How did you start?
Member since 2008 · 24 posts · 0 votes
I was just wondering how everyone started their endeavors into the Real Estate world. How old were you, what was your first deal, and just what brought you into Real Estate. Just thought this might be interesting for everyone to see how we all got started..
I bought my first rental property 18 years ago when my grandma moved out of her house. It cost me 12000 and the best part about it was she was willing to finance everthing. I rented that house for 15 years and finally sold it for 60000 It was a great property that paid for itself many times over and taught me a great deal about the business.
well in my case I'm just adjusting for a new beginning, right now I just wanna have some ideas with regards to this business.
My first deal was a turnkey that I bought at an auction. I won the auction for 63k. The rent at the time was $750/month and I put about 10k in at closing. I would not do a deal like this nowadays but I actually still own that house. The renters have been the same for ten years and the rent is up to $1000/month. Not so bad for a first deal now that I look back at it. I was 28 at the time.
I bought my first house May 1, last year, can't believe its almost been a year....I am in college and couldn't decide what to do for housing, and had a couple of friends going to rent a house together. I liked the idea, but didn't want to rent one, so i decided to buy a house and rent out all of the other rooms to friends. I bought one, me and 4 friends live here currently, 2 are moving out at the end of this semester and Ive got 2 more lined up to move in!! A water pipe leak and a leak through the roof has taught me some about fixing different kinds of problems, and overall its been a great learning experience. I'm currently thinking I want to flip a house next, and am doing all of my research/information gathering now, from various books/sites (including this great one). Hope to share more experiences with you all in the future.
Derek
I started by investing in a condo to live in. It gave me a good idea what would be involved in owning a property. I think condos are a great way to start, but it is important you understand what you'll have to deal with. Board of directors are often difficult to deal with, and don't always have your interest at heart. I could go on and on, but I'll keep it brief.
From that condo, I moved into multi-family properties. It was a step up, but not that different. - just a lot more maintenance. The biggest issue was learning how to deal with tenants.
Boy seems like we started out on the SAME track! I TOO started my investing by living in a condo. It was my first purchase and I learned a lot from it. I was 22. From there I moved into a 2 family. I now rent both units out, and I'm looking at a 3 family that looks like it has great cash flow every month.
It was very inspiring reading your post. Lets me know I'm on the right track!
I got my start when I decided to rent our first house instead of selling it. I got off to the rocky start renting to Gypsies - but have rallied and rented to the same person for 4 plus years.
I eventually gravitated to quad apartments and now have 7 that are almost fully rented (27 out of 28) and am learning as much as I can everyday.
Brad McLeod
My brother and I inherited $12,000 each. We were 16 and 19 years old, which was five years ago. Wanting to do something smart with the money, we told our parents, who were both real estate agents in Lake Tahoe, to keep their eyes open for something we could afford.
Long story short
My mom found a lot for $49,000, which we all believed was undervalued - we got a generous loan and bought it. The first thing we did was register to receive an allocation to build, which takes three years in Tahoe. While waiting for the allocation our lot appreciated 50% each year THANK YOU BUBBLE. we got the allocation in 2006 and sold the lot for $196,000.
Looking back I realize how lucky we were to have bought and sold when we did. my next investment in real estate will be something that cashflows from day one. in the mean time I have taken my portion of the profit, which was just over $50,000 and bought silver.
My reasoning for this probably belongs in a different forum, but basically I have no faith in the Dollar.
Yes buying silver is a speculation just like buying that lot, but these days it is a speculation to keep your money in the bank.
