I want to start but unsure of how?

Question

Hello everyone I'm a newbie on here!I'm interested in investing into real estate and have been doing a lot of homework, researching and trying to educate myself as best as I can before I jump into this. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to start? I know the very first thing I want to do is to start repairing my credit so that I don't have issues getting assistance with loans and etc in the future, I'm also looking to purchase a home, the issue I'm having is which to do first purchase a home or an investment property? From everything I've read most suggest purchasing a little multi family property like a duplex to start off with and build from there, however I'm a single mother with a 1 yr old and there are not many duplexes in my area and if so there in really rough areas that I don't feel comfortable in, safety is my biggest concern as a women and mother of a young child so I don't think that would be the best option for me due to my situation. I've also read that some suggest to whole sale? Should I look to purchasing a single family home and then eventually rent it out and start from there? I'm just confused as what to do?

Bill Gulley · Answer

And, you don't just read stuff on the internet and jump into some marketing strategy.Learn real estate before attempting to deal in real estate. :)

Mark Gallagher · Answer

@Lisa JonesYou've taken the first step which is to educate yourself. Sounds like you need to repair your credit in order to get solid financing. Perhaps find an investor in your area and see if they need help in exchange for learning the ropes. Get in the door doing some general tasks to learn the lay of the land and work from there. It's good to learn from INSIDE the business rather than learning from outside looking in. Good luck!

Paul Timmins · Answer

@Lisa JonesWelcome. Fill in the foundation below.Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice. And you get the benefit of having over 100 past ones to catch up on.Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers who provide deals and rehabbers (cash buyers). Find them through Google and meetup.comTwo Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses, The Book on Estimating ReHab Costs http://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbookConsider checking out HUD homes for small multi's owner occupied gets first crack.Download BP’s newest book here some good due diligence in Chapter 10. Real Estate Rewind Starting overhttp://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/brandonatbp/file/real-estate-rewind-a-biggerpockets-community-bookGood Luck Paul

Aaron Montague · Answer

@Lisa JonesWelcome to BP!!Short Answer:1. Fix your credit2. Establish a budget and STICK to it3. Find something that appeals to youLong Answer:Part of repairing your credit will be forming a budget. If your creditors are paid off, good, if not, you'll need to figure out how to do that. Something that you need to add to your budget is a "investment fund." Put some money aside each month/week/paycheck for investing in Real Estate. Then don't touch that money for anything except your RE career. There are some months in REI where your company(ies) will live dollar to dollar to avoid costly fees. Being able to do this on a personal level makes sure you are ready for the accounting side of REI.I don't recommend wholesaling because it is not a beginner's level REI skill. It looks appealing due the appearance of being inexpensive. I honestly believe that if you can hustle enough to be a wholesaler, you'll make more money as a Realtor.The big piece is to find something that grabs your attention. Being a landlord isn't for everyone. Flipping houses might be a better alternative. Investing in notes is yet another option. There are as many ways to make money in REI as their are active folks here on BP x100. Different strategies work well in some geographies and not at all in others.You really want to find something that drives you to get up in the AM. Real estate is not an easy game.

Vincent Crane · Answer

There's a few options but the main thing is getting very educated through BP first. Listening to all of the podcasts, the webinars, and reading the blog articles about the area you think you want to go into is essential. Starting off by house hacking is generally the easiest way because once you're not paying any rent, you then have a lot of extra income you can use to buy your next property. The 3 main ways to make money in real estate are wholesaling, rentals, or flipping (the most cash intensive). You could listen to the podcasts on wholesaling and spend about $1,000 on your first batch of letters and such that go out and get your first deal that way. Also, with house hacking, if you can find a duplex in a decent area that's kind of expensive, you can use an FHA loan to only put 3.5% down, so then becomes much more affordable. Otherwise if you're buying your first investment property you'd need to put down 20-25% which is a lot more difficult. Hope this helps.

Tyrone Jackson · Answer

I definitely agree with some of the comments above. Step 1 is educating yourself on your own through books and BP but Step 2 is networking on BP and locally with other experienced investors or even new people with similar goals. Surround yourself with like-minded people and stick to it. I am from Landover, MD so I know your area well and have a friend down there looking into getting into the business too. PM if you want me to connect you.Good luck!

Marlon Wilson · Answer

Hi @Lisa Jones!Welcome to Biggerpockets!Wishing you all the success on your real estate venture!

Mark Nolan · Answer

@Lisa JonesBP is a treasure chest full of resources. You will find resources here from blogs to pod casts and forums. You can also send messages to members which is my favorite part of the website.