What should i know when buying property

Question

Im just going to keep this short and sweet. Im new to investing and im looking to try and get my first deal done. However, i need a a deal in the first place. How should i go about doing this?

What are the questions i should be asking? What should i look for? Is there a way to make sure you're getting what you want? How do i figure out if my market is good or bad?

Im looking to invest in buy and holds. Im also trying to get into wholesaling. Any feedback would help thank you.

Austin

Austin Kuritz · Answer

thank you guys it helps a little. However, i have been reading a few books but i will definitely look into those ones as well. I've also listened to all the podcasts. And chris i really love that you mentioned the house hacking method because thats really what i plan on doing with my first by and hold. If any of you can please contact me to talk further and help out i would greatly appreciate it. If not, i respect your time and i appreciate you taking the time to give your feed back as well.

Chris L. · Answer

My suggestion to you would be find a local real estate investors club and start to attend. There are like minded people looking to do deals and it is a great way to learn hands on how to get started. Try to find a mentor to tag along with if you connect with anyone. The detailed answers to your questions would be to much to write in one sitting. But I will try to do in a nutshell. lol.

How do I get my first deal in place? Pick an area that you are comfortable investing in especially if this is a long term buy and hold.

What questions should I be asking? You need to know all the details of the market you will be investing in. Since you are not as concerned about spread for a fix and flip you really just need to focus that your market is either stable or in an upswing, obviously the latter is better. You want to know vacancy rates, average market rents, what amenities push that number up and down and a minimum of 5 year financial projections.

What should I look for? If you are a newbie with no construction experience I would stick to something that is cash flowing already. Also I don't know what your current housing situation is but I bought my first duplex at 21 and lived in the downstairs and rented out the upstairs. It was a great way for me to break into the landlord business while leaving cheap! You can go up to a 4 unit and get favorable gov't financing for owner occupied buildings with low down payments and low interest rates.

I will tell you the buy and hold strategy is a capital intensive business. Things break, tenants turnover, people don't pay their bills but you still have to so make sure you have some cash in the bank for emergencies. If your light on cash you may want to learn how to wholesale or buy and flip first so you can get some working capital and a cushion. Hope that helps!

Best of luck!

Cheers!

John Thedford · Answer

Where to start on this one? RESEARCH. EDUCATION. Work with knowledgeable people/mentors to help guide you. Don't buy for the sake of buying. Buy when you know it is a deal. Take your time. Spend a few bucks on some good books such as "the millionaire real estate investor, cash flow-what every investor needs to know, and the book called "hold". Got questions? BP!

Natalia Collini · Answer

Good morning! The short answer to your question is...there is no short answer! There are a million ways to get deals, you just need to pick a method and devote everything you've got to it. You could drive for dollars, send out yellow letters, look on the MLS, look on craigslist, auctions, For Sale By Owner, even just telling everyone you know that you're looking for a deal. The trick is to pick one (or more) method(s) and stick with it.

The questions you should be asking (and the answers to the one's you've already asked) will largely depend on you and what it is you are looking for. A great way to get started figuring out WHAT those questions are is by reading through this free guide "The Bigger Pockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide": https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investin.... Here you will find lots of tips, links to articles, and podcasts to listen to. By the time you finish reading through that you should have some better answers to your questions, along with new questions to push you even further to the next level. :-)

I'm personally in the market for buy and hold. Or, more accurately I'm in the market for flip and hold. I want to invest in small multi-families and work up to larger ones while taking advantage of value-add appreciation. I recently got my real estate license so that I can take advantage of the MLS to look for my deals. I'm in a very competitive market but there's plenty available for someone who's willing to hustle a little. And that's just one of many different ways to do it.

I completely recommend the podcasts. They are fun to listen to, packed full of information and tips, and the guests do so many different things in so many different ways. It's really easy to get creative just by listening to a week of podcasts!

I hope some of that helped and I wish you luck on the start of your journey. I hope you have a wonderful and peaceful week.