"Getting Started" Advice for The new guy/gal on investing in Real Estate.

[Jack Diesel]

I've been reading posts on here as a guest for some time now and I finally decided to register. I think it would really be great if you experienced investors to help us "just getting starteds" out. I'd like to know 3 things.

1. What do you think is the best way to learn the business (rehabbing, flipping, Landlording, etc.), for someone who doesn't have a lot of money yet and virtually no experience, but also has the drive, ambition, determination and motivation to succeed in this business? Courses, schools, websites, mentoring, P/t real estate agent, etc. If there are certain schools or mentors like Trump U please say the name.

2. What is the easiest and fastest way to make money starting out. A way that will be relatively quick, simple and low risk in order to get build capital to reinvest in the company and get to some bigger deals
?

3. What was the first deal you made and how did you do it?

I know the answers can be long in some cases, but they will be much appreciated. I am putting it all on the line going into this and I want to get as much useful information as possible. I think there are some extremely intelligent people on this board and your experiences and knowledge is needed by some people who are in the same situation many of you were at one time. Thank you so much for sharing. Happy Thanksgiving.

[herbster]

Jack, With the very crappy market we're in right know its a good time to lay low, read some more, maybe pickup some cheap RE courses and books on ebay and save some bucks. Some low risk ventures would be bird doggin and my fav. lease option assignments. Just my 2 cents. Herbster

[Jack Diesel]

Herb thanks for the reply. You may be right. Are there any specific books and real estate courses you can suggest? What do you think about Trump University or the Carleton sheets program I here so much about on here? Thanks

[justin0419]

1.  A big part of this is what you want to do and what you're able to do.  Some people are deathly afraid of being a LL.  Other people don't have any money set aside to buy a property anyway.  I have rehabbed a building to hold as a LL.  I'm sure I'll branch out into other areas in the future, but that's where I started. 
2.  Agree w/ herbster here.  If you want something with little to no risk and you're not putting your money in the deal, you're probably going to be looking at some sort of assignment deal bringing buyers and sellers together.
3.  First deal, bought a 6-unit apartment building to hold.  It needed lots of work.  By putting in some of our own money and a lot of hard work, the building now produces almost double what it did 1.5 years ago.  This year we should break even and we expect good profits next year because of the work we've done to it so far.  We got a low interest "loan" for the down payment.  Basically I worked out a deal with my credit card to give me an advance at 3.5% for the life of the balance.  That gave us the money to put down and do the initial rehab. 

[propertymanager]

What do you think is the best way to learn the business (rehabbing, flipping, Landlording, etc.)

I would start learing by reading a bunch of the posts here - hundreds of them!  Pick the areas that you're interested in and start reading.  I would also strongly suggest joining your local REIA (Real Estate Investors Association).  Make friends with the SUCCESSFUL investors in your area.  Your new friends will be happy to help you - for free!  Finally, I would suggest starting to learn your target investing area by looking at (inside and out) at least 100 properties for sale.  Go to auctions; open houses; FSBOs, etc. 

What is the easiest and fastest way to make money starting out. A way that will be relatively quick, simple and low risk in order to get build capital to reinvest in the company and get to some bigger deals

There isn't any easy and fast way to make money, especially in this market.  Starting a business is a serious deal and the sad fact is that the vast majority of people fail.  Do the work to really learn the business before you start and then understand that you will be working harder than you've ever worked in your life.  Fast and easy - I don't think so! 

Instead of posting my first deal (or other deals I've done), I'll once again challenge you to read the forums on REIClub!  You'll find the details of many of my deals (and the deals of other investors) as you read!

Good Luck,

Mike

[Dave T]

Jack,

The first real estate deal I ever did was to buy my own house.  If you are not a homeowner yet, now is the perfect time to buy.

[j1dias]

Jack - I agree with what the others said. Here is a very good place to start -> http://www.reiclub.com/forums/index.php/topic,36859.0.html

fdjake posted this one few months ago and it is a very good advice for anyone starting on this business (actually, I believe it is a very good advice to anyone period).

I am in the middle of my first deal - I can second PropertyManager that it is a lot of work to succeed in this business. I believe that a person succeeds only if he/she likes the business. I love it. The financial rewards are secondary to doing what I like most.

Good luck!

[furnishedowner]

Jack Diesel,
Ditto on all the previous posts. Already you've gotten enough advice to set you up.

Happiness starts at home. My advice, too, is to "look to your own roof". How much are you currently spending for housing? Why? Can you cut that cost? Take in roommates, sublet your house, move to a lower-cost neighborhood? Buy a duplex, move into your garage?

Extreme measures can save you extreme amounts of money. I once spent an entire winter sleeping in a sleeping bag in a friend's van. In downtown Copenhagen, Denmark! Not Florida. In the mornings, my friend drove me and some other workers to our jobs at Tom's Chocolate factory. Tom's had showers, locker rooms, hot lunches, and free chocolate and nuts. Everything I needed. My job was packing those little liquer-filled chocolate bottles wrapped in colored foil.

The point of this is that I was able to save ALL my housing money (and a lot of food money) so I could go traveling when Spring hit. Which I did.

Let us know what your drive, determination and ambition can lead you to do in real estate, and Good Luck.

Furnishedowner

[Funder]

1. What do you think is the best way to learn the business (rehabbing, flipping, Landlording, etc.), for someone who doesn't have a lot of money yet and virtually no experience, but also has the drive, ambition, determination and motivation to succeed in this business? Courses, schools, websites, mentoring, P/t real estate agent, etc. If there are certain schools or mentors like Trump U please say the name.

Trump, Kiyosaki, Sheets…they’re all good for advice, but you need to show your drive, ambition, determination and motivation to succeed by doing your own deals.
Your first area of concern should be cash flow.  I would do all of the projects of rehab, landlording and ultimately flipping (with a 1031 exchange, possibly) at the same time.
Evaluate all possible deals from the standpoint of cash flow, negative attributes which can be corrected with rehab, and ultimate appreciation.  Appreciation in this market is mostly nonexistent, but I believe that buying  in the slum or in a war zone is a waste of time and money.
If you are deciding to get into real estate, then getting your real estate license might be a good compliment, but realize that real estate sales and real estate investing are very different, and most of the nonsense that you hear from real estate salespeople about real estate investment is worthless and dangerous.

2. What is the easiest and fastest way to make money starting out. A way that will be relatively quick, simple and low risk in order to get build capital to reinvest in the company and get to some bigger deals?

If your goal is to get rich quick, simple and with low risk, then I suspect you will never get rich.  The best way to get rich is to take risks and work hard.  There is no “easiest and fastest” way to get rich.  Getting rich is a long, slow process filled with difficult sacrifices.  If it were quick and easy, we would all be rich.

3. What was the first deal you made and how did you do it?

My first deal was my house.  I put 20% down.  I bought 30% below market value.  I bought a bad house in a good neighborhood.  I got a 30 year fixed interest mortgage at 5% APR.  I fixed all of the negative problems, rehabbing everything that needed it, and put the place up for rent.  I never took my eyes off of my financial statements and my cash flow.

[daniel08]

a good way to get started is birddogging or assigning contracts so your not risking anything

I would also spend several months reading posts in real estate investing forums like this and decide on what method appeals to you.