How Should I Find An Investing Partner?
I have been a remodel contractor in the SF Bay Area for over 20 yrs. Where I worked, a fixer was $300k for a tear down. Every neighborhood had been picked over for twenty years already. I never could afford to buy a house and so I don't know anything about real estate. I have remodeled everything from rentals in slums to $250k kitchens and $125k bathrooms in mansions. I know every trick from foundation to finish and how to run a business. I fell off a deck in 2000 an nearly died, so long story short, I'm here in Portland, Or. There are lots fixers in every part of town, in every price range, that seem dirt cheap to me.
The economy sucks here but it won't for ever. I am starting to get working agian and trying to survive every month, pay down debt and taxes resulting from the accident. I managed to keep my credit in great shape. It is killing me to be paying rent when I could be making mortgage payments.
My qusetion is; How can I go about looking for someone with experiance in buying and selling fixers to help me with a down payment and buying and selling the properties?
Please forgive me if I sound ignorant... I am. Thanks in advance for the your time and info. Remo
Hello Portland! I was born/raised in Chicago but my Mom and her family lives in your area... Bend.
I was there recently for a wedding - just wondering - how do you think the economy will pick up there?
I loved the area - and yes so much land completely undervalued...
Hello remodeler,
I know how work related injuries can be as I am a builder myself. I would suggest you find a realtor and a mortgage broker in your area that invest in real estate. Just ask around and you'll find someone. With your experienced they might be interested in partnering with you. I don't know if there are any real estate investment associations in you area but that would be another great source. Good Luck!
Cat, How do I think the economy will pick up? First, I said that because I'm an optimist... You have to be that way to be self employed and a contractor. There are a ton of really smart people here and none of them want to be broke. I watched the Silicon Valley and the ****Must Reach Freshman Investor status before posting URL's*** explosion in Santa Clara County. It went from cherry orchards to changing the world in a few short years. Now outside of the weather and the money, it is not a nice place to live any more. This place reminds me of San Jose in the '70s. Oregon has a long high-tech history. All the things are in place here for this to be the Silicon Forest. Work force, schools, quality of life. Folks here watched the Bay Area, Seattle and hopefully won't make the same mistakes. There are problems, but nothing a real president won't cure. Notice that Bush doesn't ever come out here. Too busy looking for WMD to care about our crippling unemployment. I'm sorry, I shouldn't even start.
TomC, How do I find a realtor and mortgage Broker? Where or who do I ask around? Should I start walking into peoples offices and introduce myself? Do I start mailing a flyer to every realtor and broker in town? What is this contact going to get me? I would think that,unless they can sell me something, they are just going to blow me off. I have never met a realtor that wasn't a... a ... uh, weasel. Ah, an investors group, that sounds interesting. How would I look for one of those??
Quote:
TomC, How do I find a realtor and mortgage Broker? Where or who do I ask around? Should I start walking into peoples offices and introduce myself? Do I start mailing a flyer to every realtor and broker in town? What is this contact going to get me? I would think that,unless they can sell me something, they are just going to blow me off. I have never met a realtor that wasn't a... a ... uh, weasel. Ah, an investors group, that sounds interesting. How would I look for one of those??
Well an investor group would be a good place to look and I believe there is a link to them on this site. If not do a search on the web. As for finding a good broker, you can call some of the companies around you and ask if anyone there deals with investment properties. You can accomplish the same with the realtors as well. Not all realtors are bad, you just have to weed the bad ones out, and unfortunately sometimes this is done by trial and error. My wife and I have just started working with a new broker who is an investor as well, and he has offered to advertise our building company through his mortgage company and the realtor we have meet is doing a great deal of advertising for us as well. Next week we are all meeting to discuss group advertising. Basically it's all about networking with the right people. Best of luck