Getting started young and where do I start with real estate investing? How do I find my mentor?

[Account Closed]

Im 19 years old in San Antonio, Texas and I want to take on the heart of San Antonio with real estate investing. I have no previous knowledge of the subject but I am more than willing to get educated and put in the time and work to turn this into my living. 

I graduated with a 4.0 in high school but was not interested in pursuing college and finding a job in corporate America. While there is nothing wrong with that, I am obsessed with the realm of real estate and want to completely immerse myself into investing.

My questions are:
How would a beginner, like myself, approach real estate investing with no cash, credit or credibility? What route is my best bet with said circumstances?

How do I find a mentor to guide my way into this new world I have only recently discovered? Whether it be in my area, over the internet, etc.

Also, is there any advice that anyone in this business would give to their younger self if starting at this age?

I know the road isn't easy but I know starting early on and giving 100% of my efforts, the road is doable.

[David Oldenburg]

@Account Closed 

 There are so many opportunities for someone your age!  If I could go back to your age, here is what I would do.  BTW, I bought my first home at 19 years of age and sold it 18 months later for a 50% profit.  Education is valuable, and as others have said, being on a site like BP's each day, reading, listening to podcasts, and networking with others is a great way to start.  

However, let me be more specific.  Find 2-3 investors who are the real deal. I mean they have experience, ethics and a proven track record of making money doing what they do. Ask these investors to mentor you and help you learn what they do.  I have done this in my area many times for people, and it is an honor to help others.  I would get one mentor who specializes in flipping, one who does wholesaling and one who does buy and hold and is building a portfolio of homes.  

Once you have a little more knowledge, help them find these homes and ask for a fair cut of what you help them make.  In my area, I have people who help me find deals, and I pay them well for helping. It is not uncommon for me to pay 25% of profit to someone who finds the deal.  That person can be someone just like you!  Someone who desires to learn and make money, but has no capital themselves.  This is a great way to really learn the business and make money while you learn.  Make it your goal to put your money away, avoid debt and keep your credit excellent.  If you do these things, within a few years you can begin using your money to do deals and help others :-) 

Good luck with what you are doing and your future!

[Michael Lehner]

Janelle im also trying to get my feet wet in real estate. Tried to get family to go in with me but that didn't work. I found multiple deals so I went looking for money. Companies like cogo capital provide funding with private money for real estate.  Watch their videos.  I talk to one of the loan consultants he was willing to fund the purchase but not the rehab so thats my battle now. Using something like that is better than a hard money lender in the sense a hard money lender wants 50 percent of profit and private money interest rates are 12 percent or lower

[Bill Gulley]

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Im 19 years old in San Antonio, Texas and I want to take on the heart of San Antonio with real estate investing. I have no previous knowledge of the subject but I am more than willing to get educated and put in the time and work to turn this into my living. 

I graduated with a 4.0 in high school but was not interested in pursuing college and finding a job in corporate America. While there is nothing wrong with that, I am obsessed with the realm of real estate and want to completely immerse myself into investing.

My questions are:
How would a beginner, like myself, approach real estate investing with no cash, credit or credibility? What route is my best bet with said circumstances?

How do I find a mentor to guide my way into this new world I have only recently discovered? Whether it be in my area, over the internet, etc.

Also, is there any advice that anyone in this business would give to their younger self if starting at this age?

I know the road isn't easy but I know starting early on and giving 100% of my efforts, the road is doable.

I didn't read the other replies, your question has been asked hundreds of times on BP and all the responses are generally the same, start here, read this or get with this strategy. Pretty much the blind leading the blind usually.

I did my first deal at your age, the circumstances were different, a very good family friend, a doctor's wife was in real estate, they owned a house as a rental and she sold it to me, actually, it was more of a wedding gift and I lived in the house.

At your age, I had a carpet business, I worked with contractors and the public. I knew my products, knew the labor side, knew just enough business to be legal and ethical. My biggest problem was being taken seriously by "adults" as I was still just a kid who thought I was an adult.

Fact is, you can't even buy me a drink to talk about business. You have nothing to bring to the table, no knowledge, money, credit or even a business knowledge much less an RE knowledge.

