I wanna learn and start young but I work at restaurant and barely have enough money to pay my bills. I wanna work hard and get lead into the right direction and multiply my year to date income.
Rental Property Investor · Kalamazoo, MI · Member since 2018 · 12 posts · 28 votes
7y
Everyone has different learning preferences, but use the time while you currently have while you are saving to educate yourself like crazy. Listen to as many podcasts as you can, read every book you can find, start going to REI meetups, ask another investor if you can work for him for free, etc. I spent a solid 9 months reading 10+ books, and listening to over 100 podcasts, and built some good relationships before I started.
The best thing you can do right now outside of education is to get creative and disciplined enough to live off of 80% of your income. If you can save 20 percent per month, you'll find you'll have enough captial to land a deal, even if it's not the most amazing purchase, within a year of saving.
Rental Property Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2018 · 20 posts · 4 votes
7y
@Maxwell Fontaine Thank your for the recommendations, im heavy into book reading and dissecting billionairea and the Strategies that made them Successful so if you Have anymore book reccomendations in or out of real Estate, I would appriciate it. Also, I would love to have people around me with that type of insight to learn and grow from so I would love to connect. Also, I like to give before I ask so if there is anything you need from let me know.
Rental Property Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 100 posts · 85 votes
7y
Look at buying with a low down-payment program (FHA, or conventional). You can even buy a multi-family residential property with a 3.5%-5% down using FHA. Live in one, airbnb one of the rooms in your unit, and rent out to long-term tenants for other units..
Rental Property Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2018 · 20 posts · 4 votes
7y
@Maxwell Fontaine There is nothing like a good re-read! but no I actually have not as yet I know the concept but I haven't actually read the book on it.
Miami Metro · Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
7y
I’m new to bigger pockets as well. I’m interested in properties in south Florida. Not sure where to invest, SF homes or Multifamily? Also how can I get started with 0 - the least amount if money down? Any and all advice is appreciated. Thank you.
Real Estate Consultant · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2017 · 52 posts · 35 votes
7y
@Joshua D Rodriguez I wouldn’t recommend it, however I know a lot of investors who started using credit cards. If your credit is good, you can get multiple credit cards with 0% apr for the beginning.
@Frank Wong I did want to save up money to get my real estate license to learn the ropes of real estate just needing more income
I think this is really good idea because it kills a lot of birds at the same time. Its commission based but you will be learning in the field that you are passionate about. You will get access to the MLS and may be able to find a deal or two and be able to wholesale them. Since this is going to be your long term passion, you'll produce the best service possible in your area to become a top agent (making money from commissions, networking, and learning). You will learn different from the other agents because being a realtor is a means to an end, being a successful RE investor. Go For It!
Rental Property Investor · National · Member since 2018 · 66 posts · 11 votes
7y
@Joshua D Rodriguez check out wholesaling. It doesn’t require you to have any money to start. Search wholesaling on YouTube and watch the videos and listen to wholesaling podcasts. It’s a great way to build capital to fund your other REI endeavors. Good Luck!!!
Lender · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
7y
Honestly, the odds are in your favor if you save a few bucks and learn how to market. If that's not the case, build up via bird dogging or being a real estate agent would be two ideas that come to mind.
Rental Property Investor · St. Paul, MN · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
7y
1. Buy buildings with your own cash and track record. This is for the 1% that have both the money to buy a $1million+ building and the experience to get a loan for that building, as well as to be able to operate it.
2. Buy buildings with partners that together have the money and track record.
3. Syndicate – this in my mind should be done by sponsors that have experience with small multi-family at a minimum. A syndication is basically gathering a bunch of people together to passively invest in your/your partners deal.
4. Raise money for a Syndication – This is a great beginner's way for someone that has a network and wants to get involved in the deal. This allows you to invest in the deal and build your investor network as well as likely take part in the General Partnership. You will need to do other things in the LLC in order to get paid, as you can't raise money without a broker's license and get paid, so talk with the lead sponsor to work out a deal that legally allows you to be involved.
5. Invest your own money in a syndication. Be sure you find ways to be involved.
6. Be a bird dog and find the deals for other apartment buyers. You can get paid $50k or possibly more for finding the right deal for a buyer.
7. Volunteer or get paid to work with an investor. Be sure you can add true value by asking people you know to help them. I would try to get to know investors before just saying you will volunteer for them. The best way is to form a relationship with them and then start adding value to them as often as you can.
8. Start small. This is what I did. When I started I was buying 1-4 unit buildings for rentals and I was completing flips.
