What if you had to restart?

Question

What if you were forced to start your real estate journey all over again? What would you do different? How would you approach your current market with your previous knowledge and skills? Where would you begin?

Bill B. · Answer

I used to think it would be 1000x easier since 15-20 years ago most of had zero help. No good internet resources, no relatives, neighbors, friends, co-workers who invested in rentals. For 99% of us it was learn on the job and make your own mistakes. Today has to be a gimme.

But…maybe it’s not. We weren’t showered with fake gurus, bad plans, get rich schemes, fake it ‘till you make mentality, get started with NO money or credit, leverage to the max and all that matters is cash flow being shouted at us 24-7.

Realistically almost everyone should start the same. (Not just because it’s the way I did back in the 90’s.). You buy a primary home and you find 3 or 4 friends/co-workers/relatives that need a place to live and you split the total utility & mortgage payment among them and live for free. A year later you repeat and so on. Until you get married and your spouse says no, we’re not living with others. Then you buy a new primary every year and turn your previous home in to a rental.

This all started because when I left my parents home I had never paid rent and I didn’t like the idea. It was too close to paying 100% interest on a loan. It was forever and you weren’t getting anything you could keep.

Get started. Keep your head down. Don’t compare where you are on your journey with where other’s are on their’s. They probably didn’t start and the same time and place headed to the same destination with the same timeline. Good luck.

JD Martin · Answer

I would build my investment portfolio and live in a van or sleep on my parent's couch if I had to before I spent good money on my own personal home, and I would have started as soon as I hit 18. Because we are not immortal here, there's no replacement for time. Had I done in my 20s what I did in my 40s I'm certain my net worth would have easily been double or triple what it is now. I ended up having to work like hell to play catch up.