How can I become an investor? & start Buy & Hold

Question

29 years old Looking at becoming an entrepreneur starting my own business, Buying homes Via Sellers Finance, We sold our home through sellers finance it was a breeze. I asked how they do it they said they aren't part of real estate but are investors. I was interested in this soon as I heard it & did basic research how how it works.

We couldn't afford our house ( Mother, brother & his wife ) after my father passed away, So they took over our house payments and gave us $5,000 to relocate, also gave us 2 months to get out and they also pay the house payment those two months saving us $2000 more while we pack & move, We just have to catch utilities up and transfer them into their name and they will flip the house, remodel it and rent it out for $300-$400 more than the house payment which is making them profit. our house payment was $980 / month 3.25% interest rate and rent in my neighborhood is $1300-$1350.

I want to do this as a career, I have no career or schooling, I done lots of other jobs warehousing, production supervisor, construction, but have nothing really that is for a good resume alot of the jobs I got cause of my dad knew people and I did important jobs that someone my age just doesnt do I had on job training for jobs that them guys went to school for 10 years for.

Anyways I'm trying to learn how to make my own business, I have no money for school and we Have not relocated yet, We are moving to Fort Wayne, IN with my aunt temporary till we save money Then We will move some where warmer, I even tried to google search " good places to do real estate" didn't find anything really, I want to make sure I end up somewhere I can do this business successfully, Looked at Florida looks like its a gamble with INSANE fluctuating home values based on hurricanes, Any ideas of good places for real estate? We signed the final documents just over a week ago So we have 2 months to move.

Any information you can send me on Sellers Financing to try and use this as an investment will be much appreciated any other off topic materials that can be related such, As how to find houses being foreclosed on or where the taxes not been paid on will help too ( I beleive there are lists you can buy?) I plan to target homes that are having financial troubles as we are, So i can help people, Make faster transactions & make a profit while i do it, Just like they helped us. It was a win-win situation!

Other material might be useful is how to deal with probate getting all that worked out as a buyer through sellers finance if the seller is going through it & what companies to work through as a 3rd party company that deals with making the house payment and homes title, The people that bought our house goes through a company called Escrow Spec. Contract Servicing. They sent me an email showing this months payment been paid by them.

Also how do you guys get the money for the first initial investments? Im starting from scratch in the hole right now, I know there are investors that invest in other investors and things but how I find them & How much interest they normally charge to pay them back over how many years? I have bad credit so I cant get a bank loan unless investment loans are more easy to get ?

Are there any schools that teach this sort of thing in particular that I want to do that anyone can mention? I would like a good reputable school not some local that no one out of state knows about.

Sorry this was such a long read, Thank you for any information anyone provides. I am a very fast learner everything I do i learn it myself, I have a smart business way of thinking, Example when I see signs & advertisements I dont see the ad liek most people I see the colors they used, the placement, & design then think about why they did it that way and what I would of done, I seem to do a deep thinking on everything around me like that. Anyways anything helps information wise Thanks tons!

~Bret Rubash

Michael Johnson · Answer

first, get good at analyzing deals.. Be able to do the numbers and run them efficiently, secondly..really drive home what you want out of REI, pull your goals out of your head and put them in front of your face, and don't be hesitant to improve on them. Do everything the people said above, then when you get your bearings (and true true goal). Learn all you can about specifically what you want. best of luck.

Bret Rubash · Answer

Yeah I want to try and work under someone for starters I might be able to get some contacts too, I have a cousin in Fort Wayne, he was doing real estate there when he was about 25 years old he had multi million dollar deal going on building a whole area of like 250 homes for low cost living, but the lady he was working with at the Bank was some Russian woman or something, & she stole all the money when the deal was going down and left the country and my cousin was under fraud investigation by the FBI that got dropped after 5 years or so, But i'm sure he knows some of the locals that are reputable. Cool that your from Thermopolis, WY I used to live in Shoshoni hahaOh idk they told us it was called Sellers Finance.our house was worth $154,400, We owed $142,500, They took over our payments left the house in my moms name (our probate was already finished), And they gave us $5,000 and agreed to pay the 2 months house payment while we move out saving us 2 months payments additionally. They told us normally they don't pay any money down at all. That they just take over the payments, remodel the house doing small flips and rent it out for more than the house payment. Our payment was $980, Rent in my neighborhood is $1,300-$1,350 / months thought there is a house identical to ours the owners are renting out just the basement for $1,400 / months idk how they found such stupid people to rent lol $1,400 for half a house lolBeen Reading some more: its about " Subject To " investing if anyone else wants a read while we are on topic. Link below.https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/03/26/subject-to/

Dennis Canon · Answer

What they did was called "Subject To". It wasn't really seller finance. Loan stayed under your parents' name while they paid the amount owed. You guys transferred the title to them giving them ownership to the house. Read and listen to BP podcast and you'll learn different ways to do REI. Good luck.

Jerry W. · Answer

Definitely start reading everything you can from the education section above. I had invested for almost 20 years when I found BP and I learned tons from reading that section. Set some key word alerts up on the forums for areas or topics of interest like Ft Wayne, or education. You can learn a lot by just reading and interacting. It took me months to read the information back then. Maybe you can get a part time job in Ft Wayne working for an investor doi9ng handyman stuff or bird dogging some houses. Just my 2 cents. Good luck bud.

Bret Rubash · Answer

Will do Appreciate the help I'm reading that free beginners book now.

Adam Beckstetdt · Answer

I agree

Creig Leu · Answer

If I were you I would start with the podcasts and books here at BP. That's what I have done and it has been a huge help on my first few deals. Let me know when you get to Fort Wayne and we can meet up sometime