9. Become a property manager, real estate agent (commercial), appraiser, inspector, mortgage broker, etc. Becoming a professional that works with the industry is a great learning experience and a good way to build income and networks in order to do it yourself
Rental Property Investor · Southern NH · Member since 2017 · 87 posts · 100 votes
7y
@Joshua D Rodriguez most of us start out of school at ground zero so I know exactly where you are. It's humbling for sure starting out but let me tell you, you're in an amazing place with a clean slate, lots of time to learn, and a thirst for success. I agree with @Frank Wong that sales is a great career if you're looking to make money quickly. I left my 9-5 shortly after college for a medical sales career and I thank myself everyday for making the leap. That being said, talk to people in the desired industry you'd like to sell in to get perspective on what to go for and what to avoid. I wish I'd found real estate when I was your age...I'd be a multi-millionaire right now! Best of luck in the future.
Lender · Detroit, MI · Member since 2017 · 36 posts · 30 votes
7y
@Joshua D Rodriguez I started out by finding a Broker who would hire me and mentor me. I got paid $10/hour and I did whatever he asked. I took maintenance requests, went to court for evictions, called delinquent tenants, painted a few apartment units after hours for more money, and even designed the addition to his house for free.
While I was waiting for phones to ring, I read a stack of books that he recommended. I started with The Richest Man in Babylon, The Next Step to Waking Up the Financial Genius Inside you, How to Win Freinds and Influence People, and The 4-Hour Work Week... and read all four in 4 weeks.
Find someone that is 10x smarter or 10x more wealthy than you want to be and find a way to impress them with your work ethic. I did, and now that I’m wholesaling, that broker is a buyer that doesn’t even ask for details on a deal. He just asks me what to write the check for. And since I close deals so easily with him, I can leverage that relationship to find other investors.
Start from the bottom to create a foundation, but working at a resturant probably isn’t the foundation piece you want at the bottom. Get a job in the REI industry.
Good luck, and keep us updated! 👍🏽
@Lateeka Mosley I applied for wholesaling I feel like my skill sets aren’t up to par and haven’t got a call back. HoW can improve my resume that have the needs employers In sales are looking for?
People are offering a lot of great suggestions but it's free to put pen to paper and come up with a plan. A very important (and often the most intimating ,because people care scared to be told no or rejection) step in there is getting funding once you do have the money for a purchase. It may make sense to call a few local credit unions and ask what they expect and discuss your goal(s) with doing that so when you are ready financially and mentally to pull the trigger you aren't blind sided. You may only need 3.5% to buy a home but you also need to understand where your payments and such will fall after and what your additional costs to close may look like. In many cases, if you buy a house in the 50-60k range with 3.5% you may only need a few thousand dollars up front... With a good strategy and some creative thinking you could get there fast.
@Joshua D Rodriguez
You can wholesale to your first 100k
I made my first 100K wholesaling in 5 months.
I started with no money down, and in the Bay Area, one of the countries toughest markets with the highest housing prices.
Now not to say I didn’t have a leg up, I had already completed my real estate license education, but I never took the test to avoid any wholesaling liability.
My advice to you is to study and educate yourself on your local or target area. Know the housing prices, study on Redfin or realtor.com.
Learn what makes a good deal - comps, renovation budget estimates.
You can use a BP flip calculator to analyze a deal if you do not know how to already.
Then build your buyers list.
The most important thing is once you know what you’re doing, you starr to place offers.
The more offers you place the more deals you get. This job can be rewarding but it is very difficult and takes a lot of dedication.
Best,
Nathan
Rental Property Investor · Jupiter, FL · Member since 2015 · 36 posts · 7 votes
7y
The key to get started with virtually no money is first educate yourself and read as much. When you are ready start by wholesaling. With wholesaling you will have to put in the ground work to find the deals, get property under contract then assign it to someone who has the money to rehab and close on the deal.
The key to get started with virtually no money is first educate yourself and read as much. When you are ready start by wholesaling. With wholesaling you will have to put in the ground work to find the deals, get property under contract then assign it to someone who has the money to rehab and close on the deal.
Well said, education is the biggest first step into Real Estate Investing. How much education would you say that you have invested in yourself?
Madison Heights, MI · Member since 2018 · 8 posts · 2 votes
7y
Josh,
I bought my first house at 16 and am currently on my 3rd house at 23. There are a few things that can give you a huge advantage.
1. A Salaried Job: Banks love salaried jobs and having one makes financing more accessible for you. Especially if you are a college graduate you don't need any history of income to obtain a mortgage only your employment contract or offer letter.
2. Solid credit history: you will need to prove that you are worthy of paying back a loan so start by financing a cheap vehicle that you can pay off and get some credit cards that you only spend small amounts on and pay off monthly.
These were the 2 ways I was able to start a portfolio at such a young age. Looking at your situation I would suggest decreasing your monthly obligations as much as possible and finding a solid co-signer to get you started. You can start with as little as 5% down for some mortgages.