Getting started as an investor with some questions

[Giovanni Rodriguez]

Hello everyone. I would like to know if anyone has any tips that could help me as a begin this journey. I have a full time job at the moment and very little capital for investment, but I am taking some time to learn and decide what real estate investment would be best to start with. If anyone is willing to share some tips that you know now that would've been helpful at the beginning of your journey I would appreciate it.

I am also considering establishing an LLC, that way I can separate all of the financial decisions away from the money that goes to pay my daily bills. If anyone would care to comment on this too. If anyone is very knowledgeable on this topic, and don't mind, I would like to ask a few extra questions about establishing an LLC and different decisions to make on that process.

I would be grateful with any information, tips and insight that anyone is willing to share as I want to learn as much as I can before taking the first step and keep learning on the way. I want to make the best decision with my first investment and keep building my portfolio along the way. 

[Mark Cruse]

Quote from @Giovanni Rodriguez:

Quote from @Mark Cruse:

Your question is too vague for me to answer. Real estate has so many dynamics and facets. There are so many forms of investment. Do you want to be a landlord, flipper, Wholsaler etc? Do you want to be hands on?  Passive investment? What is your risk tolerance? What is the end goal? Do you want a string of single-family homes or multis? Are you interested in short term rentals? What makes you want to do this form of investment in relation to others? I need to know more about you, aside from not having a lot of capital to even begin providing feedback. 

 This has made me think long and hard about it. I believe that I would like to be a long-term renter (which makes me a landlord). This is due to my low to moderate risk tolerance as I am new to the market. I currently have a full time job but I want to slowly transition into Real Estate as my full time, and make of this my retirement with a little more than I am making right now. I think I am flexible with both single family and multifamily homes like duplex, as I build and expand my portfolio and can look for bigger projects. This type of investment feels more secure, hands-on and semi passive as I know I have to tackle issues as they arise. I know they can go from a roof repair, to not having a tenant for a few months at a time. I mentioned before that I do not count with too much capital, I am still learning what are my best options to start this journey, but I also still a full time job since I don't want to make the transition until my first investment starts to go well and/or I start to get a better understanding on how the whole business works. I appreciate the time that you are taking to answer my post. If this gives you a better insight and if possible, give me more guidance I would appreciate it very much. 

 Sounds good. If this is the angle you are leaning to, we have to get some basics out of the way. You can go to it from a house hacking angle or financing. Either approach works well if done properly. You have to determine where you invest. Let's say where you live in close proximity, the numbers never line up and it's too expensive to get in. Then you have to consider investing out of state. Many things to consider there. Once you figure that out, we move to the next step. Now you must have a viable deal source. You have to develop a strategy of acquiring the asset with the right numbers. Numbers are everything. This will make or break you. Maybe you can get a decent realtor or maybe a wholesaler. You should join your local RIEA and start networking with other investors. Once you have your strategy, areas and deal source it's time to pull the trigger. Since you will be financing you need to have some form of lending source in place. This is key also. The lender can make or break you as well. The best deals in my book are getting something cheap, then adding value over time. Also, you can get something that needs an extensive renovation. With this approach, after you renovate, you start off with great equity (if done right). There are multiple ways to do this, but after that step, you have to understand how to screen, acquire and manage tenants. If not, you will have to pay a property manager for probably 10 to 15 percent of your earnings. If you have all that in place and its working well, make sure you have enough reserves to cover unexpected expenses because you will need it. All in all, this is watered down because it's so many points and counter points to this business. It's so many angles and moving parts. If I covered them all it would be a thousand pages. LOL. Either way, this is a basis I gave you. Move from step to step; keep researching, reading, learning and getting expert advice here. As time goes on, things will start coming together. There are dozens of ways to do this, but what I provided is one template amongst multiple possibilities. Each individual steps has multiple angles and approaches of its own so you have many decisions to make. 

Best of luck

I want you too win.