I'm somewhat new to real estate investing. At 27 years old, I want to provide a stable future for my young family. I'm currently half-way through the Beginners Guide to real estate investing. I like the vehicle of multi-family unit investing, and I'm thinking of going with the buy-and-hold strategy. Can anyone provide info on this setup? Is a good strategy? What are some key things to think about? I'm currently located in NW Florida. Thanks, Joe

Joseph, welcome to the industry and it is very nice that at 27 you are already thinking about your future and the future of your family.

I would start with thinking on the following:

• Where would you like to invest
• Which strategy to start with

There are many options to choose from: for example people usually start investing in the area they live as they are already familiar with it. The most common strategy to start with is by purchasing 2-4 units property with the idea to house-hack.

Let me know if you have any additional questions or need more info.

@Oleg Shalumov Thanks for the reply, I appreciate you taking the time to help. I am currently looking into my local market, economically, renting vs. flipping, school ranking etc... I'd like to start with 2-4 unit multi-family properties. That said, I have alot more learning to do in my local market. I do not have the capital to buy out of pocket so I'm learning about different investment opportunities...

@Joseph Biscoe I would recommend attending your local meet up groups and meeting as many investors as you can. If you don’t have a local meet up, you can always start one!

By creating and building relationships with successful investors, you will open up avenues for future partnerships. I would recommend spending as much time as you can learning about real estate investing. If you can present yourself as somebody who is very knowledgable but lacks the experience/capital to invest, you may find a partner who will be willing to invest with you.

Good luck!

@Joshua Davies

Thanks for the info I really appreciate it. I'd love to find a few meetings to attend in the near future, where should I look to find them? Are there groups devoted to this on sites like Facebook?

@Joseph Biscoe there is a ‘Network’ tab at the top of the page and if you click on that you will see ‘Events’. This will tell you all of the events/meet-ups going on in your area.

There are also various other sites not connected to BiggerPockets where you can search the topic of the meet up you want to attend.

@Joshua Davies

Awesome, thanks for the info, it's greatly appreciated.

@Joseph Biscoe kudos to you for starting at 27 years old. I'm 33 and am relatively new the commercial real estate industry as well.

When I was first starting out, my mentor asked "What are you good at?"

Think about your answer and that will be your opening.

You may lack knowledge right now, but maybe you have killer cinematography skills. Offer your service to a commercial broker and make an epic video to the property. 

In return, you'll learn under his tutelage. 

This is quick example. 

The quicker you add value to someone the more likely they will be to reciprocate that message. 

Break a leg brother and keep pushing on:)

@Matthew Baltzell

Thank you for the input I appreciate it. I'll think on it for awhile and then post my answer soon.

Lots of thinking to do...

Joseph,

What do you do for a living now? You could go to work for or partner with an investor in your area and learn from them. A mentor is huge at your age and stage of the game. You have to educate yourself on the industry and niche you want want to focus on. 

@Greg Dickerson I work for a remodeling company specializing in bathroom renovations. I've been in construction most of my working years.

@Matthew Baltzell after some thought on 'what are you good at' here's what I've come up with, I believe it to be fairly accurate.

I'm an analyst at heart that's great at problem solving, and thinking outside the box.

I'm goal oriented. So whatever the goal is (e.g. stable future for my family in REI, rebuilding my engine/transmission combo, remodeling houses etc...) I analyze all the available paths to reach the goal and then critically view the details, formulate a plan and execute.

Because of this I CAN be good at whatever I want to be. I'm self taught in Guitar, CrossFit, Car repair (all the way to engine and transmission rebuild)...

So I guess on some level I'm good at Administration but it's not confined to paperwork....