I was highly motivated by business, money and making deals when I was younger so while I applaud your willingness to make necessary sacrifices it sure helps if you can live somewhere you enjoy. 

My name is Ben Lemer, and I’m here to learn and grow in the world of real estate investing.I’m still fairly new to the space even though I have been around here since 2017, but I’ve been motivated to start because I want to learn the industry and build long-term wealthRight now, my main goals are: Learning the fundamentals of investing strategies Networking with like-minded investors Gaining insights from those who are already doing dealsI’m looking forward to connecting with others, asking questions, and contributing where I can.If you could give your younger self one piece of advice when starting out in real estate, what would it be?

The "online leads" trend becomes a vast pool of scams, each one discovering a new and "better" way to find motivated sellers via SEO/Paid adds/Social Media etc, and automatically aims to make a profit from selling those so-called leads.

You can also do driving for dollars to find distressed houses and likely motivated sellers.Some people who are about to lose their house don't want to leave.

One of the most successful investors I know moved 25 times in 23 years of marriage if you are super motivated about this.   

Start using your own personal network to find motivated sellers. - Start posting on your favorite social media site what you are looking for – not once or twice, but CONSISTENTLY for 6 months!

I gathered information from the forums to put together a motivated seller list on List Source, and I ordered yellow letters in August of 2015.

Whether for rent or for sale are moving very slow generally unless the owner is very motivated.

They’ll probe the motivation of the opposing side and NEVER belief any answer.

So, if they make only 80% loans, for example, you’ll get this back at closing, but still need to leave 20% in the deal from your HELOC.Putting down a modest EMD, say 3% or whatever is traditional in your area, is a relatively small amount of cash that few sellers might be motivated to go after if the deal collapses.