Hi guys I’m 24 years old an I wanna start getting into real estate where should I start an what are some key things to know? 

Hi @Mark Amaral

Real estate is a pretty broad topic and there are a lot of different niches. I suggest reading real estate books, listening to podcasts, and simply asking questions on the forums. This is a very helpful community so always feel free to jump into the conversation.

You're going to want to start to narrow down what you want to do in real estate because no one does it all. The best way is hearing other people's stories to see what works best for your situation.

Originally posted by @Rick Novotny :

Hi @Mark Amaral

Real estate is a pretty broad topic and there are a lot of different niches. I suggest reading real estate books, listening to podcasts, and simply asking questions on the forums. This is a very helpful community so always feel free to jump into the conversation.

You're going to want to start to narrow down what you want to do in real estate because no one does it all. The best way is hearing other people's stories to see what works best for your situation.

 Thanks for the help I mostly wanna get into owning 3 family’s an 2 family’s but I’ll definitely look into some books and look around the forums 

@Mark Amaral

I highly recommend these 5 books to change your mindset and really get obsessed with Financial Independence!

1. Rich Dad Poor Dad- Robert Kiyosaki

2. Cash Flow Quadrant- Robert Kiyosaki

3. Richest Man in Babolyan- George Clason 

4. Secrets of a Millionaire Mind- T Harv Ecker

5. How To Invest In Real Estate- Brandon Turner Josh Dorkin

Yes! And as you read and think of things for sure jump in the forums to get answers. I am a big podcast guy myself and you can consume so much content that way. But where the real impact will be is meeting people that are doing what you want to be doing. Going to events, socializing with local investors, touring properties and meeting agents/bankers will allow you to learn a ton. It is all about relationships.

Originally posted by @Damon Cameron Jr :

@Mark Amaral

I highly recommend these 5 books to change your mindset and really get obsessed with Financial Independence!

1. Rich Dad Poor Dad- Robert Kiyosaki

2. Cash Flow Quadrant- Robert Kiyosaki

3. Richest Man in Babolyan- George Clason 

4. Secrets of a Millionaire Mind- T Harv Ecker

5. How To Invest In Real Estate- Brandon Turner Josh Dorkin

 Thank you!!!

Originally posted by @Andrew Adam :

Yes! And as you read and think of things for sure jump in the forums to get answers. I am a big podcast guy myself and you can consume so much content that way. But where the real impact will be is meeting people that are doing what you want to be doing. Going to events, socializing with local investors, touring properties and meeting agents/bankers will allow you to learn a ton. It is all about relationships.

 Thank you!!!

Also see if you have a local real estate meetup. If not, is there any within a 90 mile radius you could attend over zoom on. Learn from others and reach out to them. Also start thinking about what your competitive advantages in real estate may be. (for instance, if you are on the road for work alot maybe driving for dollars, if you have access to a truck or tools maybe you could be a handyman) then leverage those skills to see if you can take stuff off the plate of other investors and you will be amazed at how far you get. 

Welcome, @Mark Amaral ! 

I hate to offer the most boring advice here, but financial knowledge and security are going to be very important on your journey. My first step (which perhaps you've already taken) is to make sure you're "smart with money."

There are lots of different options for financing, and you'll need to find the one that is right for you. Just make sure you know what you plan to do with the money when you have it.

"it's no trick to make a lot of money, if all you want is to make a lot of money...."

If you're not personally budgeting, building an emergency fund (which you can later actually invest (in an intelligent manner) if you'd like/feel lucky) and clearing out "bad debt" you're could run into trouble.

Have a plan, have goals and don't be afraid to ask when you don't know the answer (especially your potential/future tenants, I learn new stuff during property viewings all the time).

Best of luck! I was about your age when I started ramping up to my first investment. Happy to chat if you have any questions or ideas you want to bounce off someone.

Hello! Im also 24 and new to REI, moving from Milwaukee to Knoxville this summer and hopefully will buy my first property down there!

Originally posted by @Jared Hottle :

Also see if you have a local real estate meetup. If not, is there any within a 90 mile radius you could attend over zoom on. Learn from others and reach out to them. Also start thinking about what your competitive advantages in real estate may be. (for instance, if you are on the road for work alot maybe driving for dollars, if you have access to a truck or tools maybe you could be a handyman) then leverage those skills to see if you can take stuff off the plate of other investors and you will be amazed at how far you get. 

How do you go about finding these meetups and zoom calls? 

