I work in door to door sales. I started in 2009 and have been doing it ever since. Crazy I know, but I'm extremely good at it and love it! Anyway, I come across properties that would be good investments on a daily basis I'm sure of it. I just don't know exactly what areas are good for investing. If I know where to look I will find deals, because once I start in an area I knock every door on my path. I recently started my own company going door to door selling and plan to do quite a few road trips to test other markets. I've already worked probably 50%+ of MO and IL, a little bit of TX, IA, AR, OK, NM.
With all that being said. What areas should I look in (think whole counties)? What kind of properties? When I find a property and get inside what should I look for in terms of rehab work, etc? If I find deals and can't close on them myself who should I pass them off to?
I work in door to door sales. I started in 2009 and have been doing it ever since. Crazy I know, but I'm extremely good at it and love it! Anyway, I come across properties that would be good investments on a daily basis I'm sure of it. I just don't know exactly what areas are good for investing. If I know where to look I will find deals, because once I start in an area I knock every door on my path. I recently started my own company going door to door selling and plan to do quite a few road trips to test other markets. I've already worked probably 50%+ of MO and IL, a little bit of TX, IA, AR, OK, NM.
With all that being said. What areas should I look in (think whole counties)? What kind of properties? When I find a property and get inside what should I look for in terms of rehab work, etc? If I find deals and can't close on them myself who should I pass them off to?
I have no idea what market you're in so it's hard to answer anything specifically.
Do you have a local real estate investors group? You should find fellow investors to network with. Yes, some of them may be scum that refuse to help you and maybe even steal your deals but the majority of them are usually very helpful and love to see new investors get started.
You have to educate yourself on the basics of investing first. Then you need to understand which states to invest in because some have reasonable laws and others have terrible laws that coddle the criminal (e.g. California). Then you narrow it down to particular cities and investment types. Then you start looking for properties that meet your criteria.
Your question is too generic to provide any more detail. Here's my generic beginner advice:
2. Get your finances in order. Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save. The idea that you can build wealth without putting any money into it is a recipe for disaster and the sales pitch of gurus trying to steal your money. A wise investor will not try to get rich quick with shortcuts. If you can't keep control your finances, you are highly unlikely to succeed in real estate investing. Check out my personal favorite, Set For Life by @Scott Trench , or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
3. As you read these books, watch the biggerpockets podcasts. This will help clarify and reinforce what you are reading. You can hear real-world examples of how others have built their investment portfolio and (hopefully) learn to avoid their mistakes.
4. Now you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them. Again, the BiggerPockets store has some books for this or you can learn by watching podcasts, reading blogs, and interacting on the forum. There is a handy search bar in the upper right that makes it easy to find previous discussions, blogs, podcasts, and other resources. Biggerpockets also has a calculator you can use to analyze deals and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy. If you consistently analyze properties, it will be much easier to recognize a good deal when it shows up.
5. Jump in! Far too many get stuck in the "paralysis by analysis" stage, thinking they just don't know enough to get started. The truth is, you could read 100 books and still not know enough because certain things need to be learned through trial-and-error. You don't need to know everything to get started; you just need a foundation to build on and the rest will come through experience and then refining your education.
You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months. How long it takes to be financially ready is different for everyone. Once you're ready, create a goal (e.g. "I will buy at least one single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex before the end of 2019") and then do it. Real estate investing is a pretty forgiving world and the average person can still make money even with some pretty big mistakes.
I work in door to door sales. I started in 2009 and have been doing it ever since. Crazy I know, but I'm extremely good at it and love it! Anyway, I come across properties that would be good investments on a daily basis I'm sure of it. I just don't know exactly what areas are good for investing. If I know where to look I will find deals, because once I start in an area I knock every door on my path. I recently started my own company going door to door selling and plan to do quite a few road trips to test other markets. I've already worked probably 50%+ of MO and IL, a little bit of TX, IA, AR, OK, NM.
