1)Whats the difference between debt partners and equity partners?
2)Would I be able to buy/sell apartments if I'm not a licensed agent/broker?
3) What are the cycles in a market?

All of these real estate investors on this forum, and nobody can answer one of my questions?

1) I'm not sure there is a difference. Partners in a negative situation are debt partners, in a positive position they're equity partners.
2) No license needed to buy and sell real estate. Only to receive a commission
3) It tends to peak and valley on a 20 year cycle, but does go up and down within that cycle. Unless the government interfers in which case we have the current scwed market. A full explanation would take much too much time to expplain unless someone has the basics down.

Learn patience. Many of these real estate investors may be busy investing. You're looking for free advice and as such free is often at the end of anyone's priority line. If you were expending funds to a coach or otherwise paying someone, you might have a valid expectation of an instant response. However, when one is looking for free guidance and is impatient, one will see minimal response.
Haste makes waste....an old adage, and it's old because it's true.
The best piece of advice I can give you is to hook up temporarily with a seasoned veteran, learn the basics and then venture out on your own. Jumping in too soon with no background is like testing the depth of the water with both feet. You'll drown.

Yea I understand what you are saying, and you are right, i do need to have patience. Its just that when I'm over excited and I have so much compassion about something I tend to get a little emotional about it, so dont take it in a negative way. Coming on this forum Im expecting free help, I mean isnt that one of the reasons why this forum was built? Im a noob so please feel me in. Posting like 5 new topics and not having one reply but 300 views gets frustrating. If I could afford a teacher i wouldnt even be on this site, I would of been paid for one a long time ago. I dont want to go into something making costly mistakes esp ones that could of easily been avoided, but if I dont have any money and nobody is willing to help me unless I do have some money then what do you expect me to do? I dont have any guidance or nobody to at least tell me which direction to walk through, so testing the depth of the water or whatever you said is something I have to do. But thank you for the help that you did give though.

So now that my critique is out of the way, what is it that you want to accomplish?
Are you looking to buy, repair and sell?
Are you looking to buy and hold?
What size units? I.e singles, 2-4 family, large apartment buildings, commercial?
What's your source of funding? Cash? hard money loans? line of credit?
Questions right back at you to determine the practicality of a specific course of action.

feeling you is probably illegal.

has anyone explained that real estate is not a good industry to start in at this time?

you will needs a least a few thousand dollars to get started, and hold you over for a while.

in this economy, it may take three to five years of hard work without regular pay, or without any commissions, to get anything significant going in sales. this all depends on your sales ability.

you're an adult, we don't expect you to do anything. but YOU should expect that you will pay your bills, regardless of the career you choose.

welcome to real estate..it's a shark tank!!

[quote=JackREO]So now that my critique is out of the way, what is it that you want to accomplish?
Are you looking to buy, repair and sell?
Are you looking to buy and hold?
What size units? I.e singles, 2-4 family, large apartment buildings, commercial?
What's your source of funding? Cash? hard money loans? line of credit?
Questions right back at you to determine the practicality of a specific course of action. [/quote]

Correct me if im wrong but we are in a buyer's market, and one of the best ways to generate a good cash flow is to start flipping wholesale properties. So buying and holding a property isnt an option as of right now.

I want to start off small so I want to buy and sell foreclosed properties. Its the cheapest and its the safest investment compared to all the other types of properties in the real estate market.

My grandfather is willing to fund me some money for my first investment, but im not sure how much yet. If he does I want to make that the last option because he barely have any money to give. I was thinking about getting a loan from a Private money lender, instead of the bank because with the bank you have to have a certain amount of requirements(20% down, credit score etc etc)that I really dont have at the moment.

I live in Boston so the population is really high compared to other cities. Considering that the population is so high there would always be some type of demand in the market.

@Shana Are you just giving me information based on what you think or whats actually true?

Theres always an emerging market some where in the U.S, not every city is depressed.If your telling me theres not a way to make money in this market then you are wrong. No matter how bad the economy is there is always somebody making money especially in the real estate market.

You dont need thousand of dollars to get started, you can enter this real estate business with little to no money down. If im able to convince the lender of why I need a loan and how I would be able to pay him back then theres a possibility that I would get it.

Five years without making commission sounds crazy. Where are you getting your information from?

I heard the story of how the real estate business is a shark tank, but you need to understand where im coming from. Im 19 years old, I have a whole bunch of mouths to feed, and I live in of the most impoverished neighborhoods in the city. If you think that this real estate business is going to intimidate me, your going to have to try again lol.I have a chance for one my dreams to become a reality, so negative advice isnt going to stop me from pursing. I know how this business could be `because I heard 100s of stories already.Im fully aware of what Im getting myself into. But can you at least give me some constructive advice, something that I would be able to build up on.

Should I be an real estate agent first, that way I can have some type knowledge in this real estate game.

my advice is realistic, with 25 years of experience in this biz. I assumed you were referring to becoming licensed and working as an agent, which is probably your best option, since you can earn commissions.

let me tell you, as of late many very experienced agents and brokers are barely hanging on. for you to start now as a new agent, or an investor with little or no money is a huge obstacle.

with respect to flipping, do you have construction skills, or will you have to split your profits with a contractor? If you can find the deals, great, but you need the resources and experience to do it profitably. good luck.

Five years without making commission sounds crazy. Where are you getting your information from?


that's true. the attrition rate for new agents is high. most will try for a year or so, and drop out. financially, it certainly does not make sense to try to survive on maybe one commission check per year.

nobody is married to real estate. financially, you have to consider your employment options.

I'm in SE Massachusetts. I generally don't handle inner city Boston since I manage to keep my staff running like crazy in the SE area. However, I have contacts, honest reliable agents, in just about every area I don't cover myself. I applaud your initiative and as such I'm available to walk you through the process regardless of whether or not you elect to work with one of my buyer agents. We all started somewhere now didn't we?
Just an aside regarding financing. Fannie Mae does offer low down payment invester financing for renovation loans. Hard money lenders have been known to hit real hard on upfront costs. In my opinion, they're one of the sharks out there. PM me, we'll touch base and see if I can help. Just keep in mind, I sugar coat nothing. You may not like what I have to say, but I've seen investors make money and I've seen them eaten alive.