I want to buy my first home as an investment

[Sameh Edwar]

I want to buy a new home in Bergen county, NJ or Rockland county, NY as an investment, I have no experience in buying houses. Advise me how I would start.

[Jesse Stahl]

1. Keep educating yourself!!

2. Talk to a loan officer in your state. If you need help finding one, call up a local real estate agent, they always are networking and probably has a few lenders they can recommend. Tell the loan officer what you plan to do, what type of down payment you have, and what kind of loan you want (conventional, FHA/203k (house hack) etc.). They will ask you to do a credit check, and employment history, to see what kind of loan payment you will qualify for

3. Keep educating yourself!!

4. After your loan officer gives you a good estimate for how much house you can afford, go on the hunt! Search zillow, redfin, craigslist, go look for signs out in the neighborhood you want to live in, network with some wholesalers, ask that realtor from before if they have any deals that fit your criteria. (and keep educating yourself)

5. Every potential deal you find, run some rough numbers on them. After Principle, Interest, Tax, Insurance, money set aside for Maintenance/improvements, Property Management, Utilities etc, is it cashflowing? Watch one of Brandon Turner's webinars to find out more about analyzing a deal, he does a GREAT job explaining it, newbie or not. He also gives some good numbers to try and reach in terms of monthly cash flow, and Cash on cash returns. Cannot recommend his webinars for a newbie enough.

6. Don't get discouraged!! It will take a lot of time and work and potential deals to find one that works for you!!

This is a good place to start. Main point: Keep educating yourself. Read books, listen to podcasts, read forum posts, read blogs, find a mentor, ANYTHING you can do to learn the ins-and-outs of real estate investing. Money is in the MIND not in the physical world, if you can visualize it you can create it!!!!!

GOOD LUCK