Boston AREIA

(781) 916-9581

              
  • Home
  • Join Now
    • Advisors
      • Meet the Boston AREIA Ambassadors
    • Membership Benefits
    • Plans and Pricing
    • Who We Are
    • Which Boston Real Estate Investors Association should you join?
  • Resources
    • Free Coaching Options
    • Coaching options
    • How to’s, Tips and Tricks
    • Deals
  • Upcoming Events
  • Preferred Vendors
  • Blog
    • Video tips and training
  • Funding
    • Passive investing
  • Contact Us
    • Sell Your House Fast!

Real Estate in an IRA, Part 2: Managing Assets in a Self-Directed Retirement Plan

August 18, 2014 by Bernadette Trafton Leave a Comment

Last week’s blog discussed setting up a self-directed plan that allows real estate in your IRA. As promised, this week’s topic covers how to properly manage those assets. There are specific rules you must adhere to in order to comply with IRS regulations so your self-directed IRA works for you instead of against you.

Now that you have set up your self-directed IRA, have it properly funded, and are ready to begin looking for property there are several things to keep in mind. While self-directed retirement plans allow many different alternative investment options, there are strict guidelines relevant to prohibited transactions and disqualified persons you must be aware of. Failure to comply could cause your IRA to suffer heavy penalties or even disqualification.

When exploring real estate options, know that your IRA is not allowed to purchase property from you or from another disqualified person. Your IRA is also not allowed to sell property to you or a disqualified person. Disqualified persons include:

  • The IRA holder and his or her spouse
  • The IRA holder’s lineal descendants (children, grandparents, etc.) and their spouses
  • The IRA holders lineal ascendants (parents, grandparents, etc.)
  • Investment advisers, managers and fiduciaries
  • Any corporation, partnership, trust, or estate in which disqualified persons have a 50 percent or greater interest
  • Anyone providing services to the IRA

Another important thing you need to understand is all property your IRA acquires is owned by your IRA and not by you. Any earnings gained, whether through resale or rental income, flow directly into the account. Expenses relative to the property must be paid directly from the IRA. When purchasing real estate in your self-directed IRA, it’s critical to plan for anticipated expenses in advance, so your IRA is prepared to cover them. If you have partnered on a purchase with other parties, your IRA only pays for its percentage of repairs and also must receive only its share of income.

Additionally, you are unable to use the property for personal purposes. For example, if you own a vacation rental you or other disqualified persons may not vacation there. The real estate was purchased to build wealth for your retirement. Using the property for personal purposes before you hit retirement age would be considered a current benefit and your IRA will be penalized, if not disqualified.

You are personally not allowed to perform repairs or maintenance on real estate in your IRA. Doing so constitutes “sweat-equity” and is considered a contribution to your account. The IRS only permits contributions to an IRA to be made in cash—and sweat equity cannot be measured in value. Repairs and maintenance must be performed by a third party—who is not a disqualified person—and paid at current market rates.

On the flip side, you do not have to hire a third party to manage the property in your IRA. The IRA owner is able to manage the property as long as you don’t perform sweat equity or pay for expenses out of your own pocket. Again, all income and expenses flow directly into and out of your self-directed IRA. Rent checks and other income must be written to the IRA and deposited directly into the IRA account. Income or expenses are not allowed to flow through the IRA owner for any reason.

Hopefully it goes without saying that it is crucial you perform due diligence when looking for real estate to acquire in your IRA. You want to find a decent property in a location suited for the purpose you desire. If you want a quick rehab-and-flip, the goal would be that the cost of the property plus the money it costs your IRA to renovate is low enough for your IRA to make a profit at resale. Location is key whether conducting a rehab or acquiring rental property—you want to be as sure as you can there is a market for resale or good potential for acquiring tenants for rentals.