Eventually I will stop speculating and start investing ; )
I was 19 when I first started. Bought a home for my wife and I. Moved up couple years later and rented the home out while it built value. That got me familiar with the sales process of buying a home. Became a Realtor sold many homes and have done a few investment properties since then. Has been going great ever since. Be prepared for mistakes as they will always find you :)
I started out at 21...broke...bad credit...and no clue on where to begin. First I wanted to do Probates, then Subject-to's, then the next cool "Buzz Word" that I heard about..:)
I started going to my local real estate investing club and just soaked up as much information as I possibly could. I also networked with the top guys in my area. The local real estate clubs are your best asset, you're putting yourself in a room with a ton of people that are currently doing what you want to do, and like to talk about it! Network Network Network...:)
I took many of the guys out to lunch and kissed their butt, while at the same time getting their Real World Advice on what I should be doing. They'd always say things like, if I were starting over, I'd do this....and so I'd do it..and eventually I started making a ton of money..:)
I partnered up my first deals with the president of my local real estate club and my experience began to grow from there.
As a matter of fact, I have my first check sitting on my desk right next to me..It's a check for $14,000 on a wholesale flip that I found through the foreclosures. I went door knocking and struck up a deal with the owners...the President of my real estate club had a HUGE database of investors and he found a buyer for the property..He also helped me with paperwork, and all the "little stuff along the way"..In return, I split the deal with him 50/50...We each made $14,000 & I walked away with one hell of a free education. After that, it was just a matter of replicating the process over and over again.
I've become interested because i'm in the process of buying a building for my business. I bought the book Commercial Real Estate Investing for Dummies to get an idea of what to expect.
I'm in the process of building up cash and have began to read other books, mostly on personal finance, but am now starting to read books on real estate. I read Rich Dad Poor Dad also and it helped my interest.
I actually bought my 1st invest at 20 yrs old as a owner occupied, my wife and I got this house from my grandparents who were renting it out already and that lease was up. Bought it at 100k Comps at that time were aound 125K. Lived in it for almost 3 yrs, sold it for 160K, took the profit and bought ourselves another one.. From there is just took off, I got my real estate license then, started buiying multi family and S/F with my partner, and jsut never stopped. We are still in business as partners 7 years later and we both do this fulltime now.
My girlfriend and I started investing in 2001 when we purchased our condo in Santa Monica,CA. That's when I first read "Richdad", which changed our lives. We hit the condo for the built in equity and bought our first house in Vegas. Tapped that and bought two in Austin. I lived in Vegas for six months, knockin on doors, doing forclosures.I was wholesaling back to an investor in L.A. We took a few lumps but over all learned allot. Never lived in Austin but liked what we saw in growth potential, so we bought there. We had been to Playa a few times and always thought we could do well here. It has takin a little longer than I thought but doesn't everything? I still love what I do!
seems like alotta inspiration comes from that book richdad poor dad eh? im one of them:)
I have to agree, anyone can do this as long as they have the motivation.
Lock your motivation to your goals and you can do it.
I would however suggest to start out wholesaling to reduce any risk.
its faster and easier than any other method
Thanks for your input. How did you start? Maybe you can post in the new member introductions and tell us all a bit more about who you are?
I found a job as a receptionist in RE & Investments office simply to pay my bills. The owner suggested I get my license; I did. I love everything about RE from reading the listings in MLS to visiting the homes when I do nothing but drive by and look at them. I love the flippers (though this is not my ) the way they take and ugly ducklin & create a beautiful swan. I love the financing that makes the world of RE go 'round.
I LOVE the World of RE and the luxury of time and money it creates
I think there are also real estate and foreclosure company that accepts realtors through referals, so that means no need to spend a peny. :lol: 8)
I started as a mortgage broker. I ended up getting referrals from lots of investors. While I was thankful for the business. I keep seeing the sellers net on the Hud's. A guy from Lauderdale was trying to come to Fort Myers. Jimmy was very good at what he did. At the time we all lived off the HUD List. So the investor, I was doing business with, tied up the whole HUD list. After a month of not getting an bids, Jimmy went back to Lauderdale.
I was looking at all of these contracts. I figured this was my shot. I bought 5 in one day. I Leveraged out 17,000 from the closing, via a hard money lender. That was the biggest check to date for me. I fixed and flipped the first house within 30 days. I ended up getting those 5 done within 4 months. From there, I was buying and selling about 2 to 5 a month. At about deal 10. I learned about books and tapes speakers, LOL.
