If u had to start with nothing?

[Christoper William Owens]

If you had to start from nothing how would you go about beggining in real-estate rentals?

[Ran Iarovich]

I would say:

1) Get your dream team together. Mentor is most important (a community like this is perfect to find one), an agent that is knowledgable in the area, lenders, management companies, and a contractor if anything significant breaks.

2) I would start reading and absorbing as much knowledge as possible about real estate rentals in my area. This includes audio books, precepts, and reading as much as possible while putting it into action. In this step you'll understand which strategy works best for you. Out of month to month, short term, long term, out of state, etc. which makes the most sense for you based on your dreams and goals? 

3) Get preapproved by a lender and see what you can afford. After getting your criteria, start comparing properties that are on market and off-market - your agent and lender will be your star players in this step!

4) After you find some properties that you are comfortable with, start analyzing them and seeing if the numbers make sense. Make sure that your mentor is giving you constant feedback based on what you think is a good or bad deal. There is never a point where you're asking too many questions!

***ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT RENT FULFILLS DEBT SERVICE AND MORE! If you are starting out I would never make an offer on a property if you are not making cash flow on it. That is, cold hard cash after interest, taxes, and other expenses are paid for. Everyone will tell you that appreciation is important but in the beginning stages, you can't afford to have a massive overhead cost come out of the blue and ruin your entire plan.***

6) Repeat, Scale, and Teach others!

Hope this helps,

Mazal,

Ran