Best job to get before investing myself?

Question

Hey everyone,

My name is Tyler and I am a highly ambitious, self motivated individual with an interest in purchasing undervalued real estate and renting it out. However, I am very young, and don't have any money for a down payment or enough cushion room to feel comfortable owning a piece of property, especially a rental.

For the next year or two, I would like to work and save. I could work my normal job (low paying hourly job) and come up with a bit of cash by next year, or alternatively I could find a new job or side job.

Should I be seeking a job in construction type fields, or in real estate? I have the opportunity to get my license and perhaps work for a real estate biz. Would it be more beneficial for me, as a future investor/flipper, to actually learn the skills necessary (find a job with a remodeler etc.) or work for a real estate business?

Thanks everyone!

Sean Terry · Answer

Hey Tyler, I'm excited for you, real estate investing is such a great place to be right now. Here's what I would do. 1. I would get a job you can plan on quitting as soon as you have a comfortable nest egg of cash stashed. This amount is up to you. I suggest one years worth of income in the bank. 2. I would study everything I could as regards to "wholesaling". This takes very little if any cash and can be implemented around your day job. Wholesaling in a nutshell is finding a motivated seller and signing a buyside contract at one price and then finding a cash buyer and assigning or signing a sellside contract for a higher price. To find motivated sellers there are MANY ways, but the 3 best ways for beginners are: 1. Yellow Letter direct mail to an inheritance list 2. "Sell House Fast" Bandit Signs 3. Pay Per Click Marketing via Google Adwords (takes some cash). To find cash buyers, just post an ad on Craig's list for a below property with your phone number and watch the phone ring. Also put out "Cheap House For Sale CASH" bandit signs with your number. Make sure to use eVoice or a service like it to capture the calls. Then just put the two together. Now, after you've done enough deals to get one years worth of income in the bank you can make the decision to quit. Once you go full time, you'll now have experience, confidence, and proof that you can make a living flipping properties. Now you can decide to keep, in your own personal inventory, properties that make sense from a cash flow perspective which is the most important aspect of owning rental properties. I hope this helps, Cheers, Sean

Jerry Puckett · Answer

Hello Tyler, and welcome to the site. You will hear this phrase over and over in real estate, so get used to it: "it depends". There are times when I could kick myself for not getting a license. It helps so much and can open many, many doors. On the other hand, if you're going to buy undervalued properties, some construction knowledge and skill could save you a bundle. You may want to start out by doing some bird dogging for local investors. Search Bird dogging in the forums and there is a wealth of information to get you started. You can learn some of the most basic, fundamental, very necessary skills by applying your self to this trade and make a better wage. Best of all, it will keep you close to and always learning more about what you already love Do a good job with that and you will find yourself close to the people you need to be close to when it's time to leap out on your own..

Vikram C. · Answer

The key skill to the flip business is to be able to buy at a discount to ARV. I would suggest that you either become a bird dog or, preferrably, an agent. Once you are an agent, you will have access to the all-important MLS that will allow you to learn how to comp properties, how to spot potentially lucratice properties, etc. And you can earn commissions while offering this service to RE investors in your area. The other advantage to getting your license is that it will continue to be useful once you start your own flip business.

Account Closed · Answer

I agree with Edward. A lot of it depends on your specific long term real estate investing goals. Where to do you want to be in 5, 10 or 20 years? If you want to flip properties then working with contractors, appraisers, realtors, lenders, real estate attorneys might prove valuable. If you want to buy and hold property, then property management companies, apartment manager, real estate agent, lenders, real estate attorney, handy man skills can all be very useful. If you are wholesaling or birdogging working with other RE investors will come in handy, learning people and negotiating skills at almost any job that requires these will come in handy. You may discover down the road useful ways to use the experiences you gain from many other jobs as well. You may want to consider what traits and skills are needed or desirable for any type of investing strategy.