With all that being said. What areas should I look in (think whole counties)? What kind of properties? When I find a property and get inside what should I look for in terms of rehab work, etc? If I find deals and can't close on them myself who should I pass them off to?
I have no idea what market you're in so it's hard to answer anything specifically.
Do you have a local real estate investors group? You should find fellow investors to network with. Yes, some of them may be scum that refuse to help you and maybe even steal your deals but the majority of them are usually very helpful and love to see new investors get started.
You have to educate yourself on the basics of investing first. Then you need to understand which states to invest in because some have reasonable laws and others have terrible laws that coddle the criminal (e.g. California). Then you narrow it down to particular cities and investment types. Then you start looking for properties that meet your criteria.
Your question is too generic to provide any more detail. Here's my generic beginner advice:
2. Get your finances in order. Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save. The idea that you can build wealth without putting any money into it is a recipe for disaster and the sales pitch of gurus trying to steal your money. A wise investor will not try to get rich quick with shortcuts. If you can't keep control your finances, you are highly unlikely to succeed in real estate investing. Check out my personal favorite, Set For Life by @Scott Trench , or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
3. As you read these books, watch the biggerpockets podcasts. This will help clarify and reinforce what you are reading. You can hear real-world examples of how others have built their investment portfolio and (hopefully) learn to avoid their mistakes.
4. Now you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them. Again, the BiggerPockets store has some books for this or you can learn by watching podcasts, reading blogs, and interacting on the forum. There is a handy search bar in the upper right that makes it easy to find previous discussions, blogs, podcasts, and other resources. Biggerpockets also has a calculator you can use to analyze deals and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy. If you consistently analyze properties, it will be much easier to recognize a good deal when it shows up.
5. Jump in! Far too many get stuck in the "paralysis by analysis" stage, thinking they just don't know enough to get started. The truth is, you could read 100 books and still not know enough because certain things need to be learned through trial-and-error. You don't need to know everything to get started; you just need a foundation to build on and the rest will come through experience and then refining your education.
You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months. How long it takes to be financially ready is different for everyone. Once you're ready, create a goal (e.g. "I will buy at least one single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex before the end of 2019") and then do it. Real estate investing is a pretty forgiving world and the average person can still make money even with some pretty big mistakes.
@Nathan Gesner Thanks for all of the valuable tips. I'm gonna check out the last 3 books you mentioned, I've read Brandon's book and David Greene's book "Long Distance Real Estate Investing". I've also read a few others I can't remember and some books on asset protection, and that brings me to my point. I'm at step #5 from your list, I'm ready to take action. I have recently got #2 taken care of with debt, and also have close to $10k saved and some BTC.
I'm at the point where I need to get involved with the nut and bolts and learn from finding deals, to closing and rehab, to sourcing tenants. I've reached out to a handful of people today and basically asking what they are looking for and where. I travel a lot so I will most likely organize notes for each area I work in and each investor in that area with notes. I'm currently in Wisconsin until around Halloween and then I can go pretty much anywhere after that, since I can choose my own territory.
Rental Property Investor · La Crosse, WI · Member since 2016 · 132 posts · 42 votes
6y
@Brandon Poe, door to door sales seems like a perfect way to get deals you can wholesale or find clients as a real estate agent. You can get an agent’s license in WI pretty quickly and I’m sure you could find an agent/broker to work under and mentor you. Where in WI are you located?
Buy and Hold Investor · Alexandria, VA · Member since 2013 · 180 posts · 48 votes
6y
What you should do with the property is probably determined by what kind of investor you want to be. What kind of properties do you want to own? How much time do you have to devote to RE investing? What's your ultimate goal? Answering these questions will help you determine what path to go down or at least start with.
Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes
6y
@Brandon Poe that's a very rare skill you posses - you would probably do really well as an agent. Getting licensed is not that difficult (although it takes a few weeks to read the books, so it's significantly more than a weekend to study), becomming succesful as an agent is a totally different story - the drop out rate in the first year is some 90% and same in the second year. And most agents sell under 7 houses a year... But it sounds like you might have what it takes.
