Newbie in San Jose , how to start?

Question

For the last few years real estate was something I was very passionate about and never had the courage to do something with it, always thought about not enough time, money , knowledge and honestly after I spent a lot of time home due this pandemic I've decided that this the perfect time to start, to learn, understand and absorb as much knowledge I can (yet not enough money for investing by myself).

I went over lots of websites, YouTube channels, saw few webinars but yet far from understand how does it work, how do I start, what kind of investment I want to do, what part of the chain I want to role etc.

I saw many mentors and the webinars they're running and mostly seems to me like pure marketing with big promises.

I want to learn from a to z, starting the fundamentals and the step by step process .

If anyone was in my place please share with me your experience or any tips you think might help :)

I'm from San Jose, and if anyone from the area I'll like to contact and learn more from you .

Account Closed · Answer

Hi @Ilana Dan! Welcome to BiggerPockets and the world of real estate investing. It's great that you have the competitive advantage of having low contracting costs. Your contractor will make or break you in the Bay Area. The prevailing strategies for real estate investors in the Bay Area are:

• Flipping
• Wholesaling
• House Hacking
• Airbnb (pre-COVID)

The BRRR strategy is a bit tougher since the rents generally aren't enough to cover the mortgage payments, you'll need to go out of the area to find better yield (i.e. Fresno or Out of State).

What kind of investing interests you the most? Let me know if you have any questions about any of these topics and I can lead you towards the next step.

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Derrick Dill · Answer

Then you should look at areas near you that you want to invest in that are within your price range. Sacramento? Fresno? You'll have to figure these out on your own. If you want cheaper, can go out of state.

Derrick Dill · Answer

Can start with the beginners guide here:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides/ultimate-real-estate-investing-guide/introduction

If you can narrow down what exactly you're looking for will be helpful. Are you looking for a place for yourself? out of state rental property? mobile home? Condo? Townhome? place near you? near work? RE has many fields within it, figure out which one fits you.

Logan Vierstra · Answer

Hi @Ilana Dan. Congrats on realizing it's time to take action! It seems to me that you may be over-estimating the amount of knowledge you need to acquire before taking steps. If you wait to learn "step by step" exactly everything you need to do through the real estate process, it might never happen.

My suggestion would first be to learn how to analyze a property. The only way to do that is practice. Brandon Turner does a good job explaining property analysis at the end of each one of his webinars. Watch a few of those, and then start practicing. When I started I used a habit tracker app to make sure that I analyzed at least 3 properties a day. Do that and in a few months you'll be able to analyze costs and ARV in minutes. I also use a habit tracker to keep the habit of reading at least 15 min a day and listen to 15 min of real estate related audio every day.

Then start making offers! Don't be afraid to hurt people's feelings with low numbers. It's inevitable that you will. But the experience you gain from interacting with sellers and brokers in different markets will provide you wisdom you'll never gain in books. (Not to say books aren't great too).

Iliana Danker · Answer

Thank you @Sean Pan !

I guess to answer what I would like to focus on is first to really know what will be the difference between each investment, what are the steps, what actually more recommended for beginners and for me with my criterias.

With each answer and question I get I can take off more things from the list and focus on what's left.

So how would you reccomend to start? Where to learn from? What the actual actions I can take for the beginning?

🙏

Brian Garlington · Answer

First thing you need to do is get pre-approved with a lender

Roxanne Quane · Answer

Hi Llana, I relate to what you said so much! I was you a few years back. Kudos to you to decide to take action. I am working with multiple clients in the Bay Area that are looking to invest in Sacramento. It is challenging to find deals that make sense over there. I do not want to paint the picture that investing is easy here in Sacramento either. While it is very do-able, it is competitive and we are experiencing an influx of migrants from the Bay Area since COVID. I would get specific about your objectives and work your way backgrounds to narrow in one a strategy. Happy to chat with you more offline if you are interested in exploring Sacramento further.

Iliana Danker · Answer

@Derrick Dill thank you for replying.

I will narrow it down by saying what I'm not looking for, maybe it will be easy, also I'm denying other opportunities that might be better for beginners.

I'm not looking for home for myself, not necessarily need to be around my area (San jose), could be our of state, not a mobile home,could be a SFH, town house or condo.

I'm more interested in BRRRR , I wish it could be around my area since I really would like to manage and see how does it work and take a part, also I have here sources for contractors low prices(family) , but RE is very expensive here special for beginners and for the very beginning investment might be too risky .

Newbie in San Jose , how to start?

Newbie in San Jose , how to start?

Investor-friendly agents in San Jose, CA

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