10 Things you Should be Doing Your First Year as a RE Investor

So..... you want to be an investor but do not know how to fill up your calendar with value added activities to help you be successful during your first year.

Here are ten things I feel are important for 1st year investors to do. These along with focused intent will help you become successful.

#1 Decide on what type of investing you want do based on your time, assets, income, resources and ability. If you have no money or resources maybe look at wholesaling. If you have resources but no time maybe look at rentals or partnerships, etc…. Get with someone that can analyze your current situation to see what type of investing works for you! Create realistic goals  and a written plan after you decide on your path.

# 2 Find a Mentor in the field if investing you want to go in. A SFR rentals mentor is different than a flips mentor and is also different than a mortgage wrap mentor, etc. Do not try to learn the entire REI game year one. Focus on 1-3 strategies and get good at them. 

#3 Create a fixed weekly schedule of activities with definitive time allocated to each task. Make sure the tasks are “value added”. Do not get ADD….. Focused intent is needed!

#4 Volunteer your time assisting successful investors when you can. Learn from their successes and failures.

#5 Network, network and network even more. Attend events, webinars, ask successful investors to go to lunch with you!!!

#6 Reduce your debt, stack your cash

#7 Learn how to: evaluate property values, put together construction estimates, find design trends, find buyers, find sellers + much more. Immersion is key.

#8 Consider getting your RE License. This is a much debated topic but I will always fall into the camp of getting your license vs not. You can pick up on retail transactions from friends, family members and potential investment clients.

#9 Set up the following systems: Bookkeeping, property evaluation, construction evaluation, vendor evaluation, materials selection , etc… You cannot count on creating these systems when deals come up. The longer you wait to pull the trigger on a deal the more chance you have of losing it.

#10 Assume that you will make mistakes and lose money based on your inexperience. Find peoples/systems to minimize the chance of this happening

There are so many more things you should be doing year 1 of being a RE Investor. If you complete #1 & #2 the rest should fall in line easier.

Happy hunting!