I had no business doing what I did! Thank god I did it!
The investor above is still a dear friend.
He would wholesale propertys to me for his commision plus a 1,000. We did these via a Double Closing. Ended up with about 60 deals to show for a 3 year run!
I think i have to improve may negotiating skill.
From 1993 to 1998, from ages 20 to 25,I worked for Prudential Health Care as a Billing Technician. I reconciled accounts all day to determine who’s health insurance needed to be terminated for non-payment.
I got up every morning at 6:00 a.m., dressed myself up in Polyester slacks and silk blouses, panty house (that were required), and high heeled shoes. I can't figure out for the life of me why panty hose are required in an office. I mean, what does it matter if my legs are covered up with a sheer nylon fabric or not? This is the 20th century for Pete's Sake. Can't I just wear what I'm most comfortable in without having to have "control top" underwear too? I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’d rather wear loose fitting Levi jeans and a Mac T-Shirt to express my enthusiasm for the most brilliant company ever created. But in the corporate world, that’s a big NO-NO, even if your don’t deal directly with customers. I guess it’s the dress for success thing? I don't think so.
Anyway, As I rubbed the cob webs out of eyes every day and hurried out the door with my baby on my hip, I made it to work by 7:00 a.m. (most of the time). I worked from 7 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. every day with two 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch. Once a month on Saturday, overtime was REQUIRED, so I had to take time away from my son, find a babysitter, and spend my Saturday mornings printing bills and reconciling health inurance bills. This was not my idea of an ideal Saturday.
In 5 years, I earned myself several “promotions”, which simply meant that they would pay me an extra $.50 per hour for each hour of my time that I spent reconciling their cases,meeting their deadlines, and being handled more difficult and complicated cases to reconcile the longer I stuck around. That means that for an extra 40 hours of my time, they would pay me an extra $20. Something about that just rubbed me the wrong way.
So Dan (my husband) and I decided that it was time for a change. We both agreed that the 9 to 5 life was for the BIRDS and so was having to ask permission to go to lunch. We started reserching everything under the sun that we could do to make money. We did everything from mailing out chain letters hoping the mailman would walk up to the front door dragging a bag full of envelopes that were full of $1.00 bills. We tried processing FHA Reunds for people, and even building hand crafted earrings. We even considered a hot dog cart. We wanted to do something - anything - that would free us from the day to day bullsh*t that comes along with having a job. And even more than that - having a BOSS!
I hate to admit it, but we were watching late night TV one night when we saw the infamous Carlton Sheet commercial. We both knew instantly that real estate is where we had to go if we wanted to live the life that we were then only dreaming of. At that time, we didn’t have two nickels to rub together. We were eating Ramen noodles and macaroni and cheese. So Dan called his mom and told her that we wanted the Carlton Sheets No Money Down Course for Christmas. She bought it for us. We both quit our jobs. The rest is history.
It was quite a challenge at first opening up the No Money Down course and trying to decipher all of the real estate jargon for the first time. I remember listening to the audio cassettes and looking at the chart that was provided in the course and then asking Dan “How does the seller get paid on a second mortgage”? I really didn’t know what a second mortgage was. He didn’t either. But together we fought through the lack of knowledge and lack of money and did whatever it took the learn the business.
There were times when we felt like throwing the towel in, becuase we didn’t have paycheck to live on and we weren’t even close to a deal. We didn’t have a computer or the internet at that time, so we couldnt get on line to get any information. We borrowed money and sold our stuff to pay the bills, and were 100% committed to making money in this business. We kept each other motivated.
Then we met a man named Mark. Mark was a wholesaler. I called him all the time asking him questions about the business, and he was always very helpful and willing to give me tips and advice. He didn’t have scarcity mentiality at all. (Scarcity mentality is something that is quite common amongst real estate investors. It is hen they think they know a trade secret, and if it gets out that the competiation may squash them).
