Very Brand New to Real Estate Investing

[Kamoy Walters]

Hey BP,

I have been interested in real estate investing for about a year now and I really would love to take the first steps towards my goals. I want to begin flipping homes and potentially hold them. I am focused on residential properties in the Atlanta and Augusta area because that is where I served in the military; I like it there. I’ve went out on my own in Augusta, GA but I didn’t have much luck with the realtor. I grow more eager the more I wait and BP articles are like parents scolding me. I have many questions and hopefully they can be answered! Thanks!

[Evan Parker]

My recommendation would be to go to some REI meetings and talk to people.

Familiarize yourself with the lingo and the real world application of things a bit more, it's different talking about it in person than reading about it or listening to the podcasts a bit. This will help you in many ways, and at this meeting you can also ask people the question about hot areas/areas they themselves invest in/etc. 

Then go home and look up those areas on every real estate site imaginable like you're a mad man. Then when you have the time, drive by houses that caught your eye, then run deal analysis like you're literally about to go make an offer on them. 

Keep doing that until you're comfortable talking about REI even with a stranger and feel that you are able to explain to THEM what areas are decent and what areas aren't with a somewhat decent amount of certainty...

Until you reach that point, anything you do investment wise will 99% be at the will of someone else, and you wouldn't really be investing as much as you would be playing a potentially dangerous version of Simon says. 

There's fun in this game though! Enjoy and trust the process, done right, it'll be the best thing you ever got into.