Unlike others, especially those that may only be a few years wiser than you giving you advice, I'm going to give you some grandfatherly advice, with real, long term experience.

You are doing yourself a great disservice by not continuing your formal education. Your future will largely depend on your formal education. College teaches much more than the contents of a subject. At your age, you need to advance yourself conventionally. You're smart enough. In a public forum, you'll get many that failed in getting a good education and they will defend themselves and their choices, it's human nature, but understand those that don't have formal training certainly don't know the benefits, they can't.

We've had these stupid argument on BP before, the 45 year old high school grad making good money investing etc. The examples of some really successful investor who didn't go to school.

All is totally irrelevant, they were then, this is now, you're 19, things will be even more different in 10 years, so these arguments and past examples have no bearing on what you'll be facing.

RE investing, or a job in RE that many call investing, is not easy nor is it a real paycheck, most live from deal to deal for a long time. 80% fail in 2 years and go flip burgers or something else, RE is probably the most over hyped area of opportunities for young people, you need a bit of reality and not fall into some dream pipeline.

I'm not saying you must have a college degree, but you will be better served with one. You can also obtain that goal over time if money is an issue, I don't like seeing kids going into debt either, you can pay as you go. You can't, at 19, say RE is for you, I think if anyone said they selected their profession at 19 and stayed in that career for 40 years, they are probably full of it, few exceptions, doctors, attorneys, engineers or professions, but not in some career that requires no education. I thought I was going to be a contractor, I sure didn't have a clue I'd end up in finance or in dealing in all kinds of business ventures. So, you don't know what will be coming your way and you don't know what elections you will make in the future.

Begin in RE with formal basic RE information, not investing strategies as is sold here. Simple, get a book for real estate agent's they study to get their license in your state. When you understand these basics, which will take about 2 weeks of study, might be one week for you, you'll be ready and in a much better in understanding the investor strategies spoken of here. We have carnival barkers here, snake oil salesmen (gurus) mentors, coaches and other wanting their hand in your pocket offering you an education. If you get that basic education first, you can identify these dealers and save yourself time and a lot of money. You'll be in a much better position to select good mentors as well.

As to education, most here don't have a clue, as they say select your niche.....well, you can't select the best niche based solely on your circumstances, what to do has to do with the market, what opportunities exist in your area, all opportunities are not equal. You could chase wholesale deals for two years if your market has very little depressed housing inventory and very well known rehabbers, you'll likely fail if your market doesn't support the strategy. To identify the market, you will need the formal education about RE, gurus don't teach how to value or identify market trends as it's to complicated to teach in a sound bite.

Again, at your age, your time will be better spent learning, studying and being formally trained. I 'd suggest you try to get deals when you get to a point when you really understand what goes on, but frankly, in reality, it takes time to mature and gain the knowledge that will be required for you to command the confidence of others. :) 

By formal education, I'm speaking of core classes, there are about a dozen college type classes that will give you a much greater head start than the ones who don't have such knowledge. Don't need a degree, but I hope you do to compete in your future.    

[Account Closed]

@David Oldenburg How would you suggest I start to find investors in my area to give me the chance to learn from them?

[Paul Timmins]

@Account Closed 

I give the same advice and more for every newbie. It is designed to give them important things to get started. I have many examples of comments I have provided others please check through my postings to see. I will give the same advice to newbies until I stop receiving thank you from them.

Good luck

Paul

[David Oldenburg]

@Account Closed That is a great question!  Many of your seasoned investors, people who have experience and are making money, are on sites like this one.  I would network with and get to know people who are on this site, and who also live near you.  Look at their history, ask them if you can talk to them on the phone. Be honest with people about where you are and that you want to learn, and people will help you.  I have mentored many people in the real estate, private investing and lending world, and I continue to help others each day.  Most of us that have had success and make good money, are eager to network and help others.   Focus on those people who are actually doing deals, and ask them if they would like to spend some time with you each week or month and help you learn what they know.

To someone like me, the money part of it is very easy. I will either use my own money, borrow the money, or partner with others for the money. The hard part for me is finding the homes that are the good deals.  Learn how people find homes and how to do this yourself.  This is basically what wholesaling is... it's finding homes and entering into an assignable contract to buy them, and then selling them quickly to others for a higher price.  You don't need a lot of capital to do wholesaling. However, you do need to learn how to do it, and this is where mentors can be priceless!  

