Advice from the seasoned investors??

[Lori Blackley]

I am from Kansas City and wanting to begin investing in real estate. I joined my local Real Estate Club and the thing that I hear the most is that it is important to educate yourself. There are literally 100's of "gurus" out there selling their program. I learn fast and can easily apply what I learn, but who do you feel is the best person to start with? I am hesitant to spend the kind of $$ they are asking when I don't know if they actually know what they are talking about. Any advice? Who and why? Anyone looking for a mentee? I believe I have what it takes, but don't know where to start.

[Owen Dashner]

Lori,

I would second Steve's advice in learning a lot on BP as well as in books. But trying to learn everything out there about real estate is like trying to drink from a firehose. I would follow a few initial steps in the beginning (not necessarily in sequential order.

- You need to narrow down to what type of "investor" you want to be, ard geographically where you want to do your investing. From wholesaling to flipping to buy and hold (and countless others), there are numerous niches.

- You also need to do a thorough self evaluation - both financial and mental - to figure out what type of real estate investment fits your financial profile, risk tolerance level, and skillset.

- If you haven't already, definitely put together a personal financial statement to see what you are working with. Once you know your own financial situation, start using your network to tap into potential lenders - both institutional and private. Unless you have a huge stockpile of cash, you will need the ability to leverage other people's money at some point.

- Regardless of what niche you are going to tackle, you MUST know your target real estate market prices. If you are investing close to home, start poring over the MLS to get a feel for housing prices in your target area, then physically go through a bunch of them. You need to go through enough of them that you start to feel comfortable in estimating the value of a house yourself just by going through it.

- Continue to network with the folks at the local real estate investment group you joined until you find one or more investors that you are comfortable with. Specifically target those that share your same type of niche interest. After you have established some rapport, see if they wouldn't mind you taking them to lunch or breakfast and picking their brain. Most successful investors won't mind sharing knowledge, just make sure to be mindful of their time.

Hopefully after doing a few of these you will have a decent foundation to build on. Starting a real estate business is a process, not an event. Don't become too impatient - you can't learn everything overnight.

Best of luck!