I need guidance!!!

[Tierra Jenkins]

Hello all,

I am in the miltary and I have 10k in my savings account and no collateral. I have a credit score of 654 and I would like to own an apartment building. I don't want to take out a loan for 500k for my first foray into commercial real estate. I have been reading book on real estate but I want just need advice on where I should start. Maybe the first 5 steps I should take. I am just nervous and I know 10k isn't a lot in the long run but for me its my nest egg and i don't want to waste it on a missteps. Is it realistic of me to believe, with the qualification I listed above, that I will be abole to find a loan to buy an apartment building? Please help!!!

[James Vermillion]

Tierra,

First off, congrats on finding BP, it will turn out to be a great resource for you to learn more about real estate investing. You said something very important in your introduction, "I don't want to waste it on missteps", so you need to be very cautious in making your first investment. In my opinion, the first 2 things you need to do are educating yourself and save more money. $10K will not go very far in purchasing an apartment building and will leave you with 0 cash reserves. As for education, you have a lot of options. Reading on BP is a great start and will provide you with information from many experts in apartment investing. Start using the forum search feature to find posts related to commercial loans for apartment purchasing, how to analyze deals (50% rule, 2% rule, etc).

Five Steps you can take now:
1) Education: Read as much as you can on BP, find and attend a local real estate investing association meeting, beware of guru courses you will spend big bucks on. Consider attending the BP Real Estate Summit in March.

2) Save money! You are going to need more money if you are serious about investing in real estate. Start immediately and before long you will be ready to go.

3) Start working on a business plan. Start putting your goals and plan on paper so when you have the financial means and knowledge to take that step you have a plan to follow.

4) Start networking with other real estate investors. Find out how they got started, what mistakes they made, what they would have done differently. Considering partnering with someone with more experienced for your first deal.

5) Increase your credit score. There are multiple threads on BP with some great ideas and tips to increase your credit score…the higher the better.

Finally, thanks for your service. I am also active military, and it is always nice to see other military investors.