@Adam Hoffer ..I'm located in Racine currently, but I travel a lot and I'm open to moving my base somewhere more strategically advantageous for real estate. My main goal is to buy and hold real estate (MU's/SFR's), I know being an agent will plug me in to the people I need to be connected too, but I've never really felt the urge to sell houses. I may be wrong but I'm thinking there will be a market correction soon so I'd like to focus on larger areas where investors/wholesalers are dropping the ball by not going door to door, or markets that will be shielded (somewhat) by local economy strength during a market correction. I'm not originally from Wisconsin so I'm not sure if this is the best (or a good enough) area for that. Essentially, I'm thinking people with more capital then me will continue to invest up too and through the market correction, so I want to help those people find "deals" and hopefully learn REI and the markets from a boots on the ground approach. Would you say being an agent would help me with my goals, or at least getting a license? Should I maybe consider other midwest markets like Indianapolis, St. Louis, Chicago?
@Greg W. I want to own MU's and SFR's, and after I build up my portfolio a bit I'd like to look at trailer parks, storage facilitates, etc. As for how much time I can commit, I'm able to treat REI as a full time job. My initial goal is to generate $5k/month in cash flow within 3 yrs.
@Marcus Auerbach I'd be interested in getting a license, but from what I hear about it being a "lifestyle"-type job Idk if that would serve me or be something I would enjoy. I could be wrong though, so if I am please let me have it.
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2019 · 189 posts · 62 votes
6y
@Brandon Poe - Hey, good on you for seeing this potential. What would be ideal for you in this door-to-door manner would be to start wholesaling. If you haven't read it yet, then check this book out:
If You Can't Wholesale After This: I've Got Nothing For You...
Also, Detroit is pretty hot right now as there are a lot of value add opportunities as the city is rebounding. If you ever make it up to this area I have a great wholesaler I can connect you with and I've got a group of buyers that are consistently looking for property on the outskirts of the city; Washtenaw, Oakland, Macomb, and Lenawee Counties.
Let me know if you ever want to grab a coffee or have a phone chat to discuss. I'm a buy and hold investor looking at duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes through the area and I work with apartment buyers through the USA. If you ever want to leverage your skills into apartment wholesaling, I'd love to chat further; this is a high demand role and one that my team is looking to fill.
@Cara Kennedy I have thought about Detroit, I'm really open to any market where d2d would make sense for this. I'd love to talk more. I'll be available later tonight or tomorrow to talk. Let me know what works for you
@Brandon Poe if you are going to these neighborhoods and seeing the condition of these houses, have you thought of wholesaling the properties to build up cash? It's a great way to fund your buy and hold and fix and flips.
@Christopher Petrillo yea thats kinda what I was thinking would be a good way to get into REI, for me personally. I know how to approach homeowners already. So, Im just trying to go about figuring out if I should just canvass whole areas/neighborhoods or try and create a list based route. I will probably do a mix of both honestly, at least initially. Once i get a feel for what to look for and what areas are good I can cherrypick and spot deals better.
Investor · Milwaukee - Mequon, WI · Member since 2010 · 5k+ posts · 7k+ votes
6y
@Brandon Poe you are right - the vast majority of agents lasts only a year or two and their "lifestyle" is typically burn the candle on both ends and talk to their clients at 11pm, or they are hobbyists and don't do much at all - under 5 deals a year for over 80% of licensees.
If you look at the few pro's that rise to the top, they earn a very good income, are highly organized, rely on systems and teams and will typically turn their business phone off after they leave the office, so they actually have a life.
Wholesale is basically the same in terms of lifestyle and in terms of financial outcome - only a very small portion really succeeds. it is probably one of the most difficult roles to pull off successfully, because you have to know so much about so many things, from construction estimates, to property values, negotiations, marketing etc
Layton, UT · Member since 2019 · 85 posts · 49 votes
6y
I'm getting started to do a bunch of single family homes in the Indianapolis area. If you were to knock doors there, I would love to pay you for leads.
