Forming a Team Need Help Please

[Noah Wood]

Hello, 

I am 18 years old and getting into real estate investing. I have a few questions that I hope someone helpful can answer for me. Since I haven't made a deal yet I am trying to get myself as well prepared for when the opportunity does arrive I can take action. I'm located near Cincinnati so if anyone has any knowledge they'd like to share or let me look and experience a rehab near me feel free to message me! Since I am so young I don't quite have any credit worth a darn so I can't go to a bank for funding so I think I will have to find private lenders and do hard money lenders and could maybe use credit cards for some parts of funding. And since I have to do that route I think I will have to focus on rehabs and wholesales as I can't buy and hold a home to pay off a loan as it will take to long for a private lender or hard money lender. 

My questions are:

1.)Does anybody have any good real estate attorneys, agents,contractors,etc. near the Cincinnati area?

2.)When should I create an LLC? A lawyer I spoke with recommended I create one right away, also charges 450 to set up one for me, is that a decent price?

3.)What should I get in order so when the time comes to invest I am ready and not left clueless?

4.)Since I am so young what ways would you recommend to get funding for deals?

5.)What do you use to analyze deals and estimate repairs?

Thanks for any input!

[Joseph Cornwell]

Noah,

Congrats on the decision to pursue real estate investing. I wish I started at 18, I would be a millionaire by now. My suggestion is to first begin by focusing on your personal finances, make sure you have at least 3 lines of credit, preferably of different types, credit card, auto loan, etc. You will need to build your credit history to have any real buying power in the next few years. However, never spend more than you can pay with cash, so only carry a credit card balance week to week then pay it off. Do not throw away interest to anyone unless it is for an income producing asset, such as a rental property. 

I would not personally waste time on creating an LLC at this point, because until you are in business and creating income, you have nothing to protect from liability. Additionally, to file taxes you have to pay more and file extra forms for any entity you have, so I would not open one until it is a necessity to protect your assets.

To prepare yourself use this time to educate yourself on everything possible, define your goals, make detailed obtainable goals, start big and work backwards to daily goals on how to get there. BP has nearly everything you could ever need to learn, read their books, listen to the podcast, and use this time to save cash. No matter what type of real estate investing you decide to do, you will need more money. 

To analyze deals I created my own custom spreadsheet that fits my needs, but BP has calculators for each type of investing as well that can be a good starting point for you. I would focus on raising your income as high as possible in the mean time so you have the ability to invest when you are prepared. 

Best of luck on your journey!

Joe