If you have any questions regarding real estate in your IRA, please contact Kevin Collins at AdvantaIRA Trust by calling (617) 830-1070 or emailing Kevin@AdvantaIRATrust.com.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 12/31/2012 deadline for gift tax, an advisor you can trust, boston, boston area real estate investors association, Boston Commercial Real Estate, Boston Marathon, diary of a newbie real estate investor, free real estate education, ma Real estate, mass foReclosuRes, real estate mentor contest, real estate social media, The meaning of fear, trusted advisor, unsecured loans, www.bostonareia.com

Wholesale deal in MA, Buy/holds in TX

August 18, 2014 by Bernadette Trafton Leave a Comment

IMG_6048   Deals here and deals there!

Wholesale deal in Gardner, MA; 5BR, 2BA, 1084 sq ft, 2 car garage, 2nd lot

ARV – $114k, asking $44k, Rehab est. $30k, needs to close by 8/29/2014.  Contact us today for details.

For you out of area investors:

Central Texas Property Deals

Cascades – Pfl – 412 Cascades Ave, Unit #2, Pflugerville, TX 78660

2215 Creekside Gtown 4Plex, Georgetown , TX 78626

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 12/31/2012 deadline for gift tax, an advisor you can trust, Boston Area real estate investors, boston area real estate investors association, Boston Commercial Real Estate, ma wholesale real estate deals, Massachusetts Foreclosures, Prosper in 2013, real estate mentoring program, real estate social media, texas buy and hold deals, www.bostonareia.com

Dog days of summer promotion

August 8, 2014 by Bernadette Trafton Leave a Comment

IMG_6048 DOG DAYS OF SUMMER MEMBERSHIP PROMOTION!

So, Than Merrill and his team are coming to the Boston area August 14-17th.  They will tell you to seek out your local investors association to find deals, meet people to partner with and meet people who can help  fund the deals.  The education they offer is great, but, they will tell you that the best place to make those connections  is by joining your local association.  Perfect timing for all of you looking to get a jump start!

Usually we do a special promotion in July….as you know, life has been crazy!  So, instead we are doing a DOG DAYS OF SUMMER promotion:

View MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS and click JOIN NOW next to the membership of your choice.

When you check out, choose a DOG DAYS OF SUMMER membership option.  Save $25.00 off an Individual membership and $50 off a Joint Membership!  The DOG DAYS OF SUMMER promotion end midnight on August 13th!

The first 5 members who join or renew their membership by August 13th, will be awarded 2 free coaching sessions with me!  Your choice of topics!

Remember, our membership benefits save you more than the cost of membership each year!

Learn how to get the most out of Boston Areal Real Estate Investors Association!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 12/31/2012 deadline for gift tax, an advisor you can trust, Boston Area real estate investors, boston area real estate investors association, Boston Commercial Real Estate, boston Real estate, commercial real estate, FLIPPING IN BOSTON, fortune builders, than merrill

How should you choose your IRA Custodian for your investing deals?

July 1, 2014 by bostonareia Leave a Comment

Choosing an IRA custodian is as important as choosing investments. Some custodians do not allow alternative investments to be acquired as assets using your IRA. Some self-directed IRA administrators that allow alternative investments (such as real estate investing) may restrict the types of investments they allow as holdings. Additionally, there are strict rules and regulations one must follow when purchasing assets. If you make the mistake of acquiring an asset your custodian does not allow, you and your IRA may suffer harsh penalties handed down by the IRS. The same is so if you perform a transaction that falls outside the boundaries set forth in the rules that govern retirement funds.  Access the Advanta IRA ppt that Kevin Collins presented at our meeting in June –  Retirement Revolution Presentation

If you want to control your own investment funds in your IRA, you must first make sure you open an account with an administrator that facilitates self-directed IRAs. These accounts allow a myriad of alternative investments in them, such as real estate, private lending opportunities, precious metals, oil and gas options…and much more. As the account owner, you have the freedom to choose your own investments to build wealth toward retirement. The custodian acts only at your direction to acquire assets in your account.

