How to Get Started with REI

I see many forum posts and hear other questions with this central theme "How do I get started?" or "I'm new so where do I go from here?" and wanted to put this out there.  There are many answers to these questions, but here is a place to start.

EDUCATE YOURSELF!

You are on the right track here by reading everything you can on BP. I suggest you sign up for some of the free webinars and listen to some of the podcasts. There's TONS of great information here at BP and most of it is free!

You don't necessarily need money, either. Read the book about investing with little or no money down by @Brandon Turner available Here and the Ultimate Beginner's Guide as well. These are GREAT sources of information.

I'd recommend getting a property or two before you dive too deeply into things like business structure or insurance beyond a "Landlord's Policy", and that requires a property first. Once you get your feet wet, get a CPA and a Lawyer to discuss these things. Build your team, but get that first property first. (In my opinion. Some will tell you build a LLC and invest there, but that's not how I'd suggest. In the end, it's up to what's right for YOU.)

EVALUATE PROPERTIES

You don't have to be ready to buy to start analyzing deals. If numbers aren't your thing, you can still use the calculators under the Tools menu. I've been doing this a few years and I still use them. They really help to quickly see if a property is worth investigating further. The more deals you look at, the better you will get at spotting the good ones.

SET GOALS

If you don't know where you want to go, how will you know when you get there? Don't set a vague goal like "I want to be rich".

Instead use something along the lines of "I want to increase my wealth through buying and holdingSFH Rentals. I will buy one house per year for 5 years until I have built up a cash flow of $1000 per month. Then I will focus on paying these off so my cash flow is near 100% after allowing for expenses like taxes, insurance and cap ex." This is just an example of how to be specific. DON'T USE THIS GOAL! It's just an example of a place to start. Use a goal that fits YOUR life, YOUR wealth plan, and YOUR comfort level. You might do better with fix and flip, or tax liens, or whatever but make specific goals.

If you reach your goal, set a new one. Constantly re-assess your goals to see if you are on track or need to adjust. They are not set in stone.

TAKE ACTION

Find a property, run it through the calculators, see if it makes sense. If the numbers don't tell you no, find a way to get to YES. Make an offer that makes sense based on the numbers. Negotiate. Try to get that first property. Don't try to buy a bad deal, but even if it ends up not being perfect, you will learn more from your first property than from years of studying the business. Once you buy one, you will get better at each phase. Each time you buy, you learn. Just keep repeating until you reach your goals.

FIND A MENTOR

Find someone who's done what you want to do and learn from them. You may just study their methods or you might get to be friends with them and actually discuss deals. But make sure you bring something to the table, and don't be a fake friend. If all you want is to pick someone's brain, you will become tiresome and eventually it will backfire.

LET TIME WORK FOR YOU

RE is not a get rich plan, despite what some "gurus" will try to sell you. RE is get rich SLOWLY. Your equity grows with time as you pay down the mortgage. Your property appreciates with time as inflation and demand play their part. Find a path that works for you and persevere, but be patient.

HAVE FUN!

This may be the most important of all. If you don't enjoy working with real estate, find something you do enjoy and put your efforts into that. RE is not for everyone. If you dread getting up and going to work, find different work. Life is too short to trade your hours doing something you hate. There are many ways to make a living and to build wealth and RE is just one of those.

Build a plan, build a team, and build your wealth. And Welcome to the BP community!