We are heading out tomorrow, home to see family for a long weekend, then off to Brazil early next week.
Before I left, some milestones that I was delighted to get done. I officially received my RE license! So I submitted all the other paperwork (MLS application, Realtor application) along with about $600 in fees. Not a cheap license!
That all went out yesterday, so by the time I get to Brazil, I should have my MLS number and can start to get acquainted with the system…exciting - I am excited to go to Brazil, and to get back!
We are planning on being away until early August, so for the next few months, I’ll post updates from lovely Brazil.
Ciao!
B and I are heading out for Brazil in little less than a week. I interviewed for a property manager position this past week with a local firm — I really hope I get it. For me, it will provide 2 purposes.
1. Get me out of the house!
2. Provide income so when I work on renovated homes to flip them, and disasters arise, I am not wiped out.
I would start in August - once we get back from Brazil, and will find out in a few weeks if I got it - they are interviewing one other person (and talk about an interview! I was interviewed by everyone in the office for over 3 hours - hardcore!).
I was just talking with B about feeling adrift - I would imagine that it happens to everyone. You have a life-goal chart, but which is the next step, is it right? How do you know? I was reading the Henry Ford bio, and he had no idea if his car invention was correct, if it would work, if people would buy it. But he worked for Edison, and met him one day, and Edison slammed his fist on the table and told Ford that this car would revolutionize the world.
At this point, I have met most of the people I need to know in the RE field, I got my license, signed up with a broker, and completed all my paperwork.
I guess the crazy thing is that by leaving for Brazil, which will be amazing and fun and wonderful, I am putting a lot on hold - and I really just want to take the next step! I guess I have to remember that this will all still be here when I get back (and, really, things with the mortgage market will really hit the fan in 2011 which is awesome) and to just enjoy this adventure.
Writing out the direction always helps, as well as reminding myself that I am on the right path.
To entertain you, check out Dr. Horrible’s Blog – if you have seen this forever ago, forgive me. I can’t help but be incredibly entertained by it every time I watch it.
Today: get RE agent docs signed by my broker, Steve. I put together a starting site for the property owner’s association up here last night, so that is off the list. I reached out to the Fair Rent Board to get onto the Board (hopefully) today and left a voice mail. I am pretty psyched about being on it - if I can get on. We shall see.
Off to the gym (Brazilian bikini’s are coming up soon)
Soooooo — Saturday night post, I know, random.
I went to schedule the state exam on Friday and was told that they only had an opening today - or next Friday. So I buckled down and read the entire state book between Friday and today when I took the exam.
After finishing the exam (which I needed a 70% on - don’t laugh!) I went back through it to review and counted up the questions I was positive of and those that I may have gotten right. I counted 20 def yes, and 10 maybes. I closed my eyes and said, “Please, please, please” - and opened them to a passing score!!! Sadly, the test does not tell you how many you got right/wrong, just if you passed. I really would have loved to have known what I got right/wrong.
Anyway - passed! Yay! A goal accomplished that was put into motion in October. Whew. Finally.
On another note, since I was in hard core study mode last night, I took a break with B to watch X-men cartoons to prep for seeing the movie. That night, wonderful, strange dreams of X-men being real estate agents. Weird, but also really funny.
Tonight, we had a big dinner celebrating Latinos in public service (B is Cuban) - it was awesome, and so fun to celebrate the passing of the exam with close friends.
Tomorrow: sleeping in.
Monday: taking over the world. Until then, play on playa.
Okay - so I passed the national exam and need to retake the state exam. Happily, I can retake it next week, I am shooting for Monday. I remembered taking the exam to get my drivers license, the SAT - those fun standardized tests as I sat in my little cubical today and going through the exam. I was looking forward to some champange today, but I can wait till Monday - and there is nothing like champagne on a Monday 
Off to study, and go food shopping for these two, ravenous cats.
Sooooo, the exam is tomorrow. Right. I have not started to study yet, but - to be fair, I have had an awesome day.
The property owner’s association meeting which I crashed was awesome, I met a lot of great people, and specifically, one guy who is kind of young and is really successful. He is a Realtor, so after the meeting I stalked him until he gave up who he worked for - a guy named Steve. I called Steve the next day and set up a meeting for today.
We met this morning (I had a meeting with Keller Williams the day before, which went well and I can certainly join their team, but there was no “Wow” moment) at Starbucks. I thought we would chat for 30 minutes or so - 2.5 hours later I realized that I was late for my lunch date.
Steve has successfully invested in real estate, he is working on educational products that he is happy to have me collobrate with him on (score!) and he is looking to build his RE company through adding a mortgage company, title company, property management company in. He mentioned that he thinks there is a great market for a new property management company come in, which is def an option I have been considering.
All in all, great meeting - and a terrific lunch date with a good girlfriend. Lots of chatting, shopping and eating
Tonight, is a date night with B (4 years!) which I am really looking forward to.
That being said, I gotta go study
A few things:
My state real estate exam is on Thursday. I called today to schedule it and they offered me a slot for tomorrow — which there was no way I was accepting because I def need to start reviewing/studying! But in any case, as of Thursday, I will be an agent, which is awesome.
