Young Newbie in Investing

[Jessica McCulloch]

Hello, 

I am a newbie to the real estate/investing world and just started my journey in the research process. I have absolutely no experience. My husband and I are both healthcare workers and plan to start investing in 2025. I just joined bigger pockets to start doing my homework on investing. I would love to know all the dos & don'ts. What's recently sparked my interest is partnerships with rental property owners and posting properties on Airbnb. Is this a real thing or scam? I recently saw this on Instagram called STR Wealth Academy. I have not purchased this course but want to know if this is legit

Thank you,

I look forward to learning everything I can in the investment world

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Jessica McCulloch:

Welcome! 

First, you have to be careful with buying courses. Many of them make big promises, then provide very little actionable advice.

Second, what you are hearing about is referred to as "arbitrage" where you rent a property as a long-term rental for a set price, then you furnish it and try to rent it on AirBnB for a profit. It can produce a great income, but it's a job and doesn't build real wealth. There are also a lot of problems with this model that make it dangerous or possibly illegal.

Third, BP is full of free information and you shouldn't need to pay for a course when all the information is available for free or in a few books.

1. Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free). It will familiarize you with the basic terminology and benefits. Then you can read a more in-depth book like The Book On Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner or The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing by Spencer Strauss.

2. Get your finances in order. Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save. The idea that you can build wealth without putting any money into it is a recipe for disaster and the sales pitch of gurus trying to steal your money. A wise investor will not try to get rich quick with shortcuts. If you can't keep control of your personal finances, you are highly unlikely to succeed in real estate investing. Check out my personal favorite, Set For Life by Scott Trench , or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

3. As you read these books, watch the BiggerPockets podcasts. This will clarify and reinforce what you are reading. You can hear real-world examples of how others have built their investment portfolio and (hopefully) learn to avoid their mistakes.

4. NETWORK!!! Get out of your comfort zone. Stop hanging out with your deadbeat buddies that spend all day drinking, talking sports, and otherwise wasting away. Go to BUILD YOUR TEAM at the top of the screen and look for local investors or meetups in your area. You can also find real estate investing groups through meetup.com, facebook, or a Google search. Birds of a feather flock together!

5. Now you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them. Again, the BiggerPockets store has some books for this or you can learn by watching podcasts, reading blogs, and interacting on the forum. A handy search bar in the upper right makes it easy to find previous discussions, blogs, podcasts, and other resources. BiggerPockets also has a calculator you can use to analyze deals and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy. If you consistently analyze properties, recognizing a good deal will be much easier when it shows up. Find Brandon's videos on YouTube for the "four square" method of analyzing homes and practice. It doesn't take long to learn how to spot a good deal.

6. Study the market. You can learn to do this independently or get a rockstar REALTOR to lead the way. I highly recommend a well-qualified REALTOR who works with investors and knows how to help you best.

7. Jump in! Far too many get stuck in the "paralysis by analysis" stage, thinking they just don't know enough to get started. You could read 100 books and still not know enough because certain things must be learned through trial and error. You don't need to know everything to get started; you need a foundation to build on and the rest will come through experience and then refining your education.

You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months. How long it takes to be financially ready is different for everyone. Once you're ready, create a goal (e.g. "I will buy at least one single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex before the end of 2019") and then do it. Real estate investing is a forgiving world; the average person can still make money even with some big mistakes.