Strategies for starting

[Robert Kirkley]

Hey there,

Currently, as I make my goals and work towards completing my actionable steps, I am trying to find the best strategy for me to complete in order to start purchasing buy and hold properties. Like many others, I have a very minimal amount of capital which I am working on growing currently. I have a few part-time jobs, but I am looking for a full-time position to help the process of gaining capital. As I am researching more into REI, I was wondering if it would be a smart idea to look for deals that I could offer to a flipper and assist them in completing the project while splitting the profits to gain capital for a rental property, or if I should continue setting my sights on raising capital with a job and focus my attention on becoming good at finding rental property deals?

I know there are thousands of ways to make money in REI, but as for which strategy I should implement, I am curious as to what advice you could offer. I do not want to invest with the amount of capital I have currently, so whichever move I decide to make, it will be after I have acquired a larger amount of reserves. Thank you for your help in advance!

[Arlen Chou]

@Robert Kirkley it is great that you are interested in getting into REI. You are asking the right first questions and your observations about how many ways there are to make money in REI is spot on. You should be doing 2 basic things right now, and it looks like you are: build cash and gain experience/knowledge. Working with a flipper would be nice if you have somebody that you know that is already in that space. But it does not really add to your knowledge base for a buy and hold strategy. The only real upside would be is IF you get a piece of the pie on the flips.

REI, especially in buy and hold, is a long term strategy, flipping is a job. As a young guy starting out, you might want to look very closely at "house hacking". This is relatively safe and there are definitely financial benefits starting out with this strategy. At this point in your life, you will have more time than money. So learn about doing repairs and upgrades/renovations so you can apply that knowledge to your HH. Once you get through your first HH you could move on to another one and turn your first property into a rental.

You are seriously young... there is no need to feel time pressure. You have DECADES to blow things up. Make sure you start is solid and you will be fine in the future. Keep hustling and build up cash. Stay really humble and don't buy stupid stuff. Live like a monk and focus on the future, not the crazy stuff on social media that is telling everybody to spend like a baller!