What is better than wholesaling?

[Antonio Bodley]

What would you say is better than wholesaling/flipping for new investors just getting started?

[J Scott]

Antonio -

I don't want to be the one to kill your dream, but it sounds to me like you are trying to figure out which avenue of real estate investing will require the least amount of effort, money, knowledge and risk. Unfortunately, you can't minimize all four of those things -- the less you have of one or more of them, the more you while need of the rest of them.

Wholesaling requires less money than the other three things, but definitely requires more effort and risk (and at least the same amount of knowledge as any other type of investing). Generating long-term passive income generally requires money; if you don't have money, it requires a LOT of effort and knowledge (and some risk).

If there were some easy way to jump into real estate and make lots of money, we'd all be doing it and you'd know what it is. The people who say that wholesaling is the easy way to start are NOT wholesalers; experienced wholesalers know this isn't the case. If you don't have a few thousand dollars saved, it's much less likely you're going to be successful at investing. It's not impossible, but doing things like marketing and attorney consultation and inspections will definitely increase your chances for success.

My recommendation is to spend a few months reading and learning, and also use that time to save some money. Then decide which avenue to pursue. If that sounds like too much time and work to put in, this probably isn't the business for you.

I don't mean that to be harsh, but it's the truth that any successful real estate investor will likely be thinking, even if they're not saying it.