Overwhelmed in Columbus

[Christian Lautenschleger]

Hello!

I want to start in the world of REI. Although I have a liberal arts degree, I've viewed myself as an entrepreneur since a college internship.

I have spent the last few month reading book about the basics of REI, financing, and landlording, as preparation to when I have the funding to starting investing. In addition, I've done a great deal about reading on corporate structure.

I was just gifted an amount that should be enough to get started, I'm here to learn how I should start my REI career. I would love to start with small, residential rentals for cash flow, then start to look into other techniques.

In short, I have to just start, learn from the experiences, and grow. Unfortunately, I seem to be a perfectionist that needs pushed in the pool to start swimming. I guess I just need to start and execute a plan. You know, learn by experience.

[Michael Wentzel]

@Christian Lautenschleger Welcome to Bigger Pockets. This is great place to learn and get feedback on any first steps/ deals you're considering. I'm relatively new to Real Estate investing, so I'll share the steps I took over the last 6-12 months.

1) Podcasts- I haven't read any Real Estate books, but the Real Estate Guys and Bigger Pockets podcasts have taught me a ton.

2) If you're planning on using a lender, chat with a few. Maybe two at national banks and two from local/ regional banks. Don't let them run your credit, but get a good idea of what they can do for you and who you might want to work with long-term. Then let the one you like run your credit and get pre-qualified before going house hunting. If you don't have cash or a lender lined up, you're wasting your time and your Realtor's time.

3) Pick a market- The forums here are a great resource for different markets. Once you have one you like, I would meet 3-4 Realtor and 3-4 Property Managers. This will help you learn the market and start building your team.

4) Find the first deal- If you're just entering the market, you might want to start small. If you get a mortgage on a $50,000 property, you are only out of pocket around $12,000 for your first experiment. If you jump into a $150,000 property you'll be out of pocket around $32,000 and any mistake you make will much more pronounced. It is one thing to have a property sit empty when the payment is $250 per month. It is quite another when the monthly payment is $750 or $800 per month.

5) Get feedback- Once you're ready to make that first offer, lean on your Realtor, property manager and bigger pockets for feedback. I haven't joined a REIA and don't have many investor friends. So getting feedback from Bigger Pockets was huge for me.

So there's a few action steps that I ran with as a beginner and it seems to have worked well. I found a 4-plex for $85,000 in need of no repairs and with three units already occupied. I'm hoping to pick-up another single-family home by the end of the year and keep growing my portfolio next year.

Mike