My advice to those that are NEW to RE Investing
I am not the absolute best real estate investor, nor am I a tire kicker thinking about getting into this...I own a little over 50 rental doors, I have owned a dozen small businesses and completed over 10 flips profiting up to $72k on my best flip... so in the end, take my advice for what you feel it is worth
Lessons learned:
1. Bigger Pockets is AWESOME and frankly all you need to be successful... listen to the podcasts daily, believe in what they are telling you, use their networks as you see fit... they really know what they are doing and you will find help and information around every corner
2. Look at the downside FIRST: when looking at a potential deal, look at the downside (what if the entire place is vacant or no one pays rent) and then decide if you can LIVE with that downside. Any property I buy I say to myself "if no one pays any rent can i cover things for that one month" I may not WANT to cover things but in a worst case can I do that... or more realitic: "If only half the tenants pay is my mortgage covered"...if the answer to this is yes then you likely have a safe deal
3. Set VERY clear goals: I will own one rental property by May 31, 2021 is far more powerful than I want to own a property this year! You can listen to 100 podcasts about how to set goals and in the end the advice is always very similar: Create a clear goal, then work back and decide on the DAILY actions and WEEKLY performance to reach that goal. Example: I want to lose 30 pounds in 90 days...that means I need to lose 1 pound every three days.. to do that I need to work out 45 minutes per day, track my calories daily and consume no more than 2000 calories per day, ever 3 days I should be 1 pound down
4. This one is MOST important: TAKE ACTION! Too many people sit around and debate, consider, analyze, talk, network, and so forth... all can be helpful but in the end YOU HAVE TO TAKE ACTION! Doing the wrong thing is better than doing NOTHING. There are lessons learned in making mistakes and there are things you gain by simply taking action and proving to yourself that you can do anything
5. BUY POTENTIAL but DONT PAY FOR IT: You will see a lot of properties where they say "below market rents" the property has a value right now for what it is generating NOT what it can maybe down the road generate... Pay based on what rents are TODAY, so you want to BUY POTENTIAL not pay for it, if the potential was EASY to get the current owner would have already achieved that potential (who doesnt want to make more money)
6. Treat your TEAM well... by that I mean when you find a great contractor treat them well, when you find a great property manager treat them well, when you have a great tenant treat them well.. you can still make money, but making a couple of dollars less because you treated someone well (bought them a gift, paid them a little more than charged, got them a new fridge or whatever) is well worth the long term investment in that relationship
7. The Bigger Pockets (or David Green) concept of every deal has three legs just bring two and you can find the third is 1,000% TRUE: In every deal you need the following: The Deal, The Money and The Hustle... if you can find a solid deal and are willing to do the work (bring the hustle) you can easily find the MONEY! If you have The MONEY and you find the DEAL it is easy to find the person willing to put the sweat in to make you more money.
In my opinion these companies are EXTREMELY helpful to success in Real Estate: (I own none of the below and make NOTHING if you use them)
1. Bigger Pockets and literally ANYTHING they do
2. LawDepot.com: I use it almost daily and it saves me a fortune compared to a lawyer for every little thing
3. DealMachine: this app can tell you exactly who owns each and every property. I have closed deals and learned more from this app than any other one I have worked with, its not cheap but it is very helpful
4. Rentometer: this site is freaking great and well worth the money, it literally tells you the rental prices in every area, it shows what things have ACTUALLY rented for
And my parting words for those that took to them time read all of this:
A long time back I realized that I will NEVER be the richest, smartest, fittest, or best looking person in any room (far from it in all circumstances)...literally I would not be at the top of ONE of these categories, let alone two of them. BUT what I could be, the one thing that was in my control, no matter the room or the group of people is I could be THE HARDEST WORKING PERSON IN THAT ROOM! So each of us, in any given place and time CAN BE THE HARDEST WORKING PERSON IN ANY GROUP...it is the ONE thing we control
This post is simply my way of saying THANK YOU to The Bigger Pockets Family for helping any hard working American create wealth and happiness through Real Estate