I Don't Have Any Investment Money And Bad Credit.
I know that there are people in this situation, but scared to post it. I hear alot about flipping properties, and never using my own credit or money. Can someone tell me how to get started or if this is a practical route to take without getting grief from realtors or lawyers. I guess personal experiences would be helpful. Thanks 
If you have Poor Credit, No Money, and Little or no experience, My personal recommendation would be to consider Bird-Dogging. It solves some of your problems.
1St, It provided a way for you to make some money in Real Estate.
2D It is a great way for you to learn your market. You'll learn the market values of properties in the neighborhoods you're working.
3D It is the best wat I know for you to establish a relationship with an investor that may be willing to teach you the skills that you need to learn to purchase houses using little or none of your own money.
Also, Keep coming to this website and learn what you can. There is a wealth of information and knowledge here for the asking.
Good Luck,
Jeff
Have you had success with bird-dogging? What contracts do I need?
Yep, I know it's hard to hear or maybe not what you want, but you are going to have to start at the bottom like most of us once did.
Bird Dogging is fun, easy, and can make you good cash. I would also check into lease/optioning as that is another way to do deals without any money.
If I were you, take the money from the deals you do and then put it towards fixing your credit some. Just enough to get you better credit. Read some of the posts here about credit, etc but if you need any help, drop me a line, I know way too much about credit...experience is a wiener sometimes!
The Solutions Kid
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I don't mind bird dogging, I just need some pointers on how to get started. What books or courses do you prefer?
I would recommend John Locke's "Big Bucks Bird Dogging" Available on this site at the shop tab at the top of the page. It's a great $48 investment in your REI education. Other than that, Look in the Real Estate listings in the local newspapers that service your area. There will very likely be ads from investors. You know the ones, "I Buy Houses", "Foreclosure? I can help" . . . . . . etc. Call those numbers, ask them what they look for when they purchase investment real estate, where do they prefer to work? Any areas that they avoid? Let them know that you would like to help them find the houses they want. Ask around and find out what they would pay for quality leads. What if you set an appointment for them? Etc. You can come up with an agreement that you both can live with. Get it in writing to make sure you get paid, and you're in business.
Good Luck,
Jeff[ Edited by jeff12002 on Date 09/30/2003 ]
you can always start working lease options too....
My second deal was no money down and no credit check. I found it by driving around in lower-class neighborhoods and looking for vacant houses. then I went to the courthouse and looked up the owners current address, some were the same as the vacant property. I sent them all a letter that offered to help them to get rid of there problem property. One of the ones that was sent to the vacant property called me and said she just wanted to get out of the property and it was 4 months behind on mortgage. Then I went to a rehabber and asked how much he would give me for the property. His offer was $4000 more that the current mortgage and back payments. So I assigned him the contract and recieved $4000. I believe wholesaler is the way to begin with no money or credit. If you do the work to get the contract you can make more money on the deal than just a birddog fee of 500-1000.
No money, no credit and very little direction. You could of course Birddog but the problem in doing that is finding the right Real Estate Investor. One that knows when to stop short and help a person in trouble. Less money but you get a lot of referals Of course you could do Flip/Flop, but without experience you are liable to find yourself involved in a lawsuit as the prior owner comes out of the ether. He looks around and sees someone made a profit on him and sue, sue, sue. That's why I always include him in. But most do not..
OK enough of that, why not cut to the core, really get into the business of Real Estate. If you have to start at the bottom you might as well learn it all. Now where is the most real estate activity in the area in which you live? Correct, the local office of a Real Estate Broker. Why not visit a few, tell them you want to get into real estate and see what comes back. Might be a job, might be an offer to train you so you can take the examination for a Real Estate License. You really want to learn. Rehab, Property Management, Marketing, Advertising the recognization of property value. Well, you really get it all especialy if you are open to it. Take the License. Some offices offer a salery and expenses while you are getting started. Some offer to partner you with an experienced Real Estate Person while you get your feet wet. Also you will get to meet a lot of people. Both good and bad, funny and sad. Stupid and clever. And you are involved in the thing you want to do.
No Money, No Credit, the essential credentials to enter the Real Estate Brokerage business. Couple all that with a lack of education and you have the perfect background. Nothing like being broke to make you get out and hustle. Besides it's fun. Lucius
Look brother check this out! Think positive. You are in a great position, you allready have the experience. Being in a bad positions just tells you that you can only go up. Learn invest in your education, and explore different opinions for you can come up with your own. Educate your self because you allready know how to be in a bad position so learn how to get yourself in a good position. Like they say as you learn you become more confidant. The best thing you can do right now with not much to work with is gain knowledge because it is more valueble than anything!
Hey guys, thanks alot for your help and input. You've definately given inspiration and confirmed some things I already was playing with in my head. I'll keep you posted as to how things are going.
I just purchased my first property from a motivated seller for 1000 dollars down on a contract for deed with no credit check
I know of a program that is very lucrative for the beginning re investor that may even allow you to buy property using someone else credit regardless of your credit situation. Email me for details.
My advise in your situation is simply to dedicate several months in education. I started with the classic Carleton Sheets "No Money Down" course. It has lots of basic ways to get started and comes with a bunch of real estate forms that you can modify. If I remember correctly, it was under $150. You can look it up online. I am a licensed real estate agent and I can tell you, I learned a lot more about creative real estate that way than I did in real estate school, which is mostly re laws and agency statys. Oh and by the way, while you are doing your homework on investing, work on cleaning up your credit, because it does make things a lot easier and opens up all new avenues of success.
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Quote:
On 2003-09-30 02:27, Lufos wrote:
... Of course you could do Flip/Flop, but without experience you are liable to find yourself involved in a lawsuit as the prior owner comes out of the ether. He looks around and sees someone made a profit on him and sue, sue, sue. That's why I always include him in. But most do not.. ... Lucius
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Lufos,
Maybe I don't understand the whole process of flipping the same way that you do. Let's say I put a boarded up house under contract with its owner. After that I sell it to a rehabber for of course more than I purchased it for. What would the grounds for a lawsuit be and what would the original owner's recourse be? I am really curious as I am looking at doing this with some boarded up homes in my area. I look forward to your response as well as anyone else's opinions.
Thanks,
nightshade
It may be possible to purchase properties with poor credit! Email me for details.
What is bird-dogging? Still trying to clean our credit. But have several properties already we want to buy... :-?