How did you start

Question

Hey guys,

I am wondering how you started to get into the RE business? I mean, what was the first steps you took to get "started"? Did you get advice from a local REI club? Did you contact a real estate agent and ask them what you were interested in doing? Or did you attack it by yourself?

I'm wondering because my wife and I would like to know what the best route to take when getting invested in our RE business.

Thanks guys

Aaron Mazzrillo · Answer

Kinda like riding a bike; you can read about it till the cows come home, but you won't actually learn till you mount up, and pedal like heck. You'll fall a few times, but if you keep at it, things will work out in the long run.

Too many people sit on the sidelines 'getting ready to get ready.' They waste time on nonsense like business cards, websites, and other doodads which an investor and these do not make. Writing offers gets you deals. I started by buying from a reputable wholesaler and analyzing the deals I bought. By being on the inside, I figured out how the deals were made.

Aaron Mazzrillo · Answer

I put a green check mark on my daily calendar every time I make an offer. I also use a simple spreadsheet to quickly calculate my max offer. I can turn and burn offers very quickly if I know just the sq/ft and ARV. No need to get too caught up in the details.

I found this sentence quite humoruous, but I have a dark and filthy sense of humor;

"My friend was an older gentleman who loved baseball. He's twenty years older than me. He was a catcher and I was a pitcher."

Daniel Miller · Answer

@Ivan Roberts

Im lazy so I'm going to copy this from my profile...

Along with being a Commercial Investment Associate, I manage a diverse 18 property Real Estate Portfolio that spans Apartment Complexes, a Storage Facility, Warehouses, an Office Building, Single Family Homes, Condos, Car Lots, and Vacant Commercial and Residential Land.

I played baseball until I was 24 years old. I played at a high level. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life after I "retired" (shoulder and elbow were both giving out and I did not want to keep playing, making minimum wage, and go under the knife for both my elbow and shoulder) so I went back to college and got a couple college degrees. Business and Psychology. I thought psychology was really cool. I thought, "I'd like to become a clincial psychologist. I'd like to help people". I started volunteering at the Research Center at my college. I started filling out applications for graduate school and doing a lot of research into what exactly I wanted to study and specialize in. I was taking five courses, researching 20 hours a week, and also had agreed to do some work with one of my friends on the side.

My friend was an older gentleman who loved baseball. He's twenty years older than me. He was a catcher and I was a pitcher. (This is amateur ball...just with my friends). He asked me if I had some time to look at something that he needed help with. I went over to his house and sat down with his Mom (whose 86 years old at the time) and she explains to me what they do. I start looking through their business's balance sheets and income statements. They are all handwritten. They have tax returns from an accountant but beyond that everything is handwritten. The year is 2011. I looked everything over and looked at her and said, "Marco (my friend) doesn't work?". She responds, "He works for me. He manages my property". I knew absolutely NOTHING about real estate at the time. My parents have a few things going on residentially but nothing substantial. I was never interested in it previously. I then remember saying, "So, basically you have quite a few properties that you own and manage. You get paid rent. That's what you live off of? She responded, "Yes, that's they way it has been for as long as I can remember". The next day I quit the research center at my college, pulled all my applications to grad school and started reading everything under the sun about Real Estate.

It's been two and a half years. Marco and I are practically married. We talk on the phone 5 times day. I manage 16 of his properties, two of my own, and one for my parents. We have one more under contract as well. I bought my Dad a storage facility that operates at a 10 cap on it's cash basis shortly (two months) after that first meeting with Marco's Momma. I got my real estate license so any deal that Marco does know goes through me. I personally have two houses, a four-unit apartment complex (I bought all of those with $3,500 down) and have saved up a substantial amount of money to put into large multi-family property (12-18 units).

Huy N. I made my own Excel Spreadsheet to analyze deals. It was one of the first things I did. I analyzed 500 deals before I even made an offer. I would analyze every MF property that came on the market every day for 6 months before I made an offer. You are 100% right. If it feels right, has a clean title, and stupendous numbers don't wait til Monday to make the offer!!

Huy N. · Answer

i started by saving every penny i could through college for the down payment and just go at it the Nike way. I'm interested to hear how's everyone started?

Brandon Krieg · Answer

Hi Ivan,

I haven't done multi-family, so that is a question for someone else.  However, I got my start by reading, researching, etcetera.  Then I made a few tentative calls, saw a few places.  Then, putting out a few offers... so all in all a pretty slow buildup.

BUT the big key for me was fully committing (with both logic and emotion) that I would do this no matter what.  After that, I hit it hard, and started learning really fast through the 'fire' of being out there.

So I'd say learn some of the basics, and then GO.  Your first offers won't be perfect, and your 20th won't be either.  Just act (thoughtfully), and the knowledge you need for success will come.  Good luck!

Ivan Roberts · Answer

Nice story Jennifer! At least your taking the bull by the horns. I hope only the best in your future!

Jennifer Lee · Answer

I just did it.

Like most, I have been observing, it was pre-flip this house shows.
I grew up with real estate investment parents.

So after finding my diamond in the rough!

Begged for financing from a family member.
and did a flip, that turned into a year rental, and sold for $1000 profit after 2 yrs!
hahaha it was all-that-can-go-wrong did kinda deal!

but my attitude was, NEVER again will I make same mistake ;p

and I haven't since ;p

Every deal since, I draw experience from my first monster ;p

I ventured to 3 more rentals (1 res/2 comm)and flipped 2 more, and renov-ed SMARTER!!!!!

excited to see what the future brings

How did you start

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