RE Techniques
I'm still learning the business, and right now I'm concentrating on techniques. I'm mainly focusing on "break-in" techniques, as in techs that don't require cash or credit.
So far I have discovered that you can consistently structure wholesale deals with no money or credit (not to say it can't be structured with needing money), as well as bird dogging (which, btw, I hate the name of).
Are there any other techniques you can do with no cash or credit? As you can see, I'm looking for types of deals that require no money, not even that of the seller or another lender.
Thanks.
MicahM
I think that the biggest mistake newbies make is to worry about technique. Even the term turns me off-- experienced investors almost never call it a technique. They talk about structuring a deal.
Stop thinking about how to do a deal and start talking to sellers. When you find a seller who really wants to be rid of his property the structure of that transaction can be worked out. If you cannot figure it out when you get there then post the details of the deal here and lots of people will help you. Worrying about coming up with a complete list of no-money down techniques is a way of not talking to people.
Get in the car and drive a neighborhood. Take notes of what properties look bad. Find and call the owners.
Call a realtor and go through the MLS listings.
Stop by the foreclosure court and talk to the attnys.
Any of these have you talking to people. Say you want to help. Listen to what they tell you. If they tell you anything that sounds interesting get contact information, come here and ask the question.
Stop worrying about techniques until you have a property to work with. [ Edited by commercialking on Date 06/10/2004 ]
Commercial,
Thanks for the quick response. However, I'm in the military in AK without a car. I'll be out next March. I'm studying up until then.
Good advice though, about finding a deal and coming here to ask questions. I have decent credit (620 or a little higher) and about $5,000 to invest. I'm sure I'll be bringing some deals to the forum for advice in the future.
So after you're a free man what part of the country do you think you might move to?
If it were me, I'd be getting my feet on the ground regarding a new location rather than worrrying too much about "techniques"
Possibly Texas, but very probably Florida. I'm working on buying a house in FL and renting it out until March, then moving into it when I get there. I don't think I'd have time to find a house and workout a creative deal with only about 3 weeks of leave, which I could take soon to go to FL, so I'm checking into conventional loans - mainly a VA.
3 weeks should probably be enough time for a creative deal, but I'm inexperienced.
Deciding on where to go and getting there isn't a full time task, I have plenty of time to read about RE. I'm still interested in my original question, if anyone has anything to add.
Thanks!
Learn to use Excel, the Microsoft spreadsheet program.
That has nothing to do with my question. I also know Excel.
You did not mention subject-to deals.
Also, as a vet I believe you can do a 100% LTV deal for 1 property. Granted this idea falls outside the boundaries of your question.
As you will be moving soon, see if you can figure out the best place for move to based on the ability to find deals. A place that is not too hot (sales sense of hot) and which has enough distressed seller so they will want to listen. Really hot markets tend to have sellers who can just wait for an offer.
John
[addsig]
Great, thank you very much. I'll check out sub2's.
Good point on choosing where I move to based on the market. Thanks for your advice.
Once again, this will not answer your question, but I believe it to be good advice. Read many creative RE books. Buy John Locke's subject to book (it is a very good book) and keep reading all the different forum's that they have here.
While 620 is an ok score, within a year, you should be able to get it over 700. When you get into the 700's you have a good fico score. If you get into the 800's I would consider that "God status"...
MicahM,
Thank you for serving our country I wish you much success in your return to civilian life.
John $Cash$ Locke
Thanks to everyone for all the responses. Sub2's, wholesaling, and further reading should keep me busy for a few weeks.