What would be your advice/first steps to a new investor?

Question

I've been investing in the stock market for almost a year now and want to get into rental properties next. I know nothing about real estate but do have some ideas, mostly from listening to the BPM podcast. I plan to read the books they've suggested and figure this would be a good place to start.

One idea I've had  for a first rental property is to buy a vacation home/condo in Florida that I could start renting through AirBnB etc. for the rest of the year. You can let me know if this is a good way to get started or an absolutely terrible idea- I won't be offended.

Any advice/first steps/ resources would be greatly appreciated! I am new to the bigger pockets website and will definitely start reading as much as possible but let me know if there is an exceptionally good place to start! Thank you.

Tyler Gibson · Answer

@Vincent Sottile @Taylor L. is right, do your research if you want to do AirBnB. Florida cities have started to crack down on the sort term vacation rentals. There are some places like up in the panhandle where the local governments support it and welcome it and then there are other areas like the city of Orlando that have strict limitations. Just know the regulations in the area before you buy.

Keleisha Carter · Answer

@Rita Medeiros Thank you Rita. Wont be in that area until December/January. Would love to come to one then.

Rita Medeiros · Answer

@Keleisha Carter Come to our women’s group September 25th ft Lauderdale listed on BP events page.

Keleisha Carter · Answer

@Vincent Sottile I’m a newbie as well. I started off all over the place and got overwhelmed. I read the Ultimate Guide to Real Estate Investing and that was a huge help. From reading the book and listening webinars, I became more interested in Rental Property Investing. I then proceeded to read Rental Propert Investing (I can email you this book). It gave me even more clarification on what I need to do.

I found my interested area (Florida)  and started looking in areas that I would be interested in, sound a few agents and asked for them to add me to their mailing list. From this, I started analyzing more deals which peaked interests for additional questions. I would post the deals in the forums for experienced investors to help guide me with the numbers.

Zillow has this thing where you can have an idea how much you are pre-qualified for and connect yoy with lenders that can guide you. This helped me to havr an idea, of my next step and what I need to get pre-approved. So my current status now is getting everything in order, down payment and then I will get pre-approved and I’ve spoken to lenders to have an idea who I wanna work with.

Hope this helps

Anthony Dooley · Answer

Life is the best teacher. I wouldn't do air bnb because the management has to be excellent to stay profitable. I recommend buying a rental, below market, and renting it out at market value. Use little to no debt to purchase if possible. This will increase your chances of success. After a while, do it again. You will learn more from doing than in a book or the BP podcast.

Taylor L. · Answer

If you're interested in that business model, then investigate it! Learn about the details. Track down people who are already doing that. Your location isn't on your post, but I would infer that you're not located in Florida - do you have the temperament and experience to remotely manage employees? Because you'll have people working for you cleaning the place out and getting it ready for the next person.

Where are you located?

What would be your advice/first steps to a new investor?

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