Strategies for Learning
Good morning folks :)
This is both my first post on Bigger Pockets and my first foray into improving my financial literacy when it comes to real estate investing so please excuse my ignorance.
I see opportunities everywhere (literally...at the grocery store, on craigslist, in my housing complex, etc) and with my rather rudimentary understanding of the costs and risks involved they look profitable. However, I haven't acted on any of them because I'm not sure who/what/where the resources I need are in my area in order to get advise I can trust if I encounter a hiccup and/recommendations for good attorneys/realtors/contractors/etc. I also don't have a "pile of cash" lying around for large down payments or massive repos.
I am going to join some meetup groups and start networking. I'd love to be able to ask people that really make their living working in real estate (not selling books or training) how they do what they do. I have realistic expectations and know that I may not find an apprenticeship given that I work full time and support a family. However, for the experience and the knowledge I'd be happy to trade my IT and analytical skills.
In your experience have you been able to find individuals who were willing to mentor/apprentice someone that's very green? Any good ideas on how I should find and approach professionals to ask for their advice? Any tidbits you have on how you got started would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for taking the time to read all of that ,
-Arielle