How to get started as a newbie

Question

Hey guys! I am a new real estate agent and investor. Where would you suggest starting?

I had thought wholesaling would be the best way to start out, however after doing research I'm beginning to think that may not be the best way to start. How did you get started with investing? Any advice is super helpful and appreciated!

Taylor Chiu · Answer

@Crystal HogsedWelcome to the investing world! I got started house hacking a duplex, and since then we've grown to about 40 buy-and-hold units. If you have the income / down payment for it, then I'd highly recommend house hacking. You're going to need to live somewhere anyways, and what better way to get into investing than to cut into your own housing costs and learn how to be a landlord without having to travel far to do it.Would that be an option for you?

Mitch Ferraro · Answer

Hi @Crystal Hogsed I agree with @Dion McNeeley! I do think you need to first figure out your "why". Why are you getting into real estate? Why are you doing this? What's your big goals and dreams? Once you put these together you can start executing strategies when you get there. When my wife and I started out we made sure we had a very clear vision and goal of what we wanted our REI business to look like and we worked backwards from there. We decided that renovating homes (flipping) was going to be the quickest way for me to get out of my full time, corporate job. So, we began our education and then began executing what we learned. This is the most important thing, in my opinion, when starting out. If you are going to learn how to do all of this REI "stuff" you have to go out and execute it. And trust me, it will be scary and you will hit a lot of bumps in the road but you have to keep moving forward and not give up. This is why your "why" is so important. If you don't have a strong enough why it will be tough for you to get through the days, weeks, months, maybe even years of hard work to not give up in this business. Make sure your reason "why" can push and pull you through those tough times. When we began we made sure we wrote down our reason "why" and made it very visible to us every day and still do that to this day. I've now been investing in real estate full time for the past 4 years, own multiple REI businesses (wholesaling, flipping, buy & holds, and coaching), and I'm also a licensed agent in Wisconsin (mainly for MLS access). Hope that was helpful and useful. :) Good luck to you and your husband. I'm positive you guys can crush this!

Dion McNeeley · Answer

Hi @Crystal Hogsed,How you get started will depend on what your end goal is. Knowing what you want to have in ten years will give you a better idea of what to do first. Flipping is a job. Are you wanting a new job?Buy and hold SFH or small multifamily takes longer to see returns but can be close to truly passive income. Are you patient and able to stay focused?Multifamily can scale a lot faster but takes (in my opinion) a lot more knowledge and networking. There are even more ways to go. Once you have listened or read up and have a better idea where you want to end up it will be a lot easier to know what to study.I am wanting passive income that doesn't require a lot of attention once in place. So I am working on small multifamily. I have 7 units so far and am adding another duplex this year. It all started with the first house hack. If renting rooms out the baby is a huge factor. I went with a duplex so it isn't as crucial since it isn't much different than living in a house or apartment. Good luck, I hope this helped.

Taylor Chiu · Answer

Selective because of the noise, or because of safety concerns? If it's safety, then only allowing tenants with 3x income/rent, 650+ credit score, and clean background check should do the trick. And frankly, those screening terms should be the case without a baby as well.

Yaminah Muhammad · Answer

Hello to ALL! Hubby and I are just starting out as well. Appreciate all the great advice especially about knowing our WHY. Presently I am reading the book BRRRR and leaning strongly toward that option. When it comes to the refinance part is it done in your business name or individual? If via your business how were you able to create business credit?

Crystal Hogsed · Answer

@Taylor Chiu Thank you! My husband and I have actually discussed house hacking before. We were only hesitant on it because we also have a baby and would need to be very selective in choosing tenants

Taylor Chiu · Answer

Probably in your own name, most residential lenders won't allow you to put in the LLC name