New Member in the Sacramento, California area
Rancho Cordova, CA · Member since 2016 · 7 posts · 2 votes
Hello all! My name is Alex Thomas and I'm currently in my 20's with a steady job as an EMT in 911 and a CPR instructor. I've always thought it impossible to start investing at my age. Though I may not have the experience or insight of many investors on this forum, I have a teachable spirit with a strong willingness to do what it takes to be successful. My research into investing has led me to stumble across the BiggerPockets forum. I have a particular interest in investing in multifamily residences to produce positive cash flow in the Sacramento Area, as my partner and I are currently planning to get in the game within the next year. My long term goal is to achieve financial freedom through real estate. I understand it doesn't come easy, as investing doesn't make you wealthy overnight, and there are many risks along the way. I'm doing as much research as I can to learn the market so I can hopefully stay positive in my first investment.
See the agents BiggerPockets members work with in Sacramento, CA.
See agentsAlester.
Good for you. Go for it early.
I started my investing in Sacramento and later ended up with 250 rental home in Northern CA
My advice (50 years of experience):
Choose the type of investing you think you may want.
Find the experts in that field (google them, etc).
Pick and expert as a mentor.
If you do this you will save so much time and effort NOT CHASING every link or real estate. If you do not focus in this business you become, what I say, A WANDERING GENERALITY.
Hey @Alester Thomas! Welcome to Bigger Pockets! You've come to the right place!
As an agent who specializes in help real estate investors, I can certainly tell you there are cash flow deals to be found all around the Sacramento area. I'm currently working with 4-5 other clients who are looking to achieve the same thing you are.
Most important thing for you to do now is network, build your team, and soak up information like a sponge. @Jay DeCima is right... a mentor or two can really cut the learning curve for you and help you avoid some costly mistakes. You'll find plenty of people here learn from and make sure you get started on the right foot.
The creators of Bigger Pockets have actually written a book on rental property investing, and I highly recommend it as a great place to start and build up your knowledge. Don't get suckered into any $40,000 boot camps just yet... learn as much as you can from this site, others like it, and the local library or book store before you get started.
If you'd ever like to meet up and talk shop or just grab some coffee, I'd love to hear more about what types of properties you're looking for and what your goals are over the next few years. Best of luck to you my friend!
@Alester Thomasthe earlier you start investing the better off you will be. I think people should spend more time making extra money to buy an investment property compared to researching . It should only take a half hour of talking to a real estate person to know the average prices of properties . Then you just need to talk to a mortgage broker to find out what it takes to finance the property . Ask questions to people here on Bp.
Welcome @Alester Thomas! It's a great idea to get started in your 20s. I work in the health care field as well as an RN. I found the podcasts and webinars to be extremely helpful to get started. Listening to those, reading, and doing lots of studying made me feel comfortable enough to take the first steps.
@Jay DeCima @Wes Blackwell Thank you for the advice! Yes, I've had many people talk to me about how wholesaling is the way to go or how I should focus on buying a single family and renting out rooms. For me personally, I feel multifamily is the area I would really like to focus. My partner and I would be taking an FHA loan on any property we look to pursue and the added bonus of being able to live in one of the units as well as claiming a percentage of potential revenue to increase our pre-approval really appealed to us, not to mention how well they can cash flow. We are doing as much research as we can before we take our first venture, using free online resources like BP and watching a lot of videos. I'm staying clear of any seminars I need to pay for, I feel that all the resources needed are already available to us. But I do think that lessons learned from working under a mentor are invaluable. I'm definitely interested in volunteering my time with someone who has been though the the process in investing in multifamily residences so we can be successful when the time comes. @Wes Blackwell I'd definitely love to take you up on that offer sometime! At the moment, we are saving and trying to learn the market by running our own calculators and spreadsheets on limited MLS sites to see if we would think they would be positive cash flow properties.
@Gordon Cuffe @Kim Stofan Absolutely agree, as my partner and I are both in entry level positions in the health field, we didn't really think it was in our cards at this time to go for such an endeavor. After talking about ways to really start taking our future seriously, we looked more into it and found heaps of information on how we could absolutely get into investing in real estate. We don't like to make any big moves until we've thoroughly researched and gained insight on the matter first, especially when trying to take as big a step as this. I think we've come along way with what we've learned, we are starting to see properties much differently than before. The beautiful properties we once thought were great deals we now financially assess with strict standards to ensure they are profitable and ugly homes we would never think of looking to buy are now seen as excitable opportunities for potential revenue.
Alester
A few comments from an old timer:
I have done all kinks of real estate deals. There is a time and place for different kinds.
I have done flips and wholesale deals but realized a long time ago that these are like having a job. You are taxed at the high ordinary tax rate, have to pay into social security as the employee and employer and you really get no real tax benefits. It is a job. You also do not get any long term financial benefits for all you work.
As for financing, I can say that in all my rental home deals I got seller financing over 85% of the time (for my kind of properties). I buy groups of older homes on a SINGLE PARCEL. Maybe 5-7 homes on a single lot, in need of fix up. For properties of 5 or more homes......YOU WILL NOT GET BANK FINANCING. Sellers of these type properties know this and will usually take back financing (remember these are not a single house on a single property).
It takes some time to learn where and how to find these properties but it is worth it. Many of my students over the years have created nice home rental businesses with these long term rental houses.