Prioritization?

[Trevis Kelley]

I am somewhat new to real estate investing, and have been reading this site and all the books, blog posts, podcasts, forum posts, etc that I can get my hands on.  It seems like everyone is trying to pull new investors in a thousand different directions.  I will read a book that says that I need to treat real estate investing as a business and get a business plan, projected financials, LLCs, etc.  Then I will read a blog post that says that you need to sit down with a lawyer, CPA, agents, mortgage brokers, etc.  I will then read a forum post that says new investors waste too much time with stuff that doesn't matter.  There is just too much information and way too much conflicting advice.  Can anyone give a straight answer to what is important when you first start?  I am trying to get into buy-and-hold single and multi-family properties.  There is what I see as a great deal on the market in my area right now, but I am paralyzed by all the other things I am reading about having a team, contacts, business plans, LLCs, contracts, lease agreements, etc, etc, etc.  So, being that I have some money and some education (and a potientially great deal), am I just dangerous without the rest of it?  My instinct is to just jump right into things, but I know that sometimes that has hurt me in the past.  Trying to learn from those past mistakes.  What is really important?  What can I skip?  Should I be posting the potential deal to see if you guys agree with my analysis and just jump right in?  Feeling overwhelmed and under-utilized at the moment.  I just want to go!

[Hattie Dizmond]

@Trevis Kelley If you don't have a natural bent toward analysis paralysis (I do!), then - by all means - don't let people drag you into that state!!!

You need one thing and one thing only to safely get started...the education necessary to fully analyze a deal.  Since this would be your first deal, lay out the numbers and your evaluation of the numbers and let the community critique your analysis. 

I like that approach better than just throwing the numbers out there and letting other people analyze it for you.  By providing the deal numbers and your analysis, you give these super smart people on BP the opportunity to help you understand where your thought processes, methodology, etc. when off track.

Do you need a team? Well, probably, but what would constitute your team and when you need to engage those folks is different for every investor. Do you need a business plan? Yeah, if this is more than a hobby, but do you need it before your first deal? No, you don't. Do you have to form an LLC? No, you don't. (Yes, there are people right now reading that and wanting to know who has hacked into my account!) Even if you decide you want to form an LLC, you don't have to have it in place up front.

Look...there are 9 million different opinions.  In the end, the only thing that matters - in terms of jumping in or not - are the numbers.  You make your money when you buy.  If you are buying at the right price, you'll automatically have multiple exit strategies available to you.  Post your deal and let's see!