[Mike H.]

My quick start guide if I could give advice to myself at your age.
1) Get a job that either A) offers you great pay so you can qualify for the loans to invest in real estate or B) Allows you the flexibility to do all the legwork you'll need to do to invest in real estate or C) Contributes something to your investing skills.

That said, I would think someone without a college degree is probably best served with going after B or C. A real estate agent seems to make the most sense. Its the best job that I can think of for you to learn the market. It will help you build a very useful/valuable skill (learning what the buyers want). And also help you talk to sellers. But you need to work it hard to build your income and credit.

One other tip I'd throw in there that I've heard some people on here do and seems really smart. As wholesalers and realtors, they get leads that call them but are not a good fit for an investor deal. However, they may be a good fit for the realtor listing side (i.e. you'd at least get a commission on the sale of their home if they list it with you). So they can work hand in hand some there.

In addition, if you target investors as some of your clientele as a realtor, it also might be a great way to learn what investors are looking for and what their model. As their realtor, you can ask them questions that they may not otherwise answer were you to be someone that might seem like competition.  

2) Network with the REI groups. Those groups do two things.
a) Start the foundation of your relationships that hopefully will contribute to your investing success in some way in the future. Maybe its finding a mentor. Maybe its finding a source of financing. Or a source of deals. 

b) Keeps you MOTIVATED.  This one of the truly hidden values in those groups and in sites like BP. Real estate is such a slow moving beast (i.e. everything takes forever even though we're in a hurry) that its very easy to lose your motivation.  But when you're seeing all the deals that people are doing or hearing all the types of business models people are succeeding with, it makes it very easy to want to go out there and put in the extra effort you need to make things happen.

And in investing, extra effort and the right model is all it takes to make things happen.

If you do those two things, you'll be immersing yourself in real estate on both sides (realtor for the clients, and investing for the deal side). Eventually, you'll come across a path/model that fits what you want to do. And, with some extra effort and a little patience, you should do very well.....

The one thing I truly believe is that as long as people are persistent and put in some extra effort at this, they're eventually going to do extremely well.  

[David Walls]

All this info is great. I'm 18 and I'm a college student also getting started and was going to post asimiliar question. Good luck @Janelle Llora. Feels amazing to finally see someone else young like myself interested in REI

[Account Closed]

@Mike H. I appreciate the advice! Thank you for sharing information for beginners like myself looking to start a path to being financially free with RE.

@David Walls Best of luck !

[Jonathan Cope]

@Account Closed have each offered you wise counsel.

Keep looking for those who are looking to share their experience because they are paying it forward or being grandfatherly. 

Avoid the folks looking to share in exchange for payment or advantage.

Paul Timmin's welcome content for newbies is always excellent.

Do take Bill G.'s advice seriously. What he offers above is particularly wise. 

Become a life long learner and a student of life. 

Begin doing so before life gets more demanding, as it does as your responsibilties increase with the passage of time.

The world's best investors, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, each credit their success to perpetual learning. 

Each claims to read and study most of 12 hours per day every day.

Neither suggests that what they learned in college made them.

However, they each credit college with helping them learn to learn for life.

Good luck with your pursuits.

See you around the forums,

Jonathan

[Christy Hall]

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Originally posted by @Paul Timmins:

@Account Closed 

Welcome. Best to start with a  foundation of knowledge.

Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.

Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice. And you get the benefit of having over 90 past ones to catch up on.

Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers who provide deals and rehabbers.

Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses, The Book on Estimating ReHab Costs http://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

Consider checking out HUD homes for small multi's owner occupied gets first crack.

You might consider Niche or Specialized Housing like student housing. Rents can be 2-4 times more. Remember you don't have to own a property to control it.

Download BP’s newest book here some good due diligence in Chapter 10. Real Estate Rewind Starting over

http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/brandonatbp/file/real-estate-rewind-a-biggerpockets-community-book

Good Luck

Paul

Every post I've seen of yours has the exact same copy and paste message lol

 This is fantastic advice! In fact all the replies here are warm and helpful. 

[David White]

There's a lot of good information in this thread.