Rookie Ready To Start My Journey!

[Pat Quaranto]

Hello everyone! Rookie investor on Long Island looking ready to take the jump. To be honest, I posted in here about two years ago and never logged on again. Analysis paralysis and was (and still am) nervous to take action, but that’s the name of the game so it’s gotta be done!!! My interest is in building wealth through eventual buy and holds, but still working on the savings end of it all. I’ve been learning about wholesaling as a way to build those savings for the time being, but the Long Island market has me thinking twice, so I’ve been reading about out of state wholesaling, but also fix & flips. Kind of all over the place I’m now realizing as I’m typing it out. Lol. This is what I meant by analysis paralysis. But, I have experience in exterior home remodeling sales. Would love to connect, so don’t hesitate to reach out and say hi! 

[Nadeem Alamgir]

Hey Pat if Long Island is intimidating I would consider out-of-state investing in markets that have lower barriers to entry. I'm originally from NYC so I get it. 

[Pat Quaranto]

Appreciate the advice, Nadeem. My thoughts are on the difficulties of finding boots on the ground and out of state contractors among other key players when it comes to out of state REI. Long Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene is on my list of books, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Any other book or podcast suggestions on this topic?

Thanks!

[Samuel Diouf]

Hey Pat, glad you're taking action! Starting OOS will probably be your best bet, as other markets have lower entry barriers. I would look into markets in the Midwest, such as Columbus or Cincinnati. When building a boots on the ground team you should work with an investment focused agent who can connect you with the team you need. 

[Pat Quaranto]

Thanks for the advice! Didn’t realize an agent would be able to put me in touch with a BOTG team. Great to hear 

[Sam McCormack]

Quote from @Pat Quaranto:

Hello everyone! Rookie investor on Long Island looking ready to take the jump. To be honest, I posted in here about two years ago and never logged on again. Analysis paralysis and was (and still am) nervous to take action, but that’s the name of the game so it’s gotta be done!!! My interest is in building wealth through eventual buy and holds, but still working on the savings end of it all. I’ve been learning about wholesaling as a way to build those savings for the time being, but the Long Island market has me thinking twice, so I’ve been reading about out of state wholesaling, but also fix & flips. Kind of all over the place I’m now realizing as I’m typing it out. Lol. This is what I meant by analysis paralysis. But, I have experience in exterior home remodeling sales. Would love to connect, so don’t hesitate to reach out and say hi! 

 Hey Pat, I would recommend looking OOS. Have you done that yet? If your long term goal is buy and holds. but you may not have the savings at the moment, you may want to try looking in Cincinnati/Northern Ky too. Lower price point, known for cash flow, and from living here my whole life and knowing what I do now, this market is only growing. Let me know how I can help, any questions, and if you are interested in the area!

[Manny Vasquez]

Pat - Welcome to the BP community! This is the best place for all things real estate related. This is what I recommend for you to get started in your real estate journey:

1. Keep saving as much as you can. Depending how much you earn you can step up those savings by getting a side-hustle. It could be any side-hustle you want just as long as you like it and your able to save some extra $$$.

2. Read as many RE books as you can get your hands on. Here are a few I recommend: "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Roberto Kiyosaki; "Set for Life" by Scott Trench; "The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing" by Spencer; "The BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide" found here on BP; "The Book on Rental Property Investing" by Brandon Tuner. This will give you a good starting point.

3. Buy a property as soon as you can. The earlier you start in your RE journey, the better off you will be in the future. Almost everyone here on BP will tell you that they wish they had started earlier, myself included.

4. House-hack, house-hack, house-hack. This will give you several benefits. The most obvious is that you will be able to offset your mortgage with renting out a few rooms. You will then have a few options with that rent money....you can put it into principal or you can start saving it to purchase yet another property. House hacking will also give you some personal "property management" experience. This will come in handy as you begin to scale.

5. Decide which game you want to play. Do you want to be a house flipper? BRRRR? General Contractor? Buy and Hold? Do you want to LTR, MTR, or STR? Or maybe you want to do a combination of the above?

6. Attend meetups and meet as many people in RE as you can. You will meet people from different walks of life that will give you different perspectives on real estate investing. You might also meet someone that could be a potential business partner. Or you could buy a property from another person at the meetup. Keep an open mind and try to meet everyone at these meetings. I've developed some great relationships and also a business partner from these meetings. As they say, your network will be your net-worth.

7. Timing the market does not work. However, time in the market makes all the difference in the world!

8. Take Action! None of the above works unless you take action and put it into practice. Don't wait for the perfect deal to come up, the most important thing is to get started. Just like everything else in life, get started, keep honing those skills (i.e. keep reading, keep learning, keep attending the meetups) and watch yourself get better and better witch each property you buy.

I hope this helps and good luck on your real estate journey!

[Pat Quaranto]

Just started reading Long Distance Real Estate Investing today. Midwest sounds like the spot to be. Definitely plan on looking more into those area but I will reach out because I’m sure I’ll have a ton of questions. Lol. Thanks!

