How did you know you were ready to start?

[Tiffany Milan]

When you began in REI, how did you know that you were ready to make offers and look for buyers? Did you wait until you got a complete understanding of REI? Or did you just jump in once you had a basic understanding?

[Michael G.]

Hello!

I have to agree with a lot of the folks here - its all about doing your homework and having the courage to act.

It's encouraging to see many of you described your feelings with the same languae I would use to describe mine during that time: "addicted"  "research" "the right numbers".

If your pursuing a loan to make your first purchase, I would establish a timeline and work towards minimizing your debt to income ratio (if possible). This will allow you to get a larger loan and thus leave you with more options when you are ready to invest. This does not mean I am advocating taking out the largest mortgage you can; it just allows you to be more flexible.

Hope this helps! Best of luck.

[Cassie Villela]

I think investing in RE is like having a baby...if you want until you're completely ready, you may never do it! :)

I read a lot about it, listened to the BP podcast constantly, saved a lot of money, and we still had a hard time pulling the trigger. I think the impetus for me was finding a broker who was an investor who was willing to hold my hand a bit and tell me what was a good/bad deal from experience. Once we had looked at lots and lots and lots of potential deals, we knew that the one we jumped on was good. 

[Lien Vuong]

I think you get the general idea here that most of us started with Rich Dad Poor Dad and some superb BP Podcasts to get started. I would start analyzing deals in the local market for about six as practice and to truly immerse yourself in the inventory before making real moves. What helps you to get to know the areas, price points, and what is considered a 'deal' since you are so well versed in the offering by that point. 

After that, I could see what my economic situation is and then assess what steps to go with and what strategies are the best. For example, are you a MF cash flow consumer or a flip? Would you want to try condo conversion? There are so many strategies out there, learning the inventory and what people have done will really help to get a sense of what aligns with your goals. 

Additionally, I would go to local meet ups to see what people are into, try to network with local peers, and literally start talking about RE (what you're super passionate about) with everyone! People will want to help and show you the deals that are off market that you wouldn't have had a chance to get! 

Good luck and congratulations on making the right steps to improving your life! 

[Triffany Hammond]

@Tiffany Milan I'm starting (actually starting again) and like @Jessica G. said, there's a point when the yuck of NOT being in on the RE momentum is more painful than the yuck of any RE excuses I may have. My "reasons" for staying out all these years in-between seem flimsier and flimsier each passing day. That's pretty telling in terms of a "readiness" factor. 

After reading all of these replies are you getting pretty excited??

[Justin Galante]

@Caleb Heimsoth what are some podcasts you'd recommend? 

[Mark Pedroza]

After going through my own family probate issue I knew that this is what I wanted to do. (DM to probates)

After much trial and error as a wholesaler the PR of each estate that I made contact with were leery as to how I can help them.

So, I decided to get my real estate license which gives me credibility as a professional, to market to estates and attorneys. 

This is the one way that I know of on "farming" as a realtor. 

[Llewelyn A.]

@Account Closed

I run Partnerships that buy in Brooklyn, NYC.

I have made in Appreciation about $10 Million since 2008 for the various Partners and I.

The Cash Flow on these properties are great for the ones that were bought previous to 2016.

For the ones from 2016 to now, it takes a few years before those properties will generate significant cash flow, which is typical to how it works here in NYC and typical of the other previous properties performances.

Now that I have become an RE Broker, I will be converting all the properties to Condos when the time is right. That will increase the profit by quite a bit.

In the meantime, now it seems that Amazon's HQ2 will make it's impact in NYC soon, the Appreciation will continue. So we are in a buy and Hold for the next 5 years. There is still a lot of room for growth!

But to get back on topic, I consider everything one does to make money a cash flow. So if you invest in Real Estate, Stocks with Dividend, even your JOB to be a Cash Flow.

These Cash Flows provide the seed money for your Investments. So another thing that prompted me to invest was to increase my Salary as an employee. When I was earning a lot more than I needed, it was easy to take the risk with disposable money.

