How did you get to where you are today? (Share your journey!)

Question

Hey Ya'll - I am a college student who has been learning about real estate for the last couple of months. For all of you seasoned investors, I have a couple of questions for you....

I) If you had to start over today, what path would you take to get to financial freedom and how would you proceed in doing so?

II) What have been your key takeaways along this amazing journey?

III) What advice do you have for new investors looking to reach their goals?

IV) What is your favorite non-real estate activity😊?

Thank you all for sharing your wisdom - I can't wait to reach the level of all of you successful investors!

Scott E. · Answer

I) I would have pivoted to buying commercial deals earlier on. I have been investing in real estate for ~11 years now and didn't start doing commercial deals until just a few years back. Commercial (retail, office, medical, storage, large multifamily) is where the big money is made in real estate.

II) Relationships matter. When you connect with good contractors, brokers, lenders, title companies, designers, etc.. you need to hang onto them and nurture those relationships.

III) Be patient. Don't rush into your first deal. Once you do your first deal it will give you a 4 year education in 4 months. And that first deal could either financially ruin you or it could be your catalyst to a long real estate investing journey.

IV) Mountain biking

Eliott Elias · Answer

Started off in civil engineering and did that for 6 months until I was totally fed up with it. Got my realtors license with the intention of only representing myself but mindset has since shifted. Have bought 5 properties in 5 months so far and wholesaled 4

Seth Hochberg · Answer

Some great questions! I wouldn't quite yet call myself a seasoned investor, (have done 3 BRRR's to date) but here are my thoughts:

I) I would do exactly what I have done so far. I used the CARES act in 2020 to pull all my money out of my IRA's. I bought my first property in Baltimore in cash and did an awful job managing the renovation. I refinanced and left a ton of money in the deal. I learned a lot. I took notes. I built up my cash reserves, applied for a new job to double my income, and then tried again. The second and third time I left much less in the deal and would call them successes.

II) Don't rush that first property. And set the expectations super low. And only focus on that one property. You don't need to get 10 properties in your first year. You shouldn't even aim for 2 in the first year. Just aim for one! Getting one is infinitely better than getting zero, so you shouldn't be thinking about number two at all, until number one is complete. I know the podcasts talk about really impressive stories. Let the stories of "How I Make $1M per Year within 3 years" be a source of motivation, but not the bar to compare yourself to.

III) Firstly, your financial house should be in order before going into real estate. You should know exactly how much money you're spending per month (within a few hundred dollars) and how much money is coming in. Secondly, it's really helpful to have a high paying job (duh). If you are only saving $500 a month, that's stressful as hell in the beginning. You need to be able to weather a $10k hit, which can easily happen, and saving $500 a month will take 20 months to pay that off. Not ideal. If you can't weather a $10k hit, or a $30k hit, you should avoid something potentially risky like a BRRRR, and look into House Hacking to start off. Lastly, view your first few properties as education. I ended up leaving an embarrassing amount of money in my first property, but it was ok. I had paid in cash, so I wasn't in trouble, and it slowed me down from getting my second property. But I learned so much, that it was worth it.

Also, you should be reading up as much as you can about Real Estate. When should you actually jump in? When you have a plan, and the stuff you're reading is getting repetitive and boring. That means you've learned as much as you can without actually doing.

IV) Rock Climbing, Ultimate Frisbee, and Baseball!

How did you get to where you are today? (Share your journey!)

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