@Tabitha Gier biggerpockets in events there are some you can search by area, Facebook groups like put your city and real estate investment in the search. Also try googling it we have a group in our county that has good resources and networking that I found by just googling Waterloo and real estate investment group. Once you meet a couple connected people it’ll start to snowball when you learn about other people and meet them

Hi @Tabitha Gier , I’m a native Knoxvillian and just recently got into real estate investing myself. I actually just closed on my first two properties, a single family and a duplex. Check out KnoxREIA here in town. It meets monthly on Zoom, second Tuesday of the month I believe, and various other times throughout the month they have events. I'll start you out with a tip, Knoxville is a seller's market right now, so plan on being creative in how you find deals. Folks from California, New York, Michigan, etc, are drawn to Knoxville due to no state income tax, and the cost of living being so low. They can pay cash for houses. Hope your move goes smoothly and hit me up if you want to talk more real estate. 

Hey Greg! That’s awesome! I’ve actually never been to Knoxville but it seems to be calling my name. I’ll be visiting in May! Congrats of your two properties! That’s awesome. I will absolutely check out KnoxReia. I figured TN in general was going to be a sellers market, especially during times right now! Haha. Thankfully, right now, I have patience, I will definitely use this time to figure out some creative ways. In the mean time, I’ll follow you! I’d love to connect. Thanks again!

Thank you, Jared! I will definitely have to navigate this site more. I think I’ll also be paying for the pro membership here too. 

@Tabitha Gier - Welcome (soon) to Knoxville.  I grew up in the area and have two rentals (1 in Knox and a short term rental in Pigeon Forge / Gatlinburg).  @Derek Tellier hosts a monthly meet up.  You mentioned visiting in May so here is his recent post about the May date.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Lots of good people on here with knowledge of Knoxville so feel free to jump in and ask questions.

Good luck.

@Ken Dillard Thank you, lots! Everybody that is either in Knoxville, or from Knoxville has been super nice and one of the main reasons of why I want to move there. I’ve seen Pigeon Forge come up a few times. I will check on both those things you mentioned above. Thanks again! 

The best starting point is educating yourself. I'd read Rich Dad Poor Dad and then get into the more real estate specific books, listen to BiggePockets Podcast, take a seminar, educate yourself. Once you get your feet wet and begin to wrap your head around how to get rolling in real estate you'll want to think about your starting point. Are you going to target single family? Small multi? Will you need a partner? Do you want to start in a specific area? What's your capital situation? Will you house hack first? Once you know what direction you plan to move in, find an agent and start looking. It doesn't cost you anything to go look. We got to a spot where we developed a criteria sheet for what we were looking for in a property. We quickly realized the criteria sheet we made was extreme and impossible to meet every criteria at least within the market we were targeting. So, we refined it and made picked out our "essentials" the property must have. This whole process is impossible to do perfectly at the beginning, you will make mistakes! Just make sure you learn from them and fail forward. 

1. Join Groups on Facebook, tell everyone you're interested in getting into Real Estate
2. Start networking and setting up meetings with people. You'd be surprised at how giving the REI community is
3. Listen to podcasts and ditch music
4. Start reading books, lots of books. The BiggerPockets books are a good place to start, but branch out and look up other books on specific topics you're interested in
5. Education is the most important piece of this, but the best education is by doing. Get in the game as soon as you can, without being dumb. Dumb means you take on properties that have the potential to take you out of the game

Hi Mark and Tabitha. Welcome to Bigger Pockets. You've obviously taken the first step by getting on the site. Budget some time to reading each week, whether on this website or the excellent books already suggested to you. Go to at least one meetup a month if only just to meet people.

The next step is to set some long term goals for yourself. What will your life look like at age 65? 50? 40? and so on. Use those goals to work backward down to this year. Use that goal to figure out what you must do every week. Tell someone you trust your goals and ask them to keep you on track. 

@Benjamin Aaker That’s great advice. Thank you! I was actually thinking about my goals this morning, I will start working backwards from them! :)

Education and networking. Education: listen to REI podcasts, read REI books, and find courses online. Networking: attend local meetups and connect with people in your local market.

Brand new as well, so I can't offer much in the way of advice, but I wanted to share that I first got interested in real estate when I was around 24/25.  I didn't think I would be able to do it (not enough money, not enough credit, etc. etc.)  I kept hearing stories of people who accomplished crazy great things in real estate at 18, 21, and so on and felt bummed like I had waited too long.  Well, guess what?  I'm 28 now and the time still went by, so I wish I would have just started then.  My goal now is to make sure that, in another four years, I'm not saying the same thing.  I would encourage you to stick with it and set some concrete goals!