Overwhelmed Newbie! Where do I start?

Question

Hello,

How are you all? I recently got into wanting to do real estate  and consequently found out about BiggerPockets. I attended the free introductory webinar ("Real Estate Investments for Newbies") and while hyped and motivated, I still feel a little overwhelmed as to where to start. I read through most of the book provided online as well and it's definitely a lot of great information but again would still like some guidance on the best place to start....

Would definiltey appreciate any advice anybody can give, I want practical and attainable tips to get my feet wet. One big question I do have : The webinar was saying that you should be in the habit of analyzing 3 listings per day. What's the best websites people use to find listings? I know the obvious ones like Zillow/Realtor but is that what everybody uses? I'm looking for both paid and free...

Looking forward to hearing everybody's responses...

Thanks!!

Marco Santarelli · Answer

@Mostafa M.

Welcome to BiggerPockets!

It's very easy to feel overwhelmed in the beginning.  A large reason for that with "newbies" is they don't know what they want, and where to start once they know.

My first question for you would be:  Do you want to be an "active" or "passive" real estate investor?

If you don't know what I mean then listed to my first few podcast episodes.

The answer to that question narrows down the field quickly.

Continued success!

JR T. · Answer

A good place to start that is often overlooked here is to complete the 60 hours of coursework to get your Realtor license. Either pay a monthly fee or go actually work for a real estate brokerage. You will learn enough to have some general knowledge so you know what things (if any) about this might actually really interest you, paying the monthly fees will get you off your butt to do something with that license and worst case you'll make all the money back you spend on this endeavor when you get to take the 3% buyer's commission home on your next RE purchase.

Mark Nolan · Answer

@Mostafa M.

Welcome to Bigger Pockets. Make sure to check out all the informative podcasts.

Brian Lacey · Answer

For me it's been a lot of podcasts, deep web dives and Google searches. The three podcasts in particular are:

1) http://www.passiverealestateinvesting.com/podcast/

2) http://www.cashflowsavvy.com/what-is-turnkey-real-...

3) http://joefairless.com/blog/

Cool thing, all 3 guys are on BP as well. It's nice to see the advice put into practice.

Podcasts are more convenient for me. Little chunks of time, make the information more digestible, and easier to comprehend.

Mostafa M. · Answer

Wow that's a lot of response quick. Thanks guys!

@Adam: Thanks for the link for GS MLS ! That's definitely something I'll look into. How accurate do you think it is and how does it compare to actual MLS that realtors use?

Also, I would be interested in making a quick buck at least to start on single family homes. I am in it for the long run but just want something tangible to motivate me and keep me going. And yes NJ is competitive though it does seem vast from a real estate standpoint,  I don't mind going anywhere in NJ. Are you a local to NJ? Do you have any specific tips? What kind of success have you had?

@James: Yes I definitely want to start listening to the podcasts. There's a lot of them though are there any specific ones you recommend applying too? Also, I was considering pro but do you think it's worth it? I'm not interested in the analyzer tool so much and that was one of the bigger things they touted in the webinar....

@Brian: Gotcha, yes I ordered a couple of J. Scott's books and started reading ( I got the one on buying and rehabbing and the one that actually shows you how to estimate rehabbing costs).  Is there any particular books that you felt enlightened you the most or got you comfortable with the idea? Is there anything you would recommend in specific?

Brian Lacey · Answer

Hi fellow newbie,

I'm in a similar position. I'm not overwhelmed anymore, largely because of two things.

1) education; reading and podcasts have really cleared things up for me.

2) find a niche; there are plenty of investment strategies (just like Brandon outlined in the webinar- I attended as well; great stuff). Once you figure out if your niche, and area that you want to focus in on for these first couple properties, then study the hell out of that category. Whether it be multifamily, single-family, fix and flips, etc, plenty of resources in BP, and there seems to be a podcast for every aspect of real estate now as well.

James Green · Answer

Welcome @Mostafa M. have you checked out - https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investing ?

There really is no best way, since everybody has different goals, background, & interests. I would start at podcast 1 and proceed to listen, and read the BP articles as they come out. I would also upgrade to Pro status, if it's in the budget to do so.

Adam Anderson · Answer

welcome! I would recommend listening as many of the podcasts as you can.  I listen to one each week while in in the car. You'll get real tips and success stories from other investors. I agree you will learn a lot by analyzing properties, have you used www.gsmls.com? This is the NJ MLS site. It's more accurate than the ones you mentioned.  You might also search Zillow and Craig's list.  You might find buy and hold or potentially flips, the NJ market is pretty competitive though.

What most interested you? Are you interested in properties to hold or are you looking to make a quick profit?

Overwhelmed Newbie! Where do I start?

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