[Pat Quaranto]

TON of info here! Greatly appreciated. Currently at a 50%+ savings rate, making it work. And I appreciate the book recommendations, that's the plan now just read and read more. Already read Rich Dad, Poor Dad and The Book on Rental Property Investing. The others I gotta check out. I just started Long Distance Real Estate Investing today. Also loading myself up with podcasts. I went to one REI meeting a couple weeks ago and I fell in love! Really gave me the push to take this seriously seeing all the investors my age doing what they do there.

[Michael Smythe]

@Pat Quaranto you may consider narrowing your focus down to become an expert and increase your chances of success.

Do you think it's easier to succeed at something you're an expert at or wherever the winds blow?

[Min Zhang]

Hey Pat! Welcome back to Bigger Pockets! If the numbers doesn't make sense for you locally, you should explore OOS investing. I recommend reading “Long-Distance Real Estate Investing: How to Buy, Rehab, and Manage Out-of-State Rental Properties” - I found it to be very helpful when I got started investing 2.5 years ago.

Here is a summary of the book.

https://www.nateliason.com/notes/long-distance-real-estate-investing-david-greene

The book also mentions the importance of having a rockstar Realtor, contractor, lender, and property manager.

I invest locally in Columbus and Cleveland. I can send you a list of contacts in Ohio to help you build your team, property manager. Let me know how I can help!

[Pat Quaranto]

Quote from @Min Zhang:

Hey Pat! Welcome back to Bigger Pockets! If the numbers doesn't make sense for you locally, you should explore OOS investing. I recommend reading “Long-Distance Real Estate Investing: How to Buy, Rehab, and Manage Out-of-State Rental Properties” - I found it to be very helpful when I got started investing 2.5 years ago.

Here is a summary of the book.

https://www.nateliason.com/notes/long-distance-real-estate-investing-david-greene

The book also mentions the importance of having a rockstar Realtor, contractor, lender, and property manager.

I invest locally in Columbus and Cleveland. I can send you a list of contacts in Ohio to help you build your team, property manager. Let me know how I can help!

Just started this book yesterday! 

[Remington Lyman]

Quote from @Pat Quaranto:

Hello everyone! Rookie investor on Long Island looking ready to take the jump. To be honest, I posted in here about two years ago and never logged on again. Analysis paralysis and was (and still am) nervous to take action, but that’s the name of the game so it’s gotta be done!!! My interest is in building wealth through eventual buy and holds, but still working on the savings end of it all. I’ve been learning about wholesaling as a way to build those savings for the time being, but the Long Island market has me thinking twice, so I’ve been reading about out of state wholesaling, but also fix & flips. Kind of all over the place I’m now realizing as I’m typing it out. Lol. This is what I meant by analysis paralysis. But, I have experience in exterior home remodeling sales. Would love to connect, so don’t hesitate to reach out and say hi! 

You can add me to your wholesale buyer's list for Ohio. I am always looking for deals to buy!

[Jimmy Lieu]

Quote from @Pat Quaranto:

Hello everyone! Rookie investor on Long Island looking ready to take the jump. To be honest, I posted in here about two years ago and never logged on again. Analysis paralysis and was (and still am) nervous to take action, but that’s the name of the game so it’s gotta be done!!! My interest is in building wealth through eventual buy and holds, but still working on the savings end of it all. I’ve been learning about wholesaling as a way to build those savings for the time being, but the Long Island market has me thinking twice, so I’ve been reading about out of state wholesaling, but also fix & flips. Kind of all over the place I’m now realizing as I’m typing it out. Lol. This is what I meant by analysis paralysis. But, I have experience in exterior home remodeling sales. Would love to connect, so don’t hesitate to reach out and say hi! 

Hey Pat, totally can relate with you being from an expensive real estate market - I moved to Columbus a few years ago (from Portland, Oregon which was super expensive) to become a full time real estate investor, and ever since, I've completed quite a lot of BRRRRs, flips, and own a successful rental portfolio here in Columbus Ohio. There's so many catalysts for population and job growth (Intel, Honda, Amazon, Nationwide Hospital, etc). I can definitely tell you there's still a lot of positive cash flowing and 1% rule deals and you get amazing appreciation. As an investor and agent here in Columbus Ohio, if you have any questions or want to connect, definitely reach out!

[Mohammed Rahman]

Hey @Pat Quaranto - what you're experiencing is totally normal. 

If you're still early on in the process, my advice would be to read more (BP has some good books) + attend local meetups. 

This will at least help you get exposure to other folks that are in different verticals in real estate and help you figure out which avenue is for you.

Happy to chat more, I'm a broker & investor based out in NYC/LI. Recently I've been helping a lot of folks get into househacking in Long Island :) 

Checkout my socials for more content that will help you, simply Google ClosedByMo

[Pat Quaranto]

Quote from @Michael Smythe:

@Pat Quaranto you may consider narrowing your focus down to become an expert and increase your chances of success.

Do you think it's easier to succeed at something you're an expert at or wherever the winds blow?

Will do! Appreciate ya!

[Pat Quaranto]

Great to hear! That's what I've been doing - reading, listening to podcasts, and trying to attend REIA meetups. I've attended one so far. My work schedule makes it difficult to attend PM networking events unfortunately.