Best way to start

[Derek Parsons]

Hello BP!

My name is Derek Parsons, I am a soldier with the North Carolina National Guard currently serving in a deployment overseas. I am completely new to real estate investing and have no idea where to begin, so my question to you all is what would be the best starting move? In order to help with the answer, here is a little about my current situation:

I'm 25 years old, with about 6k in student loans (being paid off by the military), no car payments, no credit card debt, and a credit score of about 650. Currently, since I have no bills while on deployment (other then a phone bill and storage unit) I am saving every paycheck I get. I hope to have a little over 30k saved up by the time I get home (sometime in April). I already own a car, but it is almost 16 years old and needs a few minor repairs, all of which I can do myself, but the temptation to get a new or "newer" vehicle is high. I do have family I can live with once I am back but will need to start finding a place of my own sooner rather then later. 

It's definitely not the worst position to be in, but I would like to get things started on the right foot and avoid making "rookie" mistakes and maximize my return with the money I have now. I hope the information I gave helps, and thank you all in advance for your time and help!

[Daniel Ryu]

Originally posted by @Derek Parsons:

Hello BP!

My name is Derek Parsons, I am a soldier with the North Carolina National Guard currently serving in a deployment overseas. I am completely new to real estate investing and have no idea where to begin, so my question to you all is what would be the best starting move? In order to help with the answer, here is a little about my current situation:

I'm 25 years old, with about 6k in student loans (being paid off by the military), no car payments, no credit card debt, and a credit score of about 650. Currently, since I have no bills while on deployment (other then a phone bill and storage unit) I am saving every paycheck I get. I hope to have a little over 30k saved up by the time I get home (sometime in April). I already own a car, but it is almost 16 years old and needs a few minor repairs, all of which I can do myself, but the temptation to get a new or "newer" vehicle is high. I do have family I can live with once I am back but will need to start finding a place of my own sooner rather then later. 

It's definitely not the worst position to be in, but I would like to get things started on the right foot and avoid making "rookie" mistakes and maximize my return with the money I have now. I hope the information I gave helps, and thank you all in advance for your time and help!

Hi Derek!

When I first got started, I admit - it was a bit overwhelming. 

I've been in business several years, but real estate presented a whole set of new challenges. I like you, am also overseas, so it wasn't like I could join the local REIA.

From my experience, it's good to be very focused with your time. It might be unavoidable to feel yourself pulled in many different directions - wholesaling, buy and hold, flipping, notes, etc. I admittedly looked at all of them before I decided SFR under $100K would be my target for my first investment.

To make progress, I'd say get a good organizational system in place. Otherwise, you'll be reading so much and networking and then forgetting who you met, what you learned. And you might get tired and frustrated. I use Scrum methodology for organization and a program like Wunderlist or Trello to keep track of my daily tasks, weekly goals. 

I also take notes and store them from most every contact I meet. 

Having that basic org system then allows me to be more deliberate and focused. 

Then I'd say - create a goal - a tangible goal of what type of investment you'd like to do. The more specific the better. 

Ex:

A SFR ranch style 3/2 under $150,000 that rents for $1,200 /month.

This will depend a lot on your farm area and networks you build. 

In the beginning your goal might be to set a goal. You can give yourself time to do that by focusing on reading, listening to BP podcasts, and buying a few books. 

Each week review your progress. Write up a report to yourself. Think of yourself as consulting for you. What was your deliverable for this week on Project Getting Started in REI.

Make sure you make networking with other investors at least once a week part of your routines. 

I've got more I could say but I gotta run now - dinner ^^

Anyways, I wrote about how I found a market to invest in while living in Korea for my BP Blog:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/6526/blog_post...

I hope it helps. The process I used worked out well - our house has gone up over 50% in 6 months. 

I have a few other posts that might help as well on the blog or the website in my signature. 

Good luck and reach out anytime. 

(& yes, I do use this process myself. It landed me two partnerships and a few real estate related business opportunities- all while living out here in Korea) 

And if you'd like to join our FB group of overseas investors, let me know and I'll send you a link.