Even though laws governing IRAs allow real estate and other non-traditional investments in your account, not all custodians allow those assets. A recent example of this was illustrated by the tax court in a proceeding filed by Guy Dabney. Although Dabney familiarized himself with IRS allowances of assets in IRAs, he failed to comply with the rules of his IRA custodian, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., who does not allow real estate in the IRAs they administrate. Even so, Dabney performed an action to acquire the real estate that he thought would constitute a permissible trustee-to-trustee transaction. He had Charles Schwab wire $114,000 directly from his IRA to the company selling the property and asked the property be titled “Guy M. Dabney Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Cust. IRA Contributory.” The purchase was made, however, the property was accidentally titled in his name. Dabney was able to have that clerical error officially fixed, but Schwab still sent Dabney a 1099-R form, declaring he had taken an early distribution which was taxable to him as he was not yet of the age of 59 1/2. Dabney did not report the withdrawal on his income tax that year, stating the real estate purchase was made by the IRA and / or should be considered a trustee-to-trustee transfer because of the way the property was acquired.

In considering the case, the IRS made several determinations. First, Schwab does not permit real estate investment purchases or holdings in their accounts; second, the title company to which the $114,00 was transferred was not, in fact, an IRA trustee and therefore, no trustee-to-trustee transaction was performed. There were a few other reasons the tax court based their decision on, which can be read in full in an article published by Parker Tax Publishing, and the withdrawal was considered an early distribution—and taxable for Dabney under IRS regulations.

The main takeaway here is that even though self-directed IRAs give you control of your investment decisions—you are responsible for adhering to your IRA custodian’s own set of rules regarding investments they will allow your account to hold. Not all custodians are created equal! Due diligence in researching a custodian that is a good fit for your investment endeavors is critically important. Dabney could have avoided his unfortunate complications had he decided to roll funds from his Schwab IRA into a self-directed IRA administered by a custodian that allows real estate assets and made the purchase from that account. Be sure to select a firm that is accessible, willing to discuss your transaction, assist you in completing the required forms, and ensures you provide the proper documentation. Most importantly, a firm that give you and your retirement portfolio the personalized service you deserve.

With Boston AREIA’s vendor, Kevin Collins of AdvantaIRA, you will get the personalized service you are looking for when doing your real estate investing deals in and around the Boston area.  If you would like to learn more about how self-directed IRAs can build wealth toward retirement, please contact Kevin Collins at AdvantaIRA Trust by calling 617-830-1070 or emailing Kevin@AdvantaIRATrust.com

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 12/31/2012 deadline for gift tax, Advanta IRA, an advisor you can trust, ask your family for money, be the bank, Boston Area real estate investors, boston area real estate investors association, Boston Commercial Real Estate, Boston real estate investors, bostonreia.com, flipping properties, investing through your IRA, MA Shortsales, real estate investors association, real estate mentoring program, real estate mentorship contest, real estate social media, The meaning of fear, unsecured loans, www.bostonareia.com

Are you able to leverage your credit or is it holding you back?

May 8, 2014 by bostonareia Leave a Comment

WHEN:  Thu 5/15, 2014credit pic

WHERE:  Hyatt Place, 116 Riverside Ave, Medford, MA

Thursday 5/15; 5pm – 5:30 pm for Members of Boston AREIA ONLY before the May monthly meeting!

Members join us for a special coaching session focused on Credit!  Are you able to leverage your credit or is it holding you back?  Veteran Mortgage Pro Ric Beaudoin of Sage Mortgage.  This is not a Credit Repair session, however, Ric will cover:

• The basic facts of credit reports
• What is and is not included in the credit report or credit score
• Why use credit scores
• Components of a credit score
• Statistical weights
• Consumer rights
• Correcting and improving credit scores

P4178105Followed by OPEN NETWORKING from 5:30pm – 6:30pm, the energy has been building every month!  Make sure you bring tons off business cards and save some for the forced networking section!

Thursday’s topic is all about exit strategies…you’ve got the property under contract, NOW WHAT???

