Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My question is two-fold, I am very seriously thinking of investing in real estate as a long term investment. Right now my brother-in-law is a real estate invester, and is very good at what he does. We have invested some money with him and are getting good returns on our investment. Since we relocated to NC last year, I have been thinking about beginning this myself, but am a little overwhelmed with information. Now brother-in-law would be willing to teach me, but he lives in another state so I could not count on any type of on site help here in our state. I've been interested in the surrounding areas of the Triangle and also maybe rehabing in our downtown area. I've searched for local REIA and can only find one in the Triangle area. Are these good choices for help with local people? Any good books to suggest for researching this?
Do you have a real estate license? Many local realtors do have RE licenses and use this as an advantage to flip property. I have been investing in RE in Coastal SC. The appreciation rates were very high the last few years but it has really cooled down with the Northeast and FL markets lagging a bit. This is where the purchasers were coming from. Regionally, most of the flippers would probably be in the beltline because they tend to be older and could use some updating. Beltline demand is strong. As for other properties, the listing realtors are pretty consistent with the CMA's and coupled with the very consistent appreciation rates, makes it tough to find an undervalued home.
Well, it's pretty obvious that lynns meant that many "local investors do have RE licenses ...." in context.
Anyway, it's common around here for licensed realtors/brokers to be real estate investors at every level ... flipping properties, holding properties for long term appreciation/development, developing & building properties, etc. Leafing through local regional printed RE brochures, about 5% have state required disclosure that the seller is a RE license holder.
IMO, if you're a serious and active residential RE investor, getting a RE license may be an advantage for you in ROI by having the comission in your pocket, not somebody's else's. If you're just a casual investor, however, the cost may not be recovered.
If you've got access to a good situation now with your BIL where you're comfortable with the ROI and somebody else is doing all the leg work, why would you not simply continue to invest there? Sounds like a good deal to me.
First let me thank all of you for responding. No, I do not have a RE license and had not even considered getting one, so thank you for adding that to my list of possibilities.
We are going to continue investing with BIL, he is making good money and our returns are doing much better than our IRA's right now. I was just considering doing this on another level and making more money, but I wanted to understand what the comps are like here. I'm far enough away from Raleigh to invest in a wide area, but then again unless I am to hold on to properties for rental instead of wholesaling I don't see much of a return here.
Thanks, just wanted to see what local RE agents had to say, and how many invest.
Most of my (long term, repeat, successful) clients who are investors do not have a real estate license.
It certainly pays to have the knowledge of what the laws are for a succession of real estate transactions. Anyone can take the classes leading up to taking the test, just don't take the test.
But, when you have to disclose that you have a license, owners and other brokers get suspicious, and take other offers over yours. Every state that I know of has you put that in writing the offer. REO property managers are the worse, not often do I get a offer accepted on the first try because I have a license!
We do not "save" the commission. We still have to do all of the work, and have all of the liability...without any of the pay.
If I (as a real estate broker) have an investment property and I need to sell it, I either pay federal capitol gains taxes or roll all of the profit into a new property (1031 starker deferred exchange) or I pay taxes (SS, income, self employment) on the commission income.
I have bought and sold lots of properties for myself. I know enough about the market to spot a great deal.
Just curious - have you considered REIT investments?
...and if you get a "good return on your investment" from your brother in law - why would you want to jump in and put a lot of your own time and money at risk? I'm sincerely curious, not trying to suggest you shouldn't jump in...
I'm really laughing about 2b's response ... a realtor, you may know from prior posts.
2b tells us first that it's a disadvantage to be a realtor to do real estate investing, and that he's got successful investor clients who aren't realtors, and so on ... that you should use a realtor for all the services that they can provide to your advantage (oh, and that's for an earned comission, isn't it, 2b?, no matter the outcome of my Property management and realized ROI).
And then goes on to tell us after all of those enormously overwhelming disadvantages and drawbacks to being a Realtor doing RE estate investing ... "I have bought and sold a lot of properties for myself. I know enough about the market to spot a great deal." ( accurate quote 2b, correct?)
I can spell h-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e, too.
My question from a prior posting still remains. If you've got somebody else doing all the legwork and management of real estate investing for you, letting in you in on the deals (I presume because they're either good hearted or need the additional capital investment to close deals) that are giving you a good ROI ... why would you seek to now go it alone? Do you perceive that much more potential upside to your own investing? It's certainly not as easy as it may seem.
In any event, it's a fact that having your own RE license will earn you a comission at every one of your closings instead of paying it out to someone else for a lot of services that you can provide for yourself, if you're serious about doing that at a professional level. I call that keeping my money in my own pocket ....
I had numerous RE licensed people in the Front Range as clients of mine. Most all of them were active RE investors. Once I had the capital and credit available to invest, I followed their example. And made enough money to be financially independent well before retirement age. If I could do it (and, for that matter, so could those realtors), you can do it, too. Happy hunting and Good Luck!
I'm really laughing about 2b's response ... a realtor, you may know from prior posts.
2b tells us first that it's a disadvantage to be a realtor to do real estate investing, and that he's got successful investor clients who aren't realtors, and so on ... that you should use a realtor for all the services that they can provide to your advantage (oh, and that's for an earned comission, isn't it, 2b?, no matter the outcome of my Property management and realized ROI).
And then goes on to tell us after all of those enormously overwhelming disadvantages and drawbacks to being a Realtor doing RE estate investing ... "I have bought and sold a lot of properties for myself. I know enough about the market to spot a great deal." ( accurate quote 2b, correct?)
I can spell h-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e, too.
My question from a prior posting still remains. If you've got somebody else doing all the legwork and management of real estate investing for you, letting in you in on the deals (I presume because they're either good hearted or need the additional capital investment to close deals) that are giving you a good ROI ... why would you seek to now go it alone? Do you perceive that much more potential upside to your own investing? It's certainly not as easy as it may seem.
In any event, it's a fact that having your own RE license will earn you a comission at every one of your closings instead of paying it out to someone else for a lot of services that you can provide for yourself, if you're serious about doing that at a professional level. I call that keeping my money in my own pocket ....
I had numerous RE licensed people in the Front Range as clients of mine. Most all of them were active RE investors. Once I had the capital and credit available to invest, I followed their example. And made enough money to be financially independent well before retirement age. If I could do it (and, for that matter, so could those realtors), you can do it, too. Happy hunting and Good Luck!
We're not taking any money away from our investments in BIL's investments, but I am considering this to make more money. I understand that this not an easy thing to do, that money can, and is, lost because of mistakes. I just wanted to know how many real estate agents invest themselves, what the general market was like in NC, and also if REIA was a good place to make some contacts. Sometimes an idea just won't let go, and that is the time to ask yourself "maybe I am meant to do this". Thanks.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
