All Forum Posts by: Mack Benson

Welcome to BiggerPockets @Cody Bentson. From another guy who is in IT, I understand the struggle. 

One thing that the more analytically minded people struggle with in real estate is with analysis paralysis. Think of real estate sort of like learning to code. You can read a hundred books on coding but I'm sure you really learned when you started doing it. One thing I have to tell myself from time to time is to stop thinking and start doing. 

Good luck!

Education x Action = Results. Spend time educating yourself then take massive action to get the most results. This education can come from books, podcasts, videos or from a mentor. Education is the basis of everything, as you gain knowledge you gain options.

Recently I was re-re-reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad and noticed something that I glanced over the first couple times through the book. Robert spends a good amount of time in one of the chapters explaining that it is good to work jobs that teach valuable skills. Skills such as customer service, management, sales and business math. There are skills you can start developing now that will help you be a better investor in the future.

I've said this many times over the last few months and the advice, while generic still fits.

Education x Action = Results. Spend time educating yourself then take massive action to get the most results. This education can come from books, podcasts, videos or from a mentor. Education is the basis of everything, as you gain knowledge you gain options.

Get clarity with your goals and your purpose. Why do you want to do real estate? Do you want to own residential, commercial, industrial? Are you looking for long-term generational wealth or just some side cash to supplement your current salary? I think this is one of the most important things to focus on because it can help guide you on your path and keep you on task.

Stay the course and do not get distracted by this weeks shiny object. There are so many different paths one can follow to success in real estate and as you gain knowledge you will be tempted to stray from your goal. This week it could be wholesaling, next week it could be BRRRR, the following week you might hear about syndication. Knowing your goals can help prevent shiny object syndrome and keep you focused on the task you set out for yourself. If you are bouncing from one task to another you can never master a single one. Instead, focus on one until you master it then look to the next.

Good luck!

If you are a complete noob you'll probably want to work with a local investor friendly agent. 

There are websites that pull from the MLS but their data is just an aggregate of data points and can only get you so close. An agent knows the market and is usually a much better gauge for market values and comps for specific properties.

The best advice I didn't get is that there are alternatives to using your own money for down payments. This coincides with the worst advice I got in that I need to have 25% down to buy an investment property. I got that worst advice when I was about 19 and it wasn't until I was probably 36 or 37 before I discovered there are alternatives. I could have saved myself almost 20 years if I would have looked outside the box back in the early 2000's. Surround yourself with people who are doing what you want to do and learn from them.

 I don't usually answer this in the open forums, groups aren't for everybody and I don't like making it appear that I am making a blind recommendation.  I'd be happy to share more via private message, feel free to reach out.

Hi @Max Tedford, what is your investment niche? I'm looking at 20+ unit apartments in the area with a JV or syndication and I know there are some great residential investors on here too.

@Khaled El Dorry my first reaction when I saw your post was the type of mentorship program I joined last year but I'm not sure if that would serve you best. If you are looking for someone to bounce ideas off of I think networking with other investors is going to be your best bet. You can easily do that while retaining your current job at Amazon. There are many people here on BiggerPockets that are more than willing to help with advice and many even willing to jump on a call. Facebook and LinkedIn are also good places to make connections in the real estate world. The Facebook Groups can be very helpful.

I had to stop by when I saw Bemidji in the post title. 

Congrats on your first deal and good luck on the next one!

I don't have any personal experience in it but when I was younger a bunch of my friends were doing it. We didn't have a name for it back then but it made sense to rent out the extra rooms to other guys. I think house hacking is a solid way to start and wish I would have known about it before my lifestyle made it unrealistic. My Dad even did it in the 70's. It's been around longer than I know and I'm sure it'll be around well after I am gone (as long as personal property is still a thing).