Saving for first investment

[Lyle Fugate]

Hi there,

My name is lyle and I am a Baltimore teacher and prospective real estate investor. After months of reading this blog and several bigger pocket books I have paid all my consumer debt off and am currently house hacking a row home in Baltimore with my fiance and a roommate. I am slowly accumulating a savings that would be used to buy my first investment in cash as I have very little tolerance for unnecessary debt. My question is, how do I go about helping others find deals, like bird dogging, to generate more income from real estate and learn first hand before diving into my first property.

Any advice for a young teacher is appreciated and thank you in advance to everyone involved in this community. You all have shown me there are other paths to financial freedom other than working saving and retiring. For that I am truly grateful.

[Andrea Weule]

Do everything you would do personally to find deals. Get a realtor sending you deals, look for FSBO's, market "We Buy Houses" and see what deals come in. This will help you be prepared to jump when you find your right property.

From there, start networking with other investors/landlords in your area.  Pick their brain, find out what they want, where they want it, how much work they will do and how much they'll pay. Ask, if you find a deal that meets or beats that criteria, would they be willing to pay you a "marketing fee" for the deal.  (I use Marketing Fee instead of Referral Fee as some states have issues with referrals being paid to none licensed individuals) Apply that info to your property search above. 

If you fill up the buyer and seller buckets, you start making wholesale deals happen.  The best part is you can pass along the good deals and make some money along the way and keep the Great deals for yourself.

Best of Success!