Any advice for a beginner? Mentors?

Question

Hello  I'm currently in my sophomore year college pursuing a degree of Electrical engineering. I always pass by these abandoned buildings or abandoned plots of land ask “ what can we turn this into and how can this be beneficial to the area? Maybe its just my optimism I find the idea of real estate very interesting. I'm open to any responses or ideas. I'm reaching out not necessarily for profit but to learn. Of course we all want to make money and care for four families. I personally want to learn from those with experience. I'm coming into this with no experience and no biased ideas. As the wise say “ once you think you know it all you stop learning “

Vince Scipione · Answer

I would like to point out how awesome that your first thought was, "how can we add value to people lives" That sort of thinking is what will get you far in investing.

To answer your question I would highly recommend shopping around on the BP online bookstore and finding a couple of books that stand out to you. Buy 2 or 3. Start reading them everyday. You will accumulate a lot of knowledge quickly. I would shy away from a mentor as mentors specialize in specifics and you dont know your "specifics" yet. You need the exposure to see what piques your interest. I would start there. Hope this helps.

Stephen Keighery · Answer

Find your local meetups about get around people doing business in your local area. These connections are more valuable le than a mentor.

Patrick Roberts · Answer

Self-education is the first step. Like @Vince Scipione said, books are an excellent source. Same goes for podcasts and youtube. Since youre in an engineering program, youll likely have no problem with self-education. Many of my most sophisticated investor clients are engineers.

Meetups are another excellent source of education and networking. Baton Rouge has the Red Stick REI meetup on the first Tuesday of every month. It's an excellent group an attendance is usually 40-50 people. I wont be there in March, but I attend most of the meetups. Im happy to intro you to some of the experienced investors in April.

Are you at LSU?

Jon Lewis · Answer

@Patrick Roberts First off I’d like to thank you for your response.Yes I am currently at LSU, and I'd definitely appreciate it if your able to introduce me to notably seasoned investors. I've heard of the Red Stick group although I was not aware of their monthly meet ups thanks for the insight.

Henry Lazerow · Answer

There is really no need for a mentor and most of them are Gurus trying to sell you some BS. I work with a ton of new investors as a realtor the #1 way to get started is just find a 2-4 unit in decent shape and buy it low down with conventional financing 5-10% then you can live in it for a year and do another next year. If market appreciates you can get a HELOC on it or cash out refi in a few years to scale faster. For running numbers have your realtor if he invests run through it with you or use one of the free investor calculators on BP.

Patrick Roberts · Answer

The meetup is at Red Stick Social on Government at 630p and usually last about 2 hours. One of the organizers is a very active wholesaler and flipper, and another is focused on STRs. Take advantage of LSU's resources as well. Professor Brian Andrews would be an excellent connection for you if you can get in touch with him.

We're primarily focused on real estate finance at this point rather than rentals and flips, but we still occasionally flip when an excellent opportunity pops up. We actually have a project wrapping up in mid city right now.  Let me know if you're ever interested in Charleston, also. I'm meeting with the alumni association next month to get a chapter set up in the Lowcountry. I'm happy to help where I can. Geaux Tigers.

Jon Lewis · Answer

@Henry Lazerow thank you for the insight, I've noticed these “ Gurus “ selling courses. A few of my classesmates found them to be a waste of time and money. How important is it to have good credit when making these deals?

Jon Lewis · Answer

@Vince Scipione Thank you for your response, from what I noticed and see everyday most people are in real estate or investing in general to make a quick buck. I’m not exactly interested in investing for a quick dollar. Its much more to life than that, I'll definitely check out some books ,Thanks for the advice .

"The more that you read, the more things you will know , the more that you learn , The more places you'll go"- Dr Seuss, I can read with my eyes shut!

Any advice for a beginner? Mentors?

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