Real Estate Investing Newbie
Member since 2026 Ā· 1 post Ā· 3 votes
Real Estate Investing Newbie
14 Replies
- 2dMackaylee BeachPro MemberReal Estate Agent Ā· Kansas City, MO Ā· Member since 2020 Ā· 1k+ posts Ā· 495 votes
Investing in real estate while managing a business can indeed be a challenging yet rewarding endeavor.
One of the first steps to getting started is to educate yourself about the basics of real estate investing, which youāre already doing. Since your time is limited, consider leveraging resources like online courses, podcasts, or books that can fit into your busy schedule.
Networking is crucial. Connect with local real estate groups or forums like BiggerPockets, where you can learn from experienced investors and ask questions. These communities can provide valuable insights and even potential partnerships.
Take the time to define your investment goals and risk tolerance. Knowing what you want to achieve and how much risk youāre willing to take can guide your investment decisions and help you create a strategy tailored to your needs.
Best of luck to you!
- 2dArman AhmedPro MemberReal Estate Agent Ā· Columbus Cleveland Dayton, OH Ā· Member since 2024 Ā· 2k+ posts Ā· 975 votes
Quote from @Anesiya Rivera:
Afternoon šš¼,
Iām currently learning about bigger pockets and real estate investing. I donāt know much, Iām a business owner who runs another business. Therefore I donāt have the time to fully be doing hands on real estate investing.
My question is How do you get your foot in the door and really figure out what will work for you ?
Hey Anesiya! Since you're already running a business, I'd look into a more hands-off approach, like long-term rentals with a reliable property manager. You don't have to be involved in every little detail to build a real estate portfolio. The Midwest is also worth exploring if you're open to out-of-state investing, as there are still affordable properties with good cash flow potential. The key is finding the right deals and having a dependable local team to handle the day-to-day.
- 1dJim SternBusiness MemberReal Estate Agent Ā· ATLANTA Metro and Surrounding Counties Ā· Member since 2025 Ā· 37 posts Ā· 13 votes
Anesiya, running a business already is a fine place to start, and honestly it gives you an advantage because RE Investing is absolutely running a second business, but many elements can be delegated with a good team and good systems. Here's what I'd do first....Decide your role up front. If you won't be swinging hammers or taking tenant calls, look at move-in-ready single-family homes or townhomes rather than heavy rehabs. Build your team first and look for either an Agent or a Property Manager that can be the quarterback of your team. If they aren't wired this way, you will be the QB of EVERYTHING and that's where the time can really disappear. If you want help sketching out your first buy box, feel free to DM me.
Atlanta's Investor Friendly Team533 Reviews - 1dJames JonesPro MemberInvestor Ā· Collierville, TN 38017 Ā· Member since 2017 Ā· 1k+ posts Ā· 735 votes
Anesiya, start with one market and one buy box, and learn it cold before you buy anything. I buy single-family BRRRR in Memphis in the same 9 ZIP codes: 38109, 38111, 38112, 38114, 38116, 38117, 38118, 38122, and 38128. Same underwriting every time: buy under $100K, ARV $180K-$265K, rent $1,395-$1,950 for a 3BR+ on Section 8, and the rent has to hit the 1% rule and cover vacancy, repairs, and management. If it does not, I pass. That is how you figure out what works for you ā you test every deal against the same numbers, instead of chasing a new strategy each week. Since you run a business and do not have hands-on time, build an in-house team or a strong manager first, and do not self-manage solo. Deal flow is the bottleneck, so talk to wholesalers and agents every week with that buy box in hand. What market are you looking at first, Atlanta or somewhere else?
Welcome to BP! Since you already run a business and are short on time, the two smartest ways to get your foot in the door without burning out are:
Private Lending / Partnering with active wholesalers: Let experienced deal-finders bring you vetted off-market deals while you bring the capital.
Building a lean backend system: If you want to own the deal flow yourself, treat it like your current businessāoutsource the heavy lifting (like pulling targeted off-market property data, skip tracing, and initial cold outreach) so you only step in when a motivated seller is ready to talk numbers.
Happy to connect if you ever want to bounce ideas around on how busy operators set up their data and deal-sourcing pipeline!
@Anesiya Rivera, so many comments! with a business already taking your time, I'd start by figuring out how many hours a month you can honestly give real estate. That one number rules out a lot of strategies before you look at a single property. I'd be open to a conversation about which ones suit a busy schedule, if it would be useful. Are you hoping to stay mostly hands-off? Which strategies have you come across so far that seemed like a fit?
- 1dRyan BrownPro MemberReal Estate Agent Ā· Louisville, KY Ā· Member since 2022 Ā· 122 posts Ā· 44 votes
Hey Anesiya, welcome. One thing that applies specifically to business owners: talk to a lender before you settle on a strategy. If you write off a lot through your business, the income on your tax returns can come in lower than what you actually make, and that can limit what you qualify for on a conventional loan. A lot of self-employed people find that out after they've already found a property. A DSCR loan, which qualifies on the property's rent instead of your personal income, is one way around it, but the rates and terms are different, and that changes which deals pencil out.
On figuring out what works for you, I'd treat it like any other investment in your business: how much time and attention you're willing to give it, and how much return you're willing to give up in exchange for not having to think about it. Those two go together. The properties that need the least of my time have always had a lower return. I recently bought a commercial property that needs almost no work, and the cash-on-cash return is lower than my more hands-on deals, but I'm happy with that trade. Since you already have a business taking your time, a turnkey long-term rental with a good property manager is probably the closest thing to that for a first deal.