It wasn’t until we met Mark that our destiny in the business began to take form. He explained the marketing techniques that he used, which at the time was postcards to condemned houses. He drove me around neighborhoods and took me with him to seller appointments so that I could witness first hand how to negotiate with motivated sellers. It was quite an eye openeing experience, as I got to see for the first time a direction to take. It was like I could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Wholesaling was the only type of deals that Mark taught us about, so that is what we focused all of our time and energy on. We didn’t even know of Lease Options or Subject To Deals until we met a wise old gent by the name of Ron LeGrand in 2000. That’s when the circle became round and we now have all the pieces to the puzzle.
Wholesaling is our primary source of income from real estate. We like the quick cash, the easy cash, and the boat loads of motivated sellers there are that are ready to sell us their house at rock bottom prices. It’s just fun to us to buy and sell houses within 30 days and get paid for it without ever picking up a hammer or dealing with a retail buyer.
Over the past 10 years, Dan and I have successfully closed over 250 wholesale deals. Every single one of them were bought and sold without us ever having to go to the bank to borrow money and without us ever spending any of our own money. Our first year of wholesaling only brought us about $14,000.00 in assignment fees. But now we are consistently earning a six figure income strictly from wholesaling. In 2005, when the market was at its peak, we earned $315,000 in assignment fees alone.
Funny part about starting out, some buy a course
It was people not the course that got them where they needed to be!
I started right out of college in 1994. I bought my first property ( a house) and my dad helped me fix it up. I held it for a few years and then sold it as part of a sweet deal to a great uncle who had sentimental attachments to the property. ( Turns out my great grand father had built it originally, and I was about to sell it off to the highest bidder).
After that I bought another home which I fixed up and rented out, followed by a one acre lot in the mountains and a commercial unit. Both are still rented to date and paying for themselves. That's when I knew I loved real estate. And I have been dabbling in it for quite a while. Its the best way to build wealth and generate passive income.
Now, I am getting into selling commercial real estate, luxury homes, and vacation homes as a real estate agent. Where I live, these seems to be the booming real estate markets. Finding clients for these high end properties means I will have to find "bigger pockets" outside the borders of the small island I call home.
Thank goodness for the world wide web... ( and for this forum of course)! :)
Read all the material you can get your hands on. Try a little in all areas then find out what works best for you and specialize in that arena. Some peole are better at sales so preforeclosures might work for them. Others are more financial so REO's might work better. Myself, I am real handy around a hammer so flipping/fixers are my specialty.
Greetings,
Starting-Out Requires A Commitment towards Finishing Whatever You Start-Out to do - which always seems to be the ultimate challenge.
Don't let Down-Days, Discouragement, Disappointments, nor Distractions Keep You Down; Get Right-Back Up, and Stay in the Game...
Note: A Football Player Does not Score A Touchdown Everytime he touches the ball, but he believes that everytime he touches the ball he can score. Often times, although he gets hit by the defense on a number of ocassions, I noticed this amazing fact in Football: No matter how many times a player with that football gets hit, they get right back up with this undying Spirit that says - "Give Me the Ball" I want to Score A TouchDown. The moral of this story is: whether you are a male/female, you have the ball in your hands, now score. The ball may be symbolic of your plans, your goals, or your dreams. Don't Quit, and Don't Give Up until you Score that Touchdown; and when you do, Score Again, and keeping on Scoring: That's Called Winning! Every day you make progress is like getting closer to the goal-line, so keep making progress (first downs), and eventually you will Score and ScoreBig in Life!
Persistance, Perseverance, and and Positive Attitude should keep you moving. Never quit nor Give Up, even if and when you make a mistake(s). Mistakes, although costly at times, are still opportunities to get better at what you are doing; mistakes are not reasons to quit---unless you are just not at all interested in that endeavor---Nevertheless, whatever you decide to pursue----Remember: Success Is Always In the Finish!
Best Regards & Much Success As You Invest!
MoneyMakers,
Bought first home when I was 19 with a buddy of mine. Rented it out for 2 years and then flipped it.