8 props owned looking for mentoring to grow

[Elliot Hendler]

I have a decade and a half of experience working for companies as a carpenter and running work. I always did side work for other people. I built a house for myself and got featured in philly magazine, and then got honorable mention for best home of the year. Since that happened I became extremely busy, and had to make a decisions to slowly do Sidework or do it full time for myself. I pulled the trigger and went into business for myself full time. I am booked almost a full year out already. I have over the last few years purchased and renovated 8 homes which I own and rent out. I have flipped a home, and I bought a vacation property I am getting ready to start construction on.

I am kind of stuck finacially and have basically done all this while learning on the go I want to grow from here. Any advice or willing mentors would be huge.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Elliot Hendler:

Stop building houses for others. Finish out the jobs you've got, save up as much as possible, and start flipping homes to generate quick cash. If you're as good as you claim, you should have no problem evaluating properties for their potential, fixing them up, and selling them for profit. When the really good ones come along, and finances permit, you keep them as personal rentals.

And if you want to grow, you need to cash out some of that equity and put it to work. Leveraging will accelerate your growth like crazy. Read some books and educate yourself on this because you are missing out on a lot of money!

1. Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free). It will familiarize you with the basic terminology and benefits. Then you can read a more in-depth book like The Book On Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner or The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing by Spencer Strauss.

2. Get your finances in order. Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save. The idea that you can build wealth without putting any money into it is a recipe for disaster and the sales pitch of gurus trying to steal your money. A wise investor will not try to get rich quick with shortcuts. If you can't keep control of your personal finances, you are highly unlikely to succeed in real estate investing. Check out my personal favorite, Set For Life by Scott Trench , or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

3. As you read these books, watch the BiggerPockets podcasts. This will clarify and reinforce what you are reading. You can hear real-world examples of how others have built their investment portfolio and (hopefully) learn to avoid their mistakes.

4. Now you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them. Again, the BiggerPockets store has some books for this or you can learn by watching podcasts, reading blogs, and interacting on the forum. There is a handy search bar in the upper right that makes it easy to find previous discussions, blogs, podcasts, and other resources. BiggerPockets also has a calculator you can use to analyze deals and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy. If you consistently analyze properties, it will be much easier to recognize a good deal when it shows up. Find Brandon's videos on YouTube for the "four square" method of analyzing homes and practice. It doesn't take long to learn how to spot a good deal.

5. Study the market. You can learn to do this on your own or get a rockstar REALTOR to lead the way. I highly recommend a well-qualified REALTOR that works with investors and knows how to best help you.

6. Jump in! Far too many get stuck in the "paralysis by analysis" stage, thinking they just don't know enough to get started. The truth is, you could read 100 books and still not know enough because certain things need to be learned through trial-and-error. You don't need to know everything to get started; you just need a foundation to build on and the rest will come through experience and then refining your education.

You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months. How long it takes to be financially ready is different for everyone. Once you're ready, create a goal (e.g. "I will buy at least one single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex before the end of 2019") and then do it. Real estate investing is a pretty forgiving world and the average person can still make money even with some pretty big mistakes.