New Member - SF Bay area

[Bijish Raveendran]

Hello All , My name is Bijish and I'm from San Jose , CA area. I'm complete newbie. Only experience i have with real estate is my own home 7 years back.

My goal is to start investing in long rental property in Bay Area or Mid west ? I guess i might be little late for the party ...but better be late than never :-). I was reading articles/blogs and BiggerPockets was mentioned in one another forum.

I'm not sure how to prepare a strategy , one of the approach mentioned in blog was get a real estate agent license !!! It make sense , but not sure.

Anyways will continue to read/educate myself and really glad to be a part of a great investment community.

Best Regards

Bijish

[Peter K.]

@Bijish Raveendran

 Hello and welcome!  There is a great BP community here in the Bay Area.  If you haven't already connected with the following local investors, I would recommend doing so. 

@J. Martin Host a South Bay Meetup.  There is a meetup next Thursday at Whispers Cafe, near Oakland Rd and Hostetter/Brokaw/MurphyAirport Blvd. ...the street that changes names 4 times in 3 miles, lol.    More info here: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/187...

As far as getting started, developing your strategy and whether to get lic'd or not....

It's easy to get lost in all of the info and different investing approaches to real estate.  I would recommend this:  Take an honest inventory of your skills, likes/dislikes, strengths/weaknesses.  

If you chunk up there are two main ways to invest in real estate, actively and passively.  Are you looking to buy and hold to generate cash flow, or wholesale (dealer) or flip?   Which appeals more to you?  Are you trying to replace a 9-5?  Or are you looking to build long-term wealth part-time?  Are you hands on?  Do you like talking to people, marketing, networking or would you rather analyze deals and manage remotely?  

Set your high level goals.  x$ / month of passive income within x years....or $250K of active income per year within x years.  Once you know what you really want...why you want it, and are honest about your strengths, and what you can bring to the table, it will be easier to see which is the best path for you.  If you are not great at setting goals, look up SMART goals.  It's a great goal setting template.   Don't forget to keep asking yourself "why?" for each goal until you get to the underlying emotional reason...this will be the fuel that keeps you going when the setbacks happen, and they WILL happen. 

As far as getting a Real Estate License and/or becoming a Realtor, I am both. I can tell you that especially in the Bay Area, where it is very difficult to find deals on the MLS, it is absolutely not necessary, nor all that helpful most of the time. I did 5 flips last year, none of which we found on the MLS.

The pros are:

- It lends some credibility (for whatever that is worth)

- You do learn what is legal, ethical and accepted practice in the area (but you can depend on an agent partner for that)

- Access to MLS, so that you can be the 20th offer and get outbid 99 out of 100 times.

I am not knocking it, and I pay my dues/fees to keep my lic active, but I'm also using it to generate income as a Commercial Loan Broker.  

IMO unless you plan on generating income with the lic or maybe are getting access to the MLS to invest in an area that is not getting multiple offers, your time/money can be more wisely invested in marketing or networking or actual investing.

You don't need a stock brokers license to invest in the stock market. 

Good luck.  Feel free to reach out. 

Pete