like a stand-up.honest guy.
It's just that a person, like myself, on a limited budget, could not be able to pay for all the programs he was offering. It seems that in order to be financially successful in his training/organization, you would have to come up with alot of funds, which I wasn't able to do.
I truly believe there are people who are successful at doing this, but you must wonder first...

Did they have all the funds necessary to get the proper training, and if not, where did they get their training from?

I'm definately not looking for an easy way to make money. I realize that it takes alot of dedication and hard work to be successful. I'm just trying to learn how to do this on a limited budget.
Does this make sense?

 

Oh, I thought you were talking Russ on this board.
My mistake.
Sorry!

Though I would like to know your definition of "earnest effort"
which I don't think you answered.

BTW... most of these "programs" you can find at the library for free.
Check those out before paying dollars.