Click here for all of the meeting details!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 12/31/2012 deadline for gift tax, an advisor you can trust, basic facts of credit reports, boston, Boston Area real estate investors, boston area real estate investors association, boston areia, Boston Commercial Real Estate, Boston real estate investors, commercial real estate, components of a credit score, credit repair, credit worthiness, diary of a newbie real estate investor, free real estate education, mass foReclosuRes, real estate mentorship contest, real estate networking, unsecured loans, www.bostonareia.com

How does "forced networking" help you flip properties

April 26, 2014 by bostonareia Leave a Comment

P4178105 I have people ask me all the time, “What is ‘forced’ networking and how exactly does it help me flip properties in the Boston area?”

Forced networking is for everyone.  Originally we started doing it at Boston AREIA for the wall flowers of the group.  You know the people who are uncomfortable walking up to someone and saying, “Hi, my name is ……………….. and I’m a new investor and I want to meet…”   I wanted to give those folks a way to get business cards from people so they could call them up later and meet with them.  But, it’s turned out to be one of the favorite sections of our meetings.  For the wall flowers and everyone else as well!  During our forced networking section, we bring different groups of people to the front of the room…for example, “Can all the wholesalers come up to the front of the room…now, everyone who wants someone else to find them deals, come up and exchange business cards, don’t talk for 5 minutes, exchange business cards and move to the next person…”  This is the fastest form of speed networking that you will find.  We don’t give you 5 minutes, we give you 5 seconds to exchange business cards so that you can connect with the people you want to after the meeting in a one on one setting.  Wholesalers love it because they are able to increase their buyers list quickly.  Rehabbers/Flippers love it because they get a whole new group of people looking for properties for them.  Realtors and lenders love it because they get a whole new group of people that they can connect with where real estate is concerned.  And, you know what happens when you connect an entire group of people focused on flipping properties in some form or another?  Deals get done!  So, forced networking most definitely helps you to flip properties.   Check out some of our pictures from our last meeting…we began with a coaching session, then went to regular networking, then forced networking, then speakers for education.  If used properly, your Boston AREIA meetings will help you build your power team and help you make connections, business partners and friends that you will work with the rest of your life!

Yours in success, Bernadette Trafton, Boston AREIA Chief Connector

P4178095 P4178156 P4178155 P4178152 P4178151 P4178149 P4178140 P4178135 P4178134 P4178132 P4178131 P4178127 P4178125 P4178118 P4178115 P4178114 P4178112 P4178097 P4178088 P4178085 P4178081

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 12/31/2012 deadline for gift tax, an advisor you can trust, Boston Area real estate investors, boston area real estate investors association, boston areia, Boston Commercial Real Estate, boston networking, Commerical Real Estate in Boston, flipping properties in boston, free real estate education, mass foReclosuRes, newbie real estate investors, real estate deals in Boston MA, real estate education, real estate networking, real estate social media, seasoned real estate investors, unsecured loans

What is a Hard money loan?

April 25, 2014 by bostonareia Leave a Comment

Bernadette Trafton, Chief ConnectorHard money loans are used daily to fund real estate projects and are typically focused on the value and after repaired value (ARV) of the property instead of focusing on the borrower’s ability to pay back the loan.  It is a real estate backed loan.  You would use hard money in instances where you can’t get traditional financing because your debt load is too high or the property won’t qualify because of the work that needs to be done to make it liveable.  Hard money is typically short term, usually the estimated amount of time it’s going to take to complete and resell the project.  Depending on the project and the lender you are working with, this may include the cost of the rehab.  And, typically a hard money lender will want you to bring money to the table so that you have “skin in the game”.

Hard money loans got their name because they are typically higher risk and the payback percentage and points associated with the loan are higher than traditional loans.  You maybe looking at 2-5 or more points depending on the deal and 12-15 percent.  Now don’t freak out.  It sounds like a lot, but, if it allows you to do a project where you can earn $30k or more after all fees and such are paid, in a short period of time, it’s worth it.  Just, remember, the property is the collateral and just like a traditional lender can foreclose, so can your hard money lender.  But, trust me, they don’t want to foreclose and they don’t really want the property, they want the money and interest to put into more deals so that their money is consistently cycling through deals and making more money.  It is expensive though, so if you can find private money through family, friends and networking connections, go that route first.

