Real Estate (where to start and how to build wealth)

[Chris Colvin]

I know a lot of people are interested in some way in real estate and even if you're not buying and selling it you're still going to be signing leases, shopping for sq/ft, determining traffic flows, etc so you'll want to know how to effectively grow your business either way.

In Chicago I was able to talk with only a few of you about what I do and how connected compaies operate and unfortunately for the time we had and the drinking we did I could only answer so much. So now I'll be updating this discussion daily as well as hopefully open up a forum for your questions (and if I dont know I'll find out, I never bs on my business) so that you can learn how to effectively take advantage of real estate opportunities in your area. I'll tell you now, I am finishing my MBA and even if I make millions doing something else, I will always be involved in real estate for the rest of my life.

This was the first house I ever flipped after starting my company. Took 4 months (mostly due to a contract falling through and a lazy contractor) but the cleared check on this one property was $37,750 for maybe about 45-60 hours of my time in all. the money is out there gentlemen!

[Matt Wilson]

College is an excellent time to start in real estate--most of us have to rent a house anyway, so why not raise some money to buy one and rent it out while acting as the property manager?

Putting that money towards a long term goal, is way better than blowing it on rent

[Chris Colvin]

You bring up a good point that I was going to cover Matt. Housing in college is real estate persons dream. College kids come in, dont need it all fixed up or fancy, they leave in 2-4 years and then start again with some new ones again and again. So if you have 3 friends (and I dont think you'd be an entrepreneur if you couldn't network and find 3 friends) then find a way to buy a house (I know its not as easy anymore) would not only give you a great investment if you choose to hold on to it after graduation but also possibly allow you to live rent free while in college!
Example. In 2005 I was living in an apartment while going to school. Broke up with a long time girlfriend and suddenly had to pay both half of the bills and didn't like it. Decided to talk to some friends and found 2 that were ready and willing right away. So I started looking at HUD houses and found a great 4 bed 1.5 bath house with a 2 car garage and full basement in one of the nicest parts of the city for $78k. Had to come up with about 3k down for everything but the appraisal on the house as-is condidtion was $99k meaning the day I closed I was walking into over twenty thousand dollars of equity! At 25 I had just made as much in a single day signing a paper then I had all last year while going to school full time. And the best part is being a HUD home, yeah it needed some work but by doing minimal work I increased the value significantly and can now look for an after sale profit of somewhere between 65-75k when I sell this Spring.
Regardless of how much you might make on the property the real key in college is having the roommates to pay the mortgage right!? In my situation I gave them a SET rent (this is key because it simplifies things for everyone) in my case that was $350 and I agreed to pay all the bills. So on a 78k mortgage I was paying somewhere between $250-450 a month for all the bills and that was it. Now folks that's on a 1,980 sq ft house including all the gas, electric, trash, water, and cable w/internet. and now I took on a 3rd friend who pays$400 a month so you do the math, I am living rent and bill free while getting my MBA.