If I had to start all over what would I do as a beginner?

[Stephen Barton]

Let me qualify myself by saying I worked more than 200 transactions in the last few years. Most of those were wholesale deals and some were me working as a real estate agent for other investors. I have owned a couple of rental properties that we recently sold to start flipping. I have flipped a total of 4 houses to date all of which have made a profit even with a shoestring budget. I am not the leading authority on investing and never pretend to be. I just have a few years of experience and this post is just for those wanting to get started.

If I was going to get started all over again I would do exactly what I did all over again. Here is what I would do:

• Start going to meetups/seminars anywhere I could meet other investors. This is especially important if you are investing in the same area that you live in.

• Save up about $500 or so and buy a list from somewhere like listsource and get some absentee owners that have some equity and who have owned their house for more than just a couple of years.

• Start writing letters by hand to those people on that list.

• Start talking to people, sellers, investors -anyone and everyone. It is not what you know but WHO you know!

• Partner up with another wholesaler in your area whom you look up to. Send them your potential deals and co-wholesale together. I did this and it worked so well that I was able to learn enough to do it on my own.

• Start doing enough deals that you can build up some cash and invest in yourself and your business. Get a real estate license if you want. This worked wonders for me but some people do not believe in having a license. Build a website to help you capture leads. In this day and age, you have to have some sort of online presence. Even if it is simple website- just have something. 

• Once you can start hiring some people to help you streamline your business then you can start looking at what steps you want to take next. For me, the obvious choice was to start flipping and working as an agent. I had a big conflict with wholesaling once I became an agent but there are tons of examples of people who wholesale and have a license.

• Now, that you have a business up and running you have to grow. The only way you can grow is by doing other investing. The sky is the limit here but you can move into buy and hold investing, flipping, notes, whatever because you have built a business that drives leads directly to your inbox. To me, it does not get much better. 

Granted I am not some investor sitting on a tropical beach writing this while I watch my bank accounts grow but I have had some success and considering that I am physically disabled I cannot work as everyone else can. After serving in the Army I ended up having major back issues. That has limited my ability to do what I want. But it certainly does not stop me from the current lifestyle I now enjoy. Biggerpockets has been such a huge part of that journey for me. I am so thankful for who I know now and not just what I have. For me, life is pretty good. I even get to help other investors around the country and sometimes around the world invest. It is my way of being able to give back. What a gift it is!