Where do I start learning about the RE industry as a side hobby.

Question

Good day, BiggerPockets Family,

I have a question for all the experienced people in this forum about how you guys started learning about the Real Estate industry upon starting for the first few months. I'm currently in Junior College and taking Computer Science as my major, but I plan to go into Real Estate in the future. Since I have a lot of free time, what resources do you recommend using since it's my first week delving into RE?

Best regards,

Ethan Aurellano

Jody Sperling · Answer

Real estate has a sneaky way of absorbing all your affection and interest in the end, so be prepared. Consider the word you used in your subject line, and reframe our thinking on real estate investing now: This isn't a hobby and can't be. It's an investment that must be viewed as a business.

If you invest as a hobby, your tenants and/or portfolio will suffer and that will be reflected in the difficulty you experience in doing the work. By all means, it doesn't ever have to be your 9-5 if you love Computer Science, but you still have to view it as a business and your tenants and/or buyers as employees.

Aside from that, you're in the right place. Spend time reading on the forums, read the blogs, professional and member blogs alike. Listen to all the various BP podcasts. My favorites are the original real estate podcast and the money podcast with Mindy and Scott. Check out Seth at RETipster. His videos are among the best in the business.

But in the end, there's no substitute for doing. If you can manage, save up enough for a downpayment and buy a property. The house hack is a great place to start. You can rent a house by the bedroom, or start with a duplex and live in one side. Your tenants will cover most or even all of the mortgage, and you can start to build equity.

Best of luck as you venture on!

Joshua McMillion · Answer

@Ethan Aurellano

Focus on building connections and networking. You can read all the books in the world and listen to all the podcasts, but nothing beats real connections. That being said, determine the markets you want to invest in and start searching there and building a team (REA/lender/GC/PM). Tools you can use: Facebook groups, BP networking tool, and mastermind groups.

What is your niche? That's where I would focus my RE self-development.

Sincerely,

Ethan Aurellano · Answer

@Joshua McMillion, I agree with what you said about Networking; I'll definitely get into that. Thanks for the advice.

Joshua McMillion · Answer

@Ethan Aurellano

Just glad I could add value!

Sincerely,

Jonathan Greene · Answer

You don't need to even think about building a team or picking market now because you need to build a foundation of knowledge. You are basically standing in the library asking where you can get some books. You are here. Ask questions here, read forums, find local REI meetups, see how you can add value based on your background to others in the business. Read book, listen to podcasts, figure out what you like about it over time. If it's your first week and you say you will be going into real estate in the future, answer why you want to.

Jonathan Bombaci · Answer

@Ethan Aurellano I think you came to the right place. Biggerpockets is full of tons of free information, more information than you’ll ever need to become successful in real estate. Listen to the podcasts, attend meetups, participate in webinars, and become a regular in the forums. Pick up some books at your college library and jump on in, the water is warm!

Once you’ve put in your hours, then determine how you want to get started in real estate. Do you want to househack, or wholesale, or become an agent, or something else? I think you can start off part time just know you’ll be competing against people doing this full tome. You’ll have some advantages over them (don’t need to close deals to pay bills) and many disadvantages so just be cognizant of this.

Congrats on finding real estate when you did. Now self educate as much as you can and figure out where you want to invest your time and energy when you’re ready.

Best,

Jon

Where do I start learning about the RE industry as a side hobby.

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