I need help with Wholesaling.

[Brendann Anderson]

 My name is Brendann and im a 20yr old in Tuscaloosa, AL.  I have been reading and studying for the last two weeks.  I just dont know how to take that big leap.  Any tips or suggestions for me?

[Michael Hayworth]

I commend you for wanting to get started young. I didn't figure this stuff out until my mid-30s. I'm wealthy now, through a combo of real estate and starting successful businesses, but could've started a lot sooner than I did. But I really encourage you to think about building for the long term, which is often a slower process than the gurus want you to think. Real estate is not really a get rich quick scheme - it's a steady build over years. (And if you make a really big score, it's often the case that you've taken shortcuts that hurt someone else along the way. )

Some suggestions.

DO:

• Get involved in an REI group near you. Find one with some people who know their stuff, not one with a bunch of hustlers all trying to hustle one another.
• Figure out how to further the career you already have, live below your means, and pay off whatever debt you have. Early in your career, all the Dave Ramsey advice about avoiding debt, pay as you go, etc. is really good advice.
• Read The Millionaire Next Door. Great book, about the habits of real millionaires, as opposed to the $50K earners trying to live a millionaire lifestyle.
• Consider getting your real estate license. You  can do that young, work RE part time, and save lots of $$.
• Take advantage of any opportunity to learn about important aspects of real estate: valuation & appraising, renovation costs and practices, various ways of buying...anything you can learn is worthwhile.

DON'T:

• Spend lots of money on guru seminars. They're mainly there to transfer money from your wallet to the guru's.
• Try to become a "wholesaler" with little or no knowledge of real estate. 
  • Yes, there are people on this site doing it, and even preaching for other people to do it. It's bad advice. 
  • Being a wholesaler is not an entry level job. It requires good knowledge of valuing deals, strong negotiating skills, ability to run realistic comps, good knowledge of renovation needs and costs....doing it right is advanced stuff. After years of real estate investing and remodeling homes for other people, I think I might finally have the skills to be a really good wholesaler if I didn't already have three companies to run.
• ABSOLUTELY DO NOT go deceiving sellers that you're going to buy their property and get them out of whatever financial jam is making them willing to discount the property for quick sale, if you don't have the actual ability and intention to close on the property. If you are putting a property under contract with no ability to close, fully intending to back out if you don't find someone to assign the contract to, you're basically being a liar and a scammer. 
  • Yes, I know there are lots of people preaching that that's the way to get involved in real estate investing when you don't have any money. Those people suck. Go apprentice under an experienced investor, get your RE license, any of the things I mentioned above. Just don't go deceiving people that you're going to buy their home if you don't have the ability to do so. That's ******, and Karma will get you.

Good luck building a solid, ethical career in real estate investing. This site is a great place to learn.