beginning my real estate investing career

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beginning my real estate investing career

Joseph A.
Escondido, CA · Member since 2013 · 6 posts · 1 vote

Hi everyone, i am new to biggerpockets.com, as I have only recently discovered this site. Although i am very young(recently turned 18) I have always dreamed of investing in real estate. I have recently obtained a job and will be investing a large chunk of change in the stock market, through my mother's stockbroker. Anyways, although I will not likely begin snatching up properties very soon(as I have no credit and banks wont give me a loan and I dont have enough initial capital for a downpayment) I would like to begin as soon as possible and in the meantime, obtain any and all advice, concerns, experiences so that I may learn from it. Ideally I think I will invest in a multi family unit and use the income I receive from tenants to pay off the loan that I took out on the property. Once it is paid off or nearly paid down, I will use additional rent money to purchase another property and so on, eventually using this income to finance another start up business venture. Because I have no experience I would appreciate any info on such topics as: financing your investment, renovation/repairs, risks, tenant selection and eviction processes, and landlord duties. If I have neglected any subjects, feel free to comment with your advice. Thanks for any and all help!

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  • Carolina E.
    Investor · NW Indiana · Member since 2012 · 833 posts · 197 votes
    13y

    Welcome Joseph A. You'll be suprised (or at least I was) how many beginning teen investors are on this site. May I direct you to the Ultimate Beginners Guide. Its a good start. I was wondering would it be possible for you to find a job in RE, like working for a realtor or property management. You would learn a lot.

    0Reply
  • Joseph A.
    OP
    Escondido, CA · Member since 2013 · 6 posts · 1 vote
    13y

    Thanks Carolina! I had not really thought there would be too many teenagers on this site, I figured it would be older investors with a lot of experience. I think a job in RE would be very interesting and a great source of information although I am not sure how I would obtain said job(would I first need a real estate license?) Thanks again, I was just looking to obtain as much information as possible before making another step. I have an Uncle who owns duplexes so I try to ask him as many questions as possible in addition to browsing this site.

    0Reply
  • Carolina E.
    Investor · NW Indiana · Member since 2012 · 833 posts · 197 votes
    13y

    Joseph A. your uncle would definitly be a great place to start. I'd see if you can help him out in return you would gain some knowledge.

    0Reply
  • Joseph A.
    OP
    Escondido, CA · Member since 2013 · 6 posts · 1 vote
    13y

    Sounds good. I will try to help him with any work he may need. I am also going to look into getting a job in RE so as to increase my knowledge of the field

    0Reply
  • John Blackman
    Developer · Austin, TX · Member since 2010 · 371 posts · 284 votes
    13y

    Welcome to the site Joseph A. Congratulations on having the foresight to be thinking about your financial future at such a young age.

    The first course of action I would recommend is to find a mentor. Your uncle seems like a perfect fit. Mentors are key to your personal and career growth for your entire career. You should always be working with someone who knows more than you and can lead you into greater skill sets and capabilities. Otherwise you'll plateau.

    Getting a job in the RE industry will expose you to a lot of useful information that you can apply to your deals. However, it really depends on your income potential at your first job. Some of the most successful real estate entrepreneurs I know were engineers with good incomes that saved their money and got into real estate with their saved capital.

    You can get into the real estate game without capital. It's harder, but there are many super successful guys and gals that started with nothing.

    Above all, whether you're investing in stocks or real estate, manage your risk. You need to be comfortable with the worst case scenario on any deal whether it's a stock trade or a property.

    Good luck and welcome.

    0Reply
  • Joseph A.
    OP
    Escondido, CA · Member since 2013 · 6 posts · 1 vote
    13y

    Thanks John! My Uncle is a great source of knowledge as he bought his duplexes back in 1995, the year I was born! I can possibly get in contact with a more successful investor who invests in real estate for a living, is 33 and retired off of the money she has earned from her properties. I have always been interested in real estate and plan on read as many books and blogs as possible. I might also want to consider picking up handyman skills so as to minimalize my costs upon starting up. As for not having enough capital, I thought I'd wait until I had enough to put down and take out a loan on the rest.

    0Reply
  • Tucker Merrihew
    Investor · Portland, OR · Member since 2009 · 42 posts · 18 votes
    13y

    Joseph-
    I would suggest a couple things starting out.....first find out who the top 3 players are in your market and get to know them. Find out what types of properties they like to buy and build a business friendship with them. Secondly become a student of marketing and learn everything you can about direct response direct mail marketing. Then use that knowledge and apply it to this business to find motivated sellers. You won't need much money to get started this way, just a lot of effort and desire to make money.

    0Reply
  • Joseph A.
    OP
    Escondido, CA · Member since 2013 · 6 posts · 1 vote
    13y

    Thank you for your advice Tucker! What do you mean by the top players in my market? Also, as for schooling, I was planning on perhaps getting a real estate license, not because I want to work for a firm as a career, but I believe it could give me some essential insight into the business and help me better manage properties as I acquire them. I wilo look into direct response direct mail marketing to get a better understanding as to what that is and how it can help me.

    0Reply
  • Vance McClenton
    Real Estate Investor · Kentwood, MI · Member since 2012 · 9 posts · 2 votes
    13y

    Hey Joseph! I've been learning about different real estate investing strategies for a couple years now but I'm just not getting into the game for real and haven't done any deals yet, so take my advice with a grain of salt...

    But I'm in a similar situation as you as far as not having money to start with (my credit's okay, but not super great either). And it seems that the best way for people like us to start is either wholesaling or various lease option strategies. Either one will require quite a bit of time and effort, but little money.

    I'm going with lease option strategies and if I happen to find one that would be better to wholesale, I'll try that. For lease option info, check out Wendy Patton's website at http://www.wendypatton.com/. She has a ton of great info on how to do lease option deals.

    Good luck!

    0Reply
  • Joseph A.
    OP
    Escondido, CA · Member since 2013 · 6 posts · 1 vote
    13y

    Thanks for the advice Vance! I have only just begun to research my different options for financing such an investment, as for wholesaling, I've heard of it, but I'm not very familiar with the procedure involved. I am wondering if there is very much risk involved in wholesaling because, if I understand correctly, you are not actually using your own money to finance the endeavor, so how does that work?

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