The place to start is where you know the market, code for: where you live. Don't try to go into new markets in the beginning, shop where you live and stay close to where you live until you start to learn the market. The first market I ever shopped was within a 10 mile radius of where I lived. For 3 years, every weekend, when I wasn't working my main job, I shopped deals, exhausting every broker in the market and I never bought a deal. 

But, I got a great education and I learned what a good deal looked and felt like. I realized after leaving Houston to move to California, how much money I would have made had I invested. I saw what I thought were a lot of good deals, but I wasn't ready yet. I didn't have the confidence yet, because I hadn't yet done enough homework to know the difference between a bad deal, a good deal, and a screaming deal. What you learn from walking properties is 10 times more valuable than any book you could possibly read.

-GC

@Grant Cardone thank you so much! Your an inspiration. I get excited to analyze deals although I haven’t personally closed on my own, I know the time is coming.

Great advice @Grant Cardone ! Just curious about what you think for those that live and are only familiar in markets like San Diego, CA? The barrier to entry for beginning investors can be challenging to overcome. What ways would you recommend for new investors to get started in expensive markets like southern CA?

@Nathan Crumback

I am curious about @Grant Cardone thoughts about San Diego also as I am relocating there. The good news about barriers to entry is it keeps lots of people out. I think it’s still possible to make money in that market. Anybody having success in these markets?

@David Frandsen @Nathan Crumback

Grant Cardone moved to San Diego and bought a 38 unit apartment complex here. He bought in a time where people were leaving the state of California and you could get good deals. THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE to not shop for deals, this is just the position he was in. In San Diego, there are still great deals to be found with decent cap rates and good appreciation. You need the change the way you think about deals. In the market today you cant simply buy right, the value add component needs to be sizable and in many cases is hidden from the trained eye.

If you want access to deals in San Diego I have been working with a local broker that has been in business for over 35 years PM me!

If you want to learn more about that Grant Cardone tidbit checkout BP podcast 108 and BP podcast 250!

@David Frandsen , I lived in SD for 6 years and definitely miss it! I have friends that have made good money flipping houses but they do not invest in multi-units. Best of luck to you! 

@Zachary Jensen , there definitely are deals to be had in SD, I was more curious what Grant's strategy would be for someone that is just getting started in real estate investing but they don't have a lot of cash laying around. Let's say an investor only has $15K to work with, what would Grant's recommendation be if the investor is only familiar with the SD market? $15K is a decent amount to work with in the Midwest but Southern CA makes it much more challenging.

@Nathan Crumback good to know. Yeah at first glance the smaller multi family are far from makings sense.

My focus right now will be flipping but I’m going to be looking for multi family to roll my money into in the future.

As far as the discussion about how someone new could get started. My first thought would be get a low money down FHA loan (3% down) on a property that you can BRRRR.

Any other strategies out there?

@David Frandsen , at a recent meetup I attended, we discussed college housing strategies. With SDSU, UCSD, USD, Mesa College, etc. all in SD, renting individual rooms in a SFH could maximize rents and cashflow. The obvious challenges could be turnover, roommate issues and potential damages caused by late night "lifestyle" choices.

@Nathan Crumback really good point. I recall hearing a BP podcast episode on someone doing the single room idea. He got really good at screening people and it seemed to work out well. I probably wouldn’t want to manage all that but a good strategy none the less.

im here in San DIego we do a short term rental and has worked well but mostly doing large multifamiliy out of state. We have a commercial investors breakfast twice a month. Reach out to get connected. 

Good to know that Gurus like Cardone had slow starts also. May be a few months without find any good deal is fine I believe!