Comments on: Four Common Beliefs About Real Estate Investing That I Now Know Are Flat Wrong

By: johnny cash leave your guns at home

johnny cash leave your guns at home — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:10:37 +0000

johnny cash leave your guns at home…

How do you come up with so much material to blog with?…

By: bdurfee

bdurfee — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:22:11 +0000

Thanks for the reply Brian. I took another piece of advice from you and joined up with a real estate investing group here in Austin. Making any contacts at this point will be helpful and I’ll never find a mentor if I don’t put myself out there.

Your advice is very encouraging and I’m glad to have found your site.

By: Brian Armstrong

Brian Armstrong — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 07:29:22 +0000

Hmm, they seem to be redesigning their site at the moment. I don’t particularly like their website, it comes across a little cheesy, but the members there have been really helpful. I’m sure there are groups like that in most major cities, and really the overall goal is to find a good mentor, whether you pay for their time or not.

By: bdurfee

bdurfee — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:14:56 +0000

Hello Brian,

Great post. It’s nice to hear from someone who’s just starting out in the business.

I surfed to the Lifestyles Unlimited link, but none of the navigation links are working. Do you happen to know what’s up with the site? I would like to learn more about them.

Thanks again for the great article.

By: Brian Armstrong

Brian Armstrong — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:18:45 +0000

Hi Chris, its called the rehab-2-perm program from Excel Mortgage, a small local company that does a lot of loans for investors. They loan you 80% of the after repaired value of the house. So if you buy a beat up house for $70k that is worth $100k fixed up. You can spend $70k to buy it plus another $10k in rehab and closing costs and come up to $80k total which is all financed as 80% of the $100k. They give you a hard money loan up front, then after you fix it up, you are refinanced into permanent financing. The disadvantage of this is that the finance costs are very high. The advantage is that you get a house (purchase price, rehab, closing costs) 100% financed, non-owner occupied, which is unheard of in this market. So it allows you to preserve your investing capital and repeat the process to buy more houses.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 06:19:41 +0000

Which lending program do you use?

Thanks.

By: Boring Oregon Real Estate - Guy

Boring Oregon Real Estate - Guy — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 06:28:07 +0000

Great article. I think finding a good deal is defiantly the most important park of investing. I noticed in my market right now short sales are working for investors. Not the deal work but I guess its a numbers game.

By: Brian Armstrong

Brian Armstrong — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:42:33 +0000

Hey Johnny,

It’s possible to do zero down deals, try calling a bunch of lenders and see what can be done. For example I’m using a program that lends you 80% of the after repair value (which is often enough to buy the house, rehab it, pay closing costs, with zero out of pocket) since houses are being sold so cheap right now. You can also get a lease signed to rent a house before you even own it believe it or not, and use the deposit to pay closing costs so there are some tricks like that. But bottom line it’s going to be a LOT easier if you have a little bit of money to use, 5-10k. Save save save! If you can save 5-10k, you can use that to build wealth.

If you have your health, speak English well, have transportation, and a roof over your head, then you have everything you need to become wealthy in the U.S. Many people don’t have those things, so you are actually far ahead of many people.
Brian

By: Johnny

Johnny — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:12:32 +0000

thanks for the advice. question: I’m 24 yrs old. I don’t have any money to invest, how can I start investing in RE without cash. my credit isn’t great but I’m taking care of my bad debt and will be debt free by tomorrow. thanks in advance.

By: Terra Andersen

Terra Andersen — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:40:49 +0000

I’m glad I knew all of this in my late teens. This has really been a key factor in generating income the correct way, and keeping “bad debt” to a minimum. Like you said.. good debt is okay! *=)