On that note, I reached out to Keller Williams offices in my area about setting up meetings about being an agent in their office. I want to see what kind of system they have in place. I really love the book by Gary Keller, the founder of Keller Williams called The Millionaire Real Estate Investor, also I have heard that they provide excellent training, so we will see what can be worked out.
If there are any hitches with that, I have 2 mom & pop places lined up that I can go to. The thing is, and this may sound bitchy, but I want to be at an agency where there are really successful agents, specifically, really successful investors who are agents. So the mom and pop places I have found (thus far) are a bit lower - as in way lower - down the list.
One of the really important goals that I have is to own an online company that is mostly automated. That being said, I found one that is based on the west coast, and actually, is only in CA at this point. I reached out to the founder (Shae, another one! Just a random “Hey, I’d love to talk” email) that I read about in a New Yorker article and we are going to discuss the possibilities of teaming up to expand on the east coast under my wing. That being said, I need to do mega research for this to get ready for our conversation at the end of the week.
Finally, and most scary, was I reached out to an investor who is turning a 3 family on my street into a 3 unit condo building. I really like this guy - great work ethic and very honest, and kind. I found him by walking up and down my street and watching the work be done, day by day. On the day that I saw a Benz parked out front, I went up and found the owner, utilizing my semi-fluent Spanish skills with first, a set of Spanish speaking guys (fairly easy) and then somehow, communicating what I needed via Spanish to a set of Brazilian guys. Honestly, I’m not sure how the message got through. In any case, the owner/investor came down and we spoke for a while. I asked him a million questions and he was super, super nice.
That being said, since another goal is to have a bricks and mortar business up and running and I know property management, I called him up today to ask about managing his properties. I was totally scared to do this, which is kinda silly. But in any case, I called him up and asked, and he said he had a meeting the night of the 9th with a condo association and would pass my name and number along to them! He continued to say that the first year after a condo association is formed, it must be managed and maintained by the developer, so the project that is right down the street from me is off limits, for the next 18 months or so.
Tonight, is a “property owners meeting” - which I am crashing. The guy who I sent a letter to, way back when, and referred me to read a Dean Graziano book (which I am still getting through) suggested I go to this meeting. I hope he goes, so I finally meet him. To refresh memories on who he is, I sent out 2 letters a loooooong time ago asking about buying their house. He was one of them, a multi-millionaire real estate investor, and he called me to give me advice. Really nice guy.
Finally, from my last batch of letters that I sent out (to targeted properties in a nice neighborhood) I got an email from one of the owners, asking me to call him. It is listed as a 1 family but it is HUGE - he also totally overpaid for it. I am off to call him now.
What dreams may come.
No offense to all the great people I have met here on the east coast, but today I met with (for 15 minutes) the first real estate investor I have come across. This guy is the real deal, multiple properties, books (plural!) published on the subject, multiple companies (again, plural!!), the comfort to speak of Cap Rates with ease and the experience to say that it is normal to be freaked out on taking the first big step.
That being said, the meeting went great. I happened to see that he had a stash of Stash Tea (my fav) so I am going to send him a little bouquet of tea as a thank you.
His suggestion at this point was to keep on learning, networking and talking with people over the summer as he was expecting prices to continue to drop through the end of this year, and to start buying in the fall.
He started out buying one small house, made some improvements to it, and within 5 years had sold it. He does not hang on to properties for the long term. He continued to do this, buying, fixing up, holding on to for a bit, and then selling. He moved up to apartment buildings, then on to commercial properties, which is where he is now, in addition to writing.
I also like this stragety because I do not want to live in the state where we currently are, and want to be in the same state as the long term properties. Althought - for those of you (Shae, Clifford!) who have properties, do you plan on keeping them longer than 5 years?
Next set - going out today. Whoo! About 30 targeted letters are going out - to owners of specific addresses who meet specific requirements, as in: Run down house in nice neighborhood. I get so excited at the Assessor’s office when I find people living out of state. Thrilling!
Since we got some letters back I was hanging out at the Assessor’s office this morning, figuring out where these people live. I started searching for their names, instead of the property address that I am interested in, to find the other properties in town that they own. Then I checked the addresses I found againt the mailing address that I had — in several cases there were new mailing addresses, which is pretty exciting. I still need to figure out how to find the people behind a LLC so I can then stalk them a bit, get their address and mail them lovely letters, offering to buy their properties.
Tomorrow I have a meeting set up with a kinda big time investor in these parts - he is giving me 15 minutes. After getting eaten alive by the VC a few weeks ago, I feel more prepared, but still nervous. Speaking of the ravenous VC, I spoke with him again today. He is really a great guy - I am looking forward to continuing that relationship and working with him in the future.
B and I are heading out to Brazil for a month, starting at the end of May - I am really excited. My Portuguese is still pretty bad. I can ask, “What is your name?” really well, though. I gotta get some more practice in!
Taxes (finally, I know) = completed
RE certificate (from the state, now on to the exam) = received and application sent in
Cat puke cleaned up = completed
Reaching out to multiple mentors in one day = completed
Thank you note to VC who ate me and B alive on Friday = done
Homemade lemon basil pesto sauce = eaten
Easter was awesome, it is so good to be back home after seeing the family. It’s funny, living in one place with family all over the place - sometimes home is a very fluid concept.
