The 5 Best Pieces of Advice I Can Give
As a newbie investor (been around the business for 25 years but just got started on my own) there is no shortage of advice from "seasoned" investors. Every place you turn there is someone waiting to tell you some "exclusive" information that will "help you grow your business". IT'S OVERWHELMING!!
Here are the top 5 pieces of advice that I'd give a newbie investor:
1: Do what works for your situation!!! If you are shy, don't want to quit your job, have children, are married etc. then you must take those things into account before choosing an investing strategy. For instance, if you have a great paying job that you like then why be a wholesaler? You could just as easily collect passive income by owning property with cash flow.
2. You will NEVER know everything so don't worry about it. Most problems can be fixed with minimal hurt, heartache, tears, or cash. You are always going to run into a problem that you don't know how to solve. That's why you have to learn on the job. Network and find people who are experts in your niche. When you run into a problem, just call them. Don't forget to compensate them for their time/advice. No one will keep answering your questions if you don't seem appreciative. Even if you just take them to coffee and send them a thank-you card, appreciation goes a long way.
3. Some people are just negative so utilize them when you MUST but don't spend too much time with them. Experienced jaded investors can suck the life and motivation out of new investors. You can't move forward if you are always whining about the present or the past so don't let those soul suckers be in your life for long. Nothing worse than someone reminiscing about the "good ole' days" and how "there's no deals anymore."
4. You have to work hard and/or long if you don't have money. If I had a dollar for every guru who advertises to "spend your spare time investing and make millions with NO MONEY DOWN" then I wouldn't have invest in real estate. Look people, (MILLENNIALS I'm talking to you), either you have the money or you have the work ethic. PERIOD. You cannot spend 4 hours/week investing in real estate unless you already have a good chunk of money (50k or more in my area) to start with. Then you could go buy some cash-flowing properties or flips and life would be easy. Either you will spend your time networking, marketing, looking at 2 dozen properties/week, or GCing your rehabs but whatever you do IT WILL TAKE LOTS OF TIME.
5. Don't give up. It may take time to find that first deal. It may takes months or even a year but you can't give up. You can and should re-strategize if you see something isn't working (don't do that too often) but don't just stop. I listen to audiobooks and podcasts about real estate to stay motivated when I feel like things "just aren't working" and it helps.
I hope this info helps newer investors. You get the benefit of my experience as a newer investor who has listened to and read over 300 hours of advice.