Advice on most productive way to begin my REI career?

Question

Hey guys,

Thanks for taking the time to read this and any advice is greatly appreciated.

I'm immigrating back to the US with my wife and our kids shortly (she's the american, but I am a naturalized citizen). I have about $10k that i'd like to use to start off my REI career just to see if its for me and if I have a future in it. I played online poker for a living for the last 5-6 years and have about $100k I could tap into (its not very liquid, i'd have to sell my property overseas) if I see potential in this for me.

I'm most likely going to be a mature student pursuing an engineering degree, thus no real income...and to boot I don't have any credit history due to never having anything on my name even after being naturalized.

I'm not expecting to jump into REI right away and having banks approve me for a loan with no experience, credit or income lol but i'd appreciate any thought on my best way of getting there.

My current plans are to read as much as I can on this forum while getting myself an entry level credit card to build my credit score. I'd also like to attend as many REI meetings in my area as I can. I'm not sure if I can change my income situation being a full time student but is that a total deal breaker?

I'd eventually like to do a mix of flips and buy&holds (with a longer term goal and getting into MHPs in the future) while still keeping a cash reserve to continue doing as many deals as I can handle whether that may involve private money or HMLs in the future.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this.

-Jonathan

Account Closed · Answer

Your certainly going to want to learn your market. Sounds like your going to REI groups already which can help you build good connections. Besides learning your market, You will want to learn about what is working for others. You'll need to learn where to find deals, what property is a good deal and what kinds of exit strategies are working currently in your market place. Flipping may work, but this can be very much a job and if your a full time student may be difficult to accomplish.

Bill Gulley · Answer

Some suggestions before you start signing contracts. Join a local REI and find a mentor, not one to pay but to learn from. You could split deals, but first step is to lear the are and the market. Read all you can find about real estate, yes, the dry stuff, like text books on the subject, it won't take long. Find out what the rules of the road are, what laws you need to abide by. You might consider going to a real estate class for agents. It's good to know what they must do and how they have to operate, even if you are not an agent. You will get information in many areas that will give you a good basic understanding of the business, like the market and the appraisal process, zoning and basic financing. Vist your banker and see what kind of financing they will do, conventional and commercial. Put a team together, get to know some agents, title company, attorney, accountant and brokers/lenders and visit the city building regs folks and become familiar what the requirements are.. You'll need to know some trades types for the fix er uppers, it's best to hire them if you are not really good at it, professionally performed work is worth it, IMO, especially starting out. Read here and ask questions.....Good luck

Jonathan Godden · Answer

Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply, I definately intend to learn as much as I can from this site, and some of the blogs associated with it. I agree that getting out there and meeting people is going to be very important and I intend on attending as many meetings as my schedule allows. I'm in no way looking to get rich quick, its just nice to be involved in something that rewards hard work and you get out what you put in. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to try and get some more funds together (with friends or perhaps taking some equity out of my home, which will be tricky and costly due to exchange rates) and try and do a few flips on my own to gain experience before approaching a bank or PMLs about making a loan, possibly a JV if I can find someone that would be open to working with me...thoughts? Do most of the full time investors here have their real estate agent license as well to cut down on fixed costs a bit? Is that even possible to be your own agent on deals you do? Getting a mentor would be great but I don't imagine too many people being open to giving away their knowledge and time for free to a stranger....am I right in thinking a certain element of luck is involved or is it fairly common? Thanks again for the responses everyone

Mark Anderson · Answer

A few other options are wholesaling, which is a good way to get involved when you have limited available funds or bird-dogging where you simply act as a property locator for other investors. You could develop a relationship with a local investor and help him/her with their business. They could pay you in one of two ways: with actual dollars or by teaching/mentoring you. At the end of the day, you have to get aggressive and make something happen. It will not fall in your lap and nobody will give you anything. You must initiate.

Mark N.A · Answer

As Charles inferred succesful REI involves a lot of time and effort. As has also been written elsewhere RE is a slow way to create wealth. IMO if you don't really LIKE what you're doing, you will really HATE it. If your motivations are solely wealth-creation then REI is only one path to success. Welcome to the land of opportunity and keep us posted on your adventures.