015: Flipper, Landlord, and Real Estate Agent – Jim Huntzicker
There are lots of paths to a full-time real estate investing career. Mark Ferguson got into buying rental properties after being a real estate agent for many years. Today’s guest, Jim Huntzicker did the same. Both men had fathers who were real estate agents, which could seem like an advantage to getting into the real estate investing world. However, both believe having fathers in the business was not always a good thing.
The retail side of sales and purchasing is a night and day difference from real estate investing. Having a safety net to get started in a business can also greatly decrease your learning curve and success. In today’s episode you’re going to hear Jim’s story of how he got into investing, how he’s making a great living doing fix and flips, and how and why he buys and holds rental properties. You’ll learn a ton from this conversation.
Jim Huntzicker’s first fix and flip was a nightmare… what did he learn from it?
From almost the beginning of Jim’s first fix and flip project Jim Huntzicker ran into troubles of all kinds. From problems negotiating the price, to issues with unreliable contractors, and problems getting the money to purchase and rehab the property, Jim found that every project is an opportunity to be educated. He never went to college and Jim thought of his costly mistakes as education and cheaper than paying for tuition! Listen in as Mark Ferguson asks Jim about the lessons he learned on that first failed fix and flip and how he recovered to move ahead and become a very successful investor. It’s all on this episode of the InvestFourMore Podcast.
There’s a specific set of steps to getting the selling agent to ask YOU to make an offer on the property they have listed
Jim Huntzicker has a step by step process to get great deals from the MLS. In a time when many investors claim you cannot buy from the MLS, Jim still buys 75% of his flips there. Jim has perfected a process that includes going out to look at the property multiple times (or not), consistent communication with the agent, the issues you’d have to address if you purchased it, and brutal transparency about your desire to make an offer but fear offending anyone by making one that might seem too low. He’s found that the process he takes, though more lengthy than what most investors do, results in him getting more accepted offers in the end. Discover the details of this ingenious way of getting offers requested of you by listening in.
Money is great, but time with family is even better
Jim Huntzicker has a wife and twins at home and he loves that his success as a real estate investor enables him to spend more time with them and less time at work. He intentionally stays at home each morning until his children are off to school and enjoys that though he likes to work, he’s got the luxury of being at home whenever he wants. It’s a benefit he hadn’t thought about seriously until his twins were born, and one he wouldn’t trade for anything – including more money. Find out how Jim got to that point through building a successful real estate investment business.
How Jim Huntzicker finds great deals on the MLS and spends less time and money doing it
The common complaints about finding good deals for fix and flips on the MLS is that there’s too much competition. There may only be about 3% of houses listed that would actually be feasible for a fix and flip, but Jim sees those as ideal reasons TO get his deals there. The MLS is actually the “Motivated Seller List” in Jim’s eyes and compared to sending out direct mail, he thinks the MLS is a better deal. He’s not paying the expense of formatting mailers and sending out letters. He’s got a list right in front of him of motivated sellers, and the 3% of deals there that fit his buying criteria would be equal to the 3% of responses he’d get from direct marketing – and he didn’t have to go find them. Hear more about Jim’s logic of using the MLS to find great deals, on this episode.