Learning a strategy is the easy part. What's hard is being honest with yourself about how much involvement you actually want.
Anesiya, since you already run a business, I'd start by deciding which you have more of right now, time or capital, because that narrows the options fast. If it's capital, the lower-time paths are a long-term rental run by a property manager, lending to or partnering with an experienced local investor, or passive deals, and each one needs you to vet the person more than the property. If you have a few hours a week, pick one strategy and one market and analyze two or three real listings every week with the same spreadsheet; after a month you'll know what the numbers look like and whether it actually fits your life. Going to one local investor meetup in Atlanta is also a cheap way to meet the agents, lenders and managers you'd end up relying on.
- 1dHersh ShahBusiness MemberRealtor Ā· Atlanta, GA Ā· Member since 2016 Ā· 128 posts Ā· 82 votes
@Anesiya Rivera Welcome! The real question is which strategy fits the hours you actually have, not which one is best. Here's how I'd figure that out:
Set a time budget first. Long-term buy and hold with a property manager is the most hands-off. House hacking, rent-by-the-room and short-term rentals can pay more but take more of your time. Flips and wholesaling are close to a second job.
Work your numbers backward. Decide how much cash you can commit, keep about six months of reserves separate, and get a lender pre-approval so you know your real price range.
Analyze several listings before you buy anything. Underwrite rent, taxes, insurance, management fees, maintenance and vacancy. That exercise teaches you what works locally faster than any course.
Pick the team before the property. Hire an agent. Your agent can introduce you to two or three property managers. Ask how they screen tenants and what they charge for leasing, renewals and maintenance markups. A good PM is what makes this hands-off.
Start with one simple property and learn from it before scaling.
Out-of-state can work, as Arman said, but living in Atlanta is an advantage when you're short on time: you can walk a property yourself and keep an eye on your manager. Weigh that before going remote.
If you'd like help building your strategy, reach out!
Hersh Shah Group4.9114 Reviews I am often the contrarian and this is another case. Running a business is more than a full time job. You likely will benefit more financially by spending your time on your business that you have expertise in than investing as an active investor in RE.
So I recommend passive RE investing. The most passive RE investing are REITS and syndications. Let the experts find, manage, and exit the effort. They will find deals that you would be lucky to ever match. They will operate with an expertise that you likely will never achieve. The best syndicators have expertise that you are unlikely to ever match while building/operating your business.
I suggest you purchase a book on syndications and possibly get some syndication training. I read @Brian Burke ās book and found it to be good (he also is an operator with an outstanding reputation). I also have received syndication training from some capable operators (Faircloth (who also wrote a book that I have not read), Cauble, Fetke). Does this guarantee success? I am an LP in one syndication that I expect to lose invested capital and possibly my full investment. I also am an LP in another syndication that I have zero clue as to whether it will suck or be great (this is unusual to not know). It seems like this is not a good result and not something I should suggest but on my exits I have averaged near 30%/year return (only 2 of my current (definitely at least one) are struggling, my past syndications have not struggled).
Educate on syndications
Research operators and offerings. I believe operator is more important than offering.
Do not invest anything that you cannot afford to lose. Syndications have good returns in part because of their elevated risks.
The sponsor underwriting should be conservative.
Any decent syndication book should cover these items far better than I can in a post.
Good luck
- 1dChris ColtonPro MemberInvestor Ā· San Antonio, TX Ā· Member since 2026 Ā· 144 posts Ā· 62 votes
Anesiya, welcome ā and you're asking the right question.
I'm still learning myself, so I'll just say what helped me. You're already running a business, so your time has a real cost to it. That was the part I had to get honest about first. A deal can look fine on paper and still be the wrong deal for you if it eats the hours your business needs.
What helped me was picking one small thing to learn well, instead of trying to learn everything at once, and being honest about how much time I actually had. The people came after that.
Good luck getting started.
Hi Anesiya from Atlanta, Georgia-
You are a busy business owner interested in real estate investing and wondered how to get started and figure out what will work for you with limited time.
Great question! The nice thing about real estate investing is you can put a property manager in place so you can focus on other things like running your business.
As far as the best way to get started and find what works for you is to find an investor friendly Realtor that has relationships and experience in residential and commercial properties/businesses that can help you decide which asset fits your investing preferences and help you find opportunities and make introductions to property managers to help you succeed.
Having the right investing team, like anything else, is key to helping you get started and build.
To Your Success!
- 13hWale LawalBusiness MemberReal Estate Broker Ā· Houston | Dallas | Austin, TX Ā· Member since 2018 Ā· 5k+ posts Ā· 2k+ votes
Since you are an entrepreneur of some sort in your line of business, my advice is to consider investing in rental properties, which don't require much of your time on a daily basis. Start with learning how to evaluate real estate investments, contacting some investors in your city, and finally get a grasp of numbers before making any purchase.
Good luck!
NETWORTH BUILDERS5237 Reviews - Wholesaler Ā· Port Harcourt, Nigeria Ā· Member since 2026 Ā· 10 posts Ā· 0 votes3h
Welcome, Anesiya! I'm new too, so this is a beginner's view of what has helped me get started.
1. Learn the basics first. Free forums, podcasts, and a beginner book or two give you the vocabulary before you spend a dollar.
2. Decide your time budget. With another business to run, strategies that need little of your time (like rentals with a property manager) fit differently than flips.
3. Test on paper. Analyze a few local listings and see which style of deal you enjoy and understand.
4. Talk to people already doing it, ask what a typical week looks like, then take one small step.
What are you hoping to get out of it: income, growth, or both?
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