It's time!!!!!! We are investors!

[Account Closed]

We did it. My wife and I finally agreed, the time is now. I liquefied 25K in funds, and we are now, ACTIVELY in the market for our first investment. I'M SO EXCITED!

Also, I can't breathe. LOL.

We're looking for a BRRRR in Atlanta, or a multi-family in Georgia. I think we'd both prefer a BRRRR, but that takes us into hard money lending, which is a bit of a scary unknown for us both. I'm reaching out now to find lenders, but I feel like I'm at DEFCON 4 watching out for potential scams.

I don't feel like this first deal will make or break us for the future. We understand that we will make mistakes, and I especially understand that those mistakes probably won't lead to significant profit at first. We're committed to staying the course.

Finding the deal is the trick, and I haven't even gotten to the part of bidding and winning the sale, which I'm reading is a chore. I searched for hours the other day to only find one property (I thought) would be a good BRRRR candidate, and it was gone before I had a chance to show my wife.

This step, I see being a problem for us at the beginning. Not being aggressive enough. Having to discuss each lead, and being too detail oriented. I mean if it takes 30 offers to get the first property, man my wife and I are gonna end up with a couple more kids if we're going to be interacting this much, sheesh.

What are the masses finding with the buy and hold properties? Are your winning bids coming in high, at asking, low? I hate to leave money on the table as much as I hate wasting my time. If a house is going for 80K, this is what keeps me up at night. Offer 50K? Offer 90K? Or, more than likely, its some lesser variation dependent on an "all the fish in the sea" list of "If/then" scenarios. 

I guess I don't really have a question for group today. Just writing to unburden my soul. We're here though, it's time.  

[Nathan Gesner]

Congratulations on thinking about considering the possibility of maybe taking the leap if things line up perfectly and you act quickly and...well, you get the point. ;)

Seriously, don't over-think it. Figure out what the numbers need to look to be successful and then stick to them. You don't have to hit a home run. You don't have to get a 72%, 37% or even 14% return. The higher the returns, the more work and risk involved. Instead, find something that is relatively safe and can demonstrate success. This will bolster your confidence for the next deal and you will eventually gain the experience necessary to take bigger risks and seek better returns.

I know investors from the 80's and 90's that bought investment property all cash, full asking price. They didn't stay up on the market and their rents are low. They never learned to screen tenants and had some bad ones. There are dozens of things they did that do not fit the current investor wisdom...yet they are still successful. 

My first investment was a mediocre townhome bought sight unseen. I didn't even have pictures to look at but based my decision on my father-in-law who was a REALTOR. I bought it at $67,000 with 3% down but ended up spending another $10,000 in the first three months because of a major sewer problem and an HOA assessment my father-in-law/REALTOR failed to tell me about. After the first three months, I never put another dime of my own money into it and I sold it eight years later and cashed out almost $70,000.

Real estate can be very forgiving if you are patient. Don't wait for the perfect deal before jumping in or you may never get there.