Real Estate Rookie - needs advice

[Tiffany G.]

Hi Real Estate Experts,

My husband and I are going to be making a career change into the world of real estate; however we are only in the beginning stages. We are interested in purchasing homes to be flipped and as rental properties through pre-foreclosures, foreclosures, short sales, sheriff sales, and/or bank repos. With this being said, we have no idea where to start other than capital. There are so many ins and outs of this business that it is very overwhelming!

After reviewing many posts, I am completely befuddled. I am sure that this it a very typical question - what are our first steps to take in this business? What is the most important subject to become well versed on when starting out? Should we be reading books? If so, are there any recommendations? Should I get my real estate license, a mentor (not my preferred starting point), etc? We are willing to take baby steps in order to start out in the right direction.

We appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us. We look forward to hearing from you.

[Ned Carey]

The most important thing in real estate is to know the values of properties. You can't make money in real estate if you do not know values.

You need to know not only the "comps" or retail values, but what a property is worth to you as a landlord or to another investor.

The other thing I would suggest is understanding how many hidden costs there are in real estate.