Be sure to “dig your well” before you are thirsty.  Let friends and family know what you are doing.  Let them know that you are working with a team of experts (at Boston AREIA, of course) who guide you through deals.  The folks that are interested in “getting in on that” will let you know.  Just don’t be shy about what you are doing.  And, when you hear success stories about someone flipping a property or flipping a wholesale contract, let them know.  You can even invite them to come with you to Boston AREIA so they can meet seasoned investors and can become more comfortable.  They can also meet folks like Kevin Collins of Advanta IRA who can explain how they can invest through their IRA.

There will be times that you will need hard money to get your deals done.  That’s ok.  Your goal is to develop long term relationships with a few lenders.  The longer the relationship and the more deals you do, typically the less it will cost you to borrow the money for your deals over time.  Hard money lenders appreciate those long term relationships that offer repeat business just as much as you appreciate knowing how you will get your deals funded.  When looking for a lender, please contact me!  I work with a few trusted sources in the Boston area that I’ve known for quite a few years.  I can make a connection for you.  Typically they appreciate it more if you are bringing a possible deal to the table, but, it’s not absolutely necessary.  These folks can also be used as a fail safe if you will.  For example, you’ve got the property under contract, with a few contingencies so that you can get out of the deal (that’s another topic) if need be.  You aren’t sure that you ran your numbers right and you are nervous.  That’s ok, these folks will analyze the deal and they will let you know if you are on track.  If it’s a deal, they will lend.  If it’s not a deal, they will let you know and won’t lend.  I have one who has been known to restructure deals so they do make sense for both the borrower and his company.

As always, if you have questions, feel free to reach out to me!  I’m here to help!

Yours in success!

Bernadette Trafton, Boston AREIA Chief Connector

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 12/31/2012 deadline for gift tax, boston, Boston Commercial Real Estate, fund your deals in MA, hard money lending in boston, real estate mentorship, real estate mentorship contest, real estate social media, sell my property in boston, sell my property in ma, sell your property in Boston, sell your property in MA, unsecured loans

Thur 4/17 was a ROCKIN' meeting about funding!

April 19, 2014 by bostonareia Leave a Comment

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThursday’s meeting was absolutely ROCKIN’!  Standing Room Only!

These are just some of the comments we got:

Anya wrote, “A can-do approach to real estate investing!”

Ann wrote, “There was a lot of great information!”

Karen Lee wrote, “This was my first meeting with BostonAreia and it was full of invaluable info on raising capital. I initially went to get more info on the IRA funding for real estate but left with a bunch of new ideas. Many thanks to Bernadette for arranging this meet up. I’ll be back.”Bernadette Trafton, Chief Connector

Kathryn Acciari wrote, “Good morning Bernadette,It took me a few years, but I finally made it to a meeting and I am very happy to have done so.  Last night was quite informative, and I am excited to be looking at next steps. What a friendly and professional group of people you have at BostonAREIA.  I hope to be a regular attendee at the meetings and to also be able to provide folks with some connections and leads in Worcester County.  There are deals out here.  Thank you!”

First, I want to thank the members that took the time to walk up to me to thank me for such a great meeting and thank you to those who took the time to send a quick note!  I love the members of Boston AREIA!!!  Kathryn is absolutely right about what a friendly and professional group of people we have.

A quick recap…So, we started our 5pm coaching session which focused on building and developing your connections through networking.  I hope that everyone got a lot out of it and if you are a member of Boston AREIA and you want a copy of the powerpoint, make sure that you contact me at dette101@gmail.com.  Remember folks, it’s important to contact the people you met at the meeting no later than Tue and plan to get together for coffee.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAWe began the meeting and of course, everyone knows that ENERGY IS EVERYTHING!  The energy you put into something is what you will get out of it.  So, first 5 lucky investors had their business cards pulled out of the proverbial hat and were given the opportunity to stand up and promote themselves to the group.  We followed this with forced networking…which gave folks the opportunity to exchange business cards fast and furious with rehabbers, wholesalers, investor savvy Realtors and more…I think that section is a favorite among our investors!

