Finding offmarket deals going door to door

[Brandon Poe]

I work in door to door sales. I started in 2009 and have been doing it ever since. Crazy I know, but I'm extremely good at it and love it! Anyway, I come across properties that would be good investments on a daily basis I'm sure of it. I just don't know exactly what areas are good for investing. If I know where to look I will find deals, because once I start in an area I knock every door on my path. I recently started my own company going door to door selling and plan to do quite a few road trips to test other markets. I've already worked probably 50%+ of MO and IL, a little bit of TX, IA, AR, OK, NM. 

With all that being said. What areas should I look in (think whole counties)? What kind of properties? When I find a property and get inside what should I look for in terms of rehab work, etc? If I find deals and can't close on them myself who should I pass them off to?

[Nathan Gesner]

Originally posted by @Brandon Poe:

I work in door to door sales. I started in 2009 and have been doing it ever since. Crazy I know, but I'm extremely good at it and love it! Anyway, I come across properties that would be good investments on a daily basis I'm sure of it. I just don't know exactly what areas are good for investing. If I know where to look I will find deals, because once I start in an area I knock every door on my path. I recently started my own company going door to door selling and plan to do quite a few road trips to test other markets. I've already worked probably 50%+ of MO and IL, a little bit of TX, IA, AR, OK, NM. 

With all that being said. What areas should I look in (think whole counties)? What kind of properties? When I find a property and get inside what should I look for in terms of rehab work, etc? If I find deals and can't close on them myself who should I pass them off to?

I have no idea what market you're in so it's hard to answer anything specifically.

Do you have a local real estate investors group? You should find fellow investors to network with. Yes, some of them may be scum that refuse to help you and maybe even steal your deals but the majority of them are usually very helpful and love to see new investors get started.

You have to educate yourself on the basics of investing first. Then you need to understand which states to invest in because some have reasonable laws and others have terrible laws that coddle the criminal (e.g. California). Then you narrow it down to particular cities and investment types. Then you start looking for properties that meet your criteria.

Your question is too generic to provide any more detail. Here's my generic beginner advice:

1. Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free). It will familiarize you with the basic terminology and benefits. Then you can read a more in-depth book like The Book On Rental Property Investing by @Brandon Turneror The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing by Spencer Strauss.

2. Get your finances in order. Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save. The idea that you can build wealth without putting any money into it is a recipe for disaster and the sales pitch of gurus trying to steal your money. A wise investor will not try to get rich quick with shortcuts. If you can't keep control your finances, you are highly unlikely to succeed in real estate investing. Check out my personal favorite, Set For Life by @Scott Trench , or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

3. As you read these books, watch the biggerpockets podcasts. This will help clarify and reinforce what you are reading. You can hear real-world examples of how others have built their investment portfolio and (hopefully) learn to avoid their mistakes.

4. Now you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them. Again, the BiggerPockets store has some books for this or you can learn by watching podcasts, reading blogs, and interacting on the forum. There is a handy search bar in the upper right that makes it easy to find previous discussions, blogs, podcasts, and other resources. Biggerpockets also has a calculator you can use to analyze deals and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy. If you consistently analyze properties, it will be much easier to recognize a good deal when it shows up.

5. Jump in! Far too many get stuck in the "paralysis by analysis" stage, thinking they just don't know enough to get started. The truth is, you could read 100 books and still not know enough because certain things need to be learned through trial-and-error. You don't need to know everything to get started; you just need a foundation to build on and the rest will come through experience and then refining your education.

You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months. How long it takes to be financially ready is different for everyone. Once you're ready, create a goal (e.g. "I will buy at least one single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex before the end of 2019") and then do it. Real estate investing is a pretty forgiving world and the average person can still make money even with some pretty big mistakes.