All Forum Posts by: Nicholas L.

@Michele Velazquez you're in California, right?  Sure, you can invest in Baltimore, but I think it's going to be tough to get your Core 4 built up from that far away, and it would be a lot easier to pick a market within 2 or 4 hours of you in CA.  There are major, drastic differences among Baltimore neighborhoods and even street by street in some cases...

And just a reminder that the title of this post includes "when starting out."

99% of investors starting out should not pursue either of these strategies =-)

@Tiya Patel this is a great and broad question... and hard to cover in a forum post.

There are lots of books and podcasts that cover it.  Look on Amazon or in your library for some books.

A podcast I would recommend is Paula Pant's 'Afford Anything.'  She covers retirement, financial independence, and real estate.

You can also just search for 'retirement' or 'financial independence.'

If you have more specific questions... post them here.

@Beth Johnson OK - fair enough, I agree if you're a HNWI looking to diversify this could be an option.  But... most RE beginners (not all, but most) are not middle-aged HNWIs looking to diversify.

@Michele Velazquez

pick a market you can drive to

go to REIAs there

set up your core 4 there

@Marcos Carbi

OK - good luck and keep us posted.

@Brandon Collins

Reduce expenses

Save up funds

Get prequalified

Find real estate agent

House Hack

@Beth Johnson I'm curious - can you say about how much you made?  I would never recommend that a new investor become a private money lender.  Say you have $25K, and you somehow find someone trustworthy and get a 10% return - now after 6 months you have $26,250.  OK... that doesn't seem like a game changer to me.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the best way for new investors to save up money for real estate is... a job.

Need more info to help

Where located?

What are numbers?

Are you living in one?

@John Jasko

I am neither a real estate professional nor a CPA, but my understanding is that you are allowed to take the passive loss without being a real estate professional - but again, there is a cap, and it phases out as your income increases

The answers for anyone's specific situation lie in IRS Pub 925 or with a CPA