I want to quickly point out that in order to really take advantage of getting these seemingly tremendously lucky deals, you need two things:

1) Recognize the Opportunity and

2) Be prepared (usually by having the money for it)

When I started working in my professional IT Job, that gave me the preparation part.

When I started learning about the financial calculations, especially Future Value, NPV, DCF, etc. That gave me the ability to recognize the opportunity.

I just put them together and BINGO...... rags to riches story.

[Bjorik Mutize]

@Tiffany Milan I would say...I just had enough understanding for every platform I stepped on, then I began right back into an area of unknown. I remember i day I closed on my first property, in one of the following afternoons I sat in the vacant, needing to be renovated, upper unit of the duplex for about 45 minutes asking myself what the hell am I doing. Then you just learn and continue!

[Alan Pederson]

It's time to start once you have saved enough to comfortably put 20% down, have enough reserves that you can handle a major repair + 6 months house payment, have researched local landlord laws and rules, have a good idea about what paperwork you will need and have it ready (lease, move-in checklist, background check, etc...), and you've done your research so you know what a good deal looks like.

Then the hardest part! MOVE FORWARD AND BUY THAT HOUSE.

We are small time compared to some on here but the first house was the scariest. I was so nervous and excited at the same time. I wasn't sure if we would fail or not. So many people were betting against us. All the horror stories and they were lining up for the "I told you so". A couple of months after we bought the first one and things went very smooth, I was addicted. It was such a rush. We have 3 rentals now and we're about to buy the 4th. It has opened up doors to things I didn't even dream of just a few years ago. It also helps my cope with my boring regular job.

[Aaron Hunt]

Read Rich Dad Poor Dad when I was 13. No other RE books since. Used the interwebs and BP. Rented a place when I was 28. Said never again. Been buying ever since.

[Daniel Forte]

@Bryan S. Hey Bryan, What would you have done differently? Did you have a real estate lawyer? Im just trying to educate myself as much as possible before making a move. Thanks man, and sorry about that crappy deal. Dan. F

[Matthew Roder]

@Tiffany Milan Pick a niche you might want to start with, read a book about it, listen to a few podcasts, and jump in and swim! You’ll never be truly ready until you’re already in it. Good luck!

[Jim S.]

@Nathan Gesner

As long as you're in it for the long term, real estate is pretty forgiving. You can make mistakes and still turn a great profit.

 This is outstanding advice- as one who has been involved in only a handful of deals, this is very comforting and motivating.  Thanks for your wisdom!

[Bryan S.]

@Daniel Forte no lawyers got involved. Basically what happened was it was listed as a tri plex on the MLS. I made an offer the seller could not refuse, 75k over asking price and it was accepted. I had a funding contingency in place, largely by chance. We had the inspections and it came back as needing a lot more work than I anticipated, for instance water lines were PVC pipes, not copper because the handyman didn’t want to spend the money on the copper piping. There was many more issues, but that gives you an idea of what we were working with. The appraiser found the 3rd unit was not permitted to have a kitchen or heat, it was only permitted to be storage. I checked and due to the lot size it was not possible to get it grandfathered in as a legal unit either. I backed out because my lender, a traditional lender, would not loan the amount for a 2 unit place. Later on the seller contacted us and wanted to give us a second chance, offered us seller financing. I redid my offer for 50k below list price and he declined. Even at that price I knew it was going to be a massive headache, front unit tenant gave me the going to be a jerk vibe too. Overall, I am glad it happened and that I did not get the property. I have learned a lot since then and from the experience without it costing me more than the inspector fee. Bryan

[Vanesa Gonzalez]

I listened to my guts. After reading a couple of books I knew I was ready. The good thing about RE is that if you find a decent deal, even making lots of mistakes, you can still make some money. The key is to start small. Hope this helps!

[Moises B.]

@Tiffany Milan

just checked my spelling, forgive me.  Hope you got the gist.