What did you do to learn real estate investing

Question

hello my name George and I'm eager to learn real estate investing either being flippes or rentals. I want to hear from people that have done it, how you started? What steps did you take to acquire the money to buy your first deal? What books or education did you read or take to get to where you are now? Do you use your own money at all or others money to make it happen?

I want to learn

I'm looking for a mentor, currently live in the suburbs of Chicago,

I want to learn

I'm looking for a mentor, currently live in the suburbs of Chicago,

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

@George Rodriguez  spend the less than 1k it cost to get a RE license in your state.. then mentor or get on a top producer team.. you will earn as you learn.

this is one of the very best methods for learning the business.. trying to do it on line and with no credit or money is just a waste of time.

get in the game work in the game work with other professionals in the industry build a career... you need to apprentice..

I got my license at 18 ( agent ) and brokers at 20 in CA... been at it my entire life.. but I made money within the first 60 days of being licensed. ( I chose to sell land) and never looked back.. and in RE there is many things you can do.. its not all about flipping and wholesaling.

There is huge money to be made in the mortgage origination field... IN commercial brokerage in SFR brokerage... In being a darn good leasing agent for commercial.. working with a developer of housing subdivisions etc etc.. remember what you see on here generally is all the same thing.. wholesale a house.. the mortality rate for those attempting that are 99 out of 100.. if you are young and want a career then become a professional.

Crystal Smith · Answer

We took 3 routes to get started.  Each for different reasons.

Route 1- worked in a real estate office, then got my licence.  Learned from working on the trenches.  Still learning.

Route 2 - Teamed up w/ a business partners;   great credit, but no cash.  Created a joint venture agreement where we leveraged his credit and our cash

Route 3. - Teamed up w/ some other partners w/ lots of cash; leveraged our credit and their cash

Regarding education:  its continuous learning.  Most of the books we read are outdated except for the motivational parts.  Kiyosaki- Rich Dad, Poor Dad; trump:  art of the deal.

Is it possible to do this w/ no credit & no $?  It's difficult, but possible. Partner w/ experience.  Get involved in some projects.  While you build up your own credit and cash reserves, learn how to find good projects and present them to potential partners.  Learn how to own the numbers.  None of this is an overnite task.

Chin P. · Answer

@Jay Hinrichs makes a good point about seeking an opportunity like that presented by  @James Wise.  I like my day job and do well by it, so it's not attractive for me. But I've thought tons of times that if I was young, hungry and looking to hustle, James' posting for new employees sounds like a great opportunity to learn the business from someone doing it well.   I'm continually amazed he's still looking and figure it's a mix of growth in his business such the he needs more, natural turnover of employees, time necessary to find the right employee, etc.

The point isn't for every newbie to bombard James or that his is the only opportunity to earn and learn.  But that there's opportunity eveywhere to find investors or professionals in the business who need good, hungry help and where you can learn vital parts of the business.

One of the BP newbie post casts (the one where Josh's guest cancels at the last minute and you can tell they scrambled to find someone to interview), Josh interviews one of his own employees.  Someone who was first introduced as a friend of a current employee, showed his desire and hustle at the first meeting, ended up getting a job at BP (maybe on the IT side?), and had now purchased his first house hack duplex in Denver.  Do you think that guy wouldn't get lots of fantastic advice from Josh, Brandon, and others at BP on his real estate investing just by being a great employee and a good guy?   For those of you guys asking for mentors, this is one way (of many) to get one.  Being in that environment he's got great opportunity to pick up loads of valuable knowledge and can leverage their experience.

Seems like every third podcast the guest is looking to systematize and turn over more and more of the operations to others.  Some use distance help like O-Desk.  But plenty look for local people that are willing to work.  There's opportunity like that to learn from current investors, or from established businesses like Jay mentioned.

Lots of industries work this way--music, movie, sports.   Start at the bottom in a good organization.  Hustle, learn, build contacts.  Then you have a good foundation to start moving up the chain or start taking on deals yourself.  You can certainly do real estate investing without all of this.  It's just that every little bit that you can do that increases your knowlege, experience, contacts, assets, and tools will increase your odds of succeeding and reaching your goals.  Good luck.

James Wise · Answer

As Jay said so many ways to earn money in this industry. There is so much out there outside of house and contract flipping. Getting out there and operating as a real estate professional is the way to go.

Jay, you in high school with your buddies, did they carve the real estate licenses on stone back then? lol.....Had to get you back for referring to me as "James Welcome Wagon Wise"

Seriously though, that's really awesome that 40 years later something you got them involved in is still paying off. Essentially you helped shaped one of the biggest factors in their adult lives, their career.

I brought some personal contacts on as agents as well. Some are still in school, one in particular comes to mind. @Jason Horton. We used to sell & install invisible fences together. He actually trained me how to do it. Now he sells 10-15 houses a month. (mostly all to investors) I imagine he'll be doing real estate for the long haul.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

@James Wise  all kidding aside anyone who wanted to cut their teeth in the RE investing business ... a company Like James would be a prefect incubator.. make some money while you learn.. I think James company slant is investor based .. you would work with investors understand their wants, needs, and proclivities ...

And you never know I have friends of mine from High School that I talked into getting their license's and  coming to work for my dads company which was a great incubator in the day.. And two of them are still at it like I am 40 years later.. And very  VERY successful agents for Intero in Santa Clara valley.. once you have 10 years or so in the sales game if you make it that long you can really be set the rest of your career just working on referrals.

But its not easy anyone who thinks its easy to be an agent a wholesaler an fix and flipper or anything else RE related will usually learn differently.  But its treated me and my family well all these years.. through the ups and downs be rich and being broke would never change a thing... Well maybe the broke part   LOL

Barbara G. · Answer

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Listen to Jay.  The man knows what he is talking about.

Jump on James Wise, whom ever he is and where ever he is.  Tell him Jay reccomended yu.

Go join a Real Estate Club and go find a Real Estate Meet Up Group and join them

Keep us informed and let us know who and where James Wise is and who he is.  Tell us  what he says

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

@George Rodriguez@James Wise

PS  James Wise is hiring... he would be the perfect proto type broker to work for... if your desire is to work as an investor with investors...

No place better to learn than to get in that environment.. it is just so tough to sit at home by your self and try to become a RE investor  LOL  really tough

George Rodriguez · Answer

Thanks for the advise, wish I had those kinds of funds 😁

James Wise · Answer

@George Rodriguez

Welcome to the site.

To invest in real estate you need at least 1 of the following 3.

1. Money

2. Credit

3. Knowledge/Experience

Starting out it's good to use your own money because without the knowledge and experience your going to find it hard to raise funds from others.

Having good credit will allow you to leverage your money very well. Usually banks are looking for 25% down. If you have $250,000, good credit and income you can obtain mortgages and buy 1 Million dollars worth of property.

After you have operated your Million dollar portfolio for awhile you have some experience to bring to the table and will find it much easier to raise funds from others for your next 1 Million dollars worth of property.

Cheryl P. · Answer

@George Rodriguez Welcome to BP, start reading The Ultimate Beginners Guide and listen to all the podcasts they are great starting tools.  Ask lots of questions here on the site.

And I agree with others about getting your RE license if you can, I am in the process of studying for mine here in Virginia.  In my limited experience I am finding that having my license will give me two things that I really need (1) Access to MLS for solid comps and (2) faster access to view properties without having to rely on getting on realtors schedule.

I wish you much success.

What did you do to learn real estate investing

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