We followed the networking section with Dickens Pierre-Louis putting together a market update…we actually sped through this section because we had so much jam packed into the meeting…I will be posting this soon.  Thank you soooo much Dickens!  Our mentee, Mike Fitzpatrick got up and talked about how he and Jacqui are progressing and asked if folks could please vote on their logo – check out the blog post!  Then, Peg Graveline and Lisa West of JEM Property Group and Dan McKenna of Mckenna Family Homes walked through the numbers of the Walpole deal!  They made it real and dispelled some of those beliefs people get from the flipping houses shows on tv.  After that, we introduced our phenomenal panel of funding experts.  Peter McLoughlin talked about hard money, how it’s used, what a lender will expect from the borrower, one of the hottest topics based on questions asked by the group, was Investing through your IRA with Kevin Collins of Advanta IRA, then Ric Beaudoin of Sage Bank went over traditional lending, Kim Harrington covered how to develop your funding partners and Peg Graveline covered JVing with other investors to get your deals done.  What a great night!  I have to tell you, I had more people walk up to me at the end of the meeting to tell me how much they appreciated the programming and the speakers!  Thank you so much to Peter, Kevin, Ric, Kim and Peg!

Next month, we are doing a special coaching session from 5pm – 5:30pm for members.  Ric Beaudoin is going to come back and he’s going to go over becoming credit worthy for those with credit problems and maximizing your credit score with those who don’t have issues, but would love tips to get your score as high as possible.  After that, it’s all about exit strategies….so, the contract is signed, NOW WHAT?

See you next month!  And, remember, if you need something or if I can help with anything between meetings, feel free to reach out to me.  Happy Investing!

Yours in success,

Bernadette Trafton, Boston AREIA Chief Connector

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 12/31/2012 deadline for gift tax, an advisor you can trust, boston, Boston Area real estate investors, boston area real estate investors association, boston areia, Boston Commercial Real Estate, Boston Marathon, boston Real estate, diary of a newbie real estate investor, flipping, free real estate education, lead geneRation online, ma Real estate, real estate mentorship, real estate mentorship contest, real estate social media, trusted advisor, www.bostonareia.com

Diary of a Newbie Real Estate Investor

April 16, 2014 by bostonareia 4 Comments

mike and jacquiWE NEED YOUR HELP TO CHOOSE OUR LOGO!

Direct mail and a Website Logo Contest

Jacqui and I are still scouring the market to try and find a good rehab deal, and recently we have been focused on direct mail and our website development. It’s been about two weeks since we sent out our first round of direct mail marketing. No responses to date, but we are optimistic that if we stick with it we will find a good rehab deal. We are continuing to refine and add to our marketing list that we are using for direct mail. Our list was created using the following data sources: expired and removed listings from MLS, foreclosures, and houses that we identified by driving for dollars and looked up in the public record.

To try and keep things organized we are also in the process of setting up our own website. We are working with Thrivehive to design the website and are utilizing the marketing platform. The Thrivehive marketing platform provides you everything that you need to create tracked phone lines and to start building a database of potentials sellers, buyers, or others. We are looking forward to using these capabilities to track the effectiveness of our direct mail marketing.

We were shocked that we actually had our first lead come in a few weeks ago when an absentee landlord found our webpage after extensive google searching and contacted us.

The owner lived on the South Shore and was interested in selling a six family apartment building that he owned in the Framingham area. We checked out the property and initially were not very impressed with the location or the condition of the building so we didn’t investigate or move forward. A week later I called the owner back because a friend of mind provided me with more information about the specific neighborhood the apartment was located in and suggested it might be worth a second look. Go figure when I contacted the owner back the property was already under agreement by another investor. Lesson learned – do your research and move quickly.

We were shocked that such a barebones website could actually generate a credible lead. We are excited about redesigning our site with Thrivehive’s help and will have something available soon that can help us to keep the leads coming!

We are also looking to pick a logo for our company Fitz Property. We have used a logo design website and have narrowed the top designs for you to vote. We would love your input. Also if you think you have a better logo idea, we want your submission! If we select your design as our logo we will offer a $200 prize. Please submit any ideas to mike@fitzproperty.com and jacqui@fitzproperty.com

Thanks for reading!

Mike and Jacqui

1 fitzproperty4

2fitzproperty3

3Fitzproperty2

4Fitzproperty-1

Filed Under: Diary of a Newbie Real Estate Investor Tagged With: 12/31/2012 deadline for gift tax, Boston Area real estate investors, boston area real estate investors association, Boston Commercial Real Estate, Commerical Real Estate in Boston, diary of a newbie real estate investor, estate tax planning in ma, free real estate education, lead geneRation online, mass foReclosuRes, Massachusetts Foreclosures, real estate mentorship contest, real estate social media, The meaning of fear, unsecured loans, www.bostonareia.com

Boston AREIA Diary of a Newbie Real Estate Investor

March 31, 2014 by bostonareia 1 Comment

mike and jacquiDiary of a Newbie Real Estate Investor

with Mike Fitzpatrick and Jacqui Pietrzak

Since our last post Jacqui and I have been working closely with Peg and Bernadette to put together a plan for accomplishing our $50k profit rehab goal. Our focus right now is finding a property to buy. Recently we have been spending our time driving for dollars and meeting with local realtors to explain our goals.

If you have never tried driving for dollars, I think it’s fair to say your first time is going to feel awkward. It is hard to look normal when you are circling a neighborhood, slowing traffic and wondering if you look like kidnappers. Essentially our plan was to pull up to a distressed looking property, run out with our “we want to buy your house” flyer, wedge it in the door, then run back to the car as quickly as possible and drive off avoiding any human contact.

Realizing it is less creepy if we actually get out and speak to people, our second attempt went much better. Now that the weather is getting nice, something we are more comfortable with is “running for dollars”. We take our dog with us on the run as this makes us feel more “normal” and offsets the fact that we have a pocket full of flyers and a notepad to write down addresses.  People are willing to give you more information when you look like another neighbor walking around.

Time will tell if we end up with any leads, but it certainly was a good way to become more familiar with the neighborhoods in our area. Through some of these conversations we learned about other houses that were already being rehabbed. At first the thought of another rehabber in my target neighborhood was a bummer to us because we felt someone else beat us to the deal. But we are currently trying to get in touch with these other investors so we can learn from them and see if we could work together in the future.

We have also started setting up meetings with brokers in the metro-west area that are interested in working with us to find rehab and multi-family buy and hold deals. Anything within a 20-30 minute radius of Framingham is what we are looking at. If you are interested in working with us please drop us a message at mike@fitzproperty.com or jacqui@fitzproperty.com and we can set up some time to talk.

In the next couple weeks we are planning on launching our company website and first direct mail campaign. We are trying to narrow down our favorite logos for our company, stay tuned for a voting poll in our next blog post!

Mike & Jacqui

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 12/31/2012 deadline for gift tax, an advisor you can trust, boston, Boston Area real estate investors, boston area real estate investors association, boston areia, Boston Commercial Real Estate, Boston Marathon, Commerical Real Estate in Boston, diary of a newbie real estate investor, driving for dollars, learning to flip in bostons, real estate club, real estate mentorship, real estate mentorship contest, rehab tour, rehabbing in Boston, trusted advisor, www.bostonareia.com

Next Page »

Recent Posts

  • What should a Wholesaler present when selling a contract?
  • Wholesaling, Wholesaling, Wholesaling…
  • Wholesalers when doing your analysis are you remembering everyone wants to make money?
  • Is passive real estate Investing on the rise?
  • Network your way to success!

Copyright © 2021 · Bostonareia · Powered by ThriveHive