What Comes Next After Self Study

Question

Hello! I am a new investor who wants to get active in real estate. I have done a lot of self teaching and think that I have gained a ton of crucial knowledge. That is why I am posting here on BP. I am wondering if anyone has any tips to share on the topics of new investors, rentals, getting to know people with experience, and specifically the act of getting your feet wet after self educating. I look forward to connecting with you and hearing feedback!

Kimmy Taft · Answer

Hi Nate. I am also a new investor in Austin looking to get started! For me, after reading books and figuring out my strategy, the next step is to find the money and learn about creative financing. I am young and don't have a lot of cash reserves so I'm saving as much as I can and getting my finances in order. I also am analyzing properties (trying to do 1 a day) so that when I come across a house in the right neighborhood at the right price I can act quickly. I hope this helps.

Kyle Davidson · Answer

Hey Nate,

I am also a relatively new into the real estate game. Personally I think house hacking is a perfect way to get your feet wet. With house hacking you don’t need the conventional 20% down and can typically put 3.5%-5% down. There are multiple different strategies you can go with in house hacking as well, you can go the single family route and rent by the room or the multi family route and have your own place. Personally I highly recommend The House Hacking Strategy by Craig Curelop.

I am currently house hacking my first property. I  have 3 other roommates and am living rent free as my roommates are covering my mortgage with there rent. Come March/April I plan to buy another house hack, hopefully a duplex or triplex, and house hack again while turning my current property into a full time rental. Honestly I dove headfirst into house hacking and have learned a lot with the first property. I have made some costly mistakes because I didn’t have the right team around me. But I hope to learn from these mistakes when buying my next property.

John Mayer · Answer

@Nate Ziegler

1) Like James said, buy some real estate! Reach out to a lender, see how much you can get approved for & househack, househack, househack, HOUSEHACK. Banks are basically giving away free money, and Austin is an amazing market for rent by the room.

2) Build a network (an agent, a mentor, people with idle cash or equity, active investors in your market, contractors, PMs)

3) Analyze deals everyday, and understand your market in and out

3) Continue reading

Happy hunting!

James Carlson · Answer

@Nate Ziegler

I have been accused of being over simplistic, but it seems like the best thing to do after self-educating on how to buy real estate is to ... buy real estate.

I kid ... but only slightly. I tell our house hacking and investing clients in Denver and Colorado Springs that they are going to make mistakes on the first one but that the best education comes not from the reading but the doing. Now, take what I say with a grain of salt. I work in two of the hottest markets in the country, which means waiting is losing money. I had a house hacking buyer who kept passing on deals because he thought they were missing this small thing or that. Six months later he bought. It wasn't a terrible deal, but that house was $10-15k more than it was six months prior.

I'm a proponent of KISS -- Keep It Simple Stupid. I don't know your particular situation, so excuse some assumptions. You're in Austin, another hot market. I know it's tough to do cash flow well there with traditional buys. If this is your first buy and you'll be living there, do the house hack. Buy in a middle or outer ring of the city where progress and home values are coming but that are still reasonable. Find that 4-5br house. Live in one bedroom, rent the others. Save, save save the money you would have paid in rent. Use that cash to move in a year or two and repeat. In a few years, you've already got a few homes, and now you've got two sources of capital -- 1. possible cash flow (if you've continued the rent-by-the-room) and 2. Good equity in the homes you can pull out in a HELOC for bigger purchases. Now you have flexibility and some buying power to do interesting things.

Whatever your path, I wish you the best. Get out there and take some action! Cheers!

Caleb Robertson · Answer

Hey @Nate Ziegler, I agree with @Kimmy Taft in start saving up and learn how to analyze deals. Start to understand the numbers that are part of a standard real estate deal.

Your Price points, rehabs, ARV, holding cost, PITI, NOI, Cap rates etc..

But mostly I would say is start finding people with your same mind set. With Covid going around meet ups aren't as prominent, but online groups in Facebook and Bigger pockets are your next best bet. You need to be around people with the same goals as you do. If you hang around people who are doing what you want to do, then naturally you will eventually follow suit.

Bryan Noth · Answer

@Nate Ziegler welcome to the BiggerPockets forums!

I think @Kimmy Taft sacred some golden advice.  Set actionable items for to continueyour personal growth, such as:

• Listen to 5 podcasts per week
• Analyze 1 properties per day
• Listen to 1 audiobook every week/month

And allow that continued education to lead you down paths of new growth.  partnerships, rehab, buy and hold, house hacking, etc.

But the second part Kimmy mentioned about saving and setting yourself up to take action is pure gold.  Preparation is not flashy.  But saving and self educating so you have the knowledge and ability to take action is a powerful combination.

And @Alex Grosvenor also makes a great point about perseverance too.

Alex Grosvenor · Answer

Always remember to keep self educating by listening to the BiggerPockets podcast and reading books among other things. With that said, the next steps would be going to networking events in your area. Meet people, get your face out there and be consistent. Go over and over and over and make connections; a ton of people come and go from events they aren't serious investors. Outlast everybody else who started going then just stopped showing up. Bring value to the people you want to work with. Starting out go look for deals and bring them to investors. People do business with people they like. Bring value to people and get them to like you, they will help you with everything you want to achieve.

Jordan Moorhead · Answer

@Nate Ziegler go to online meetups! If you can start preparing to househack I'd do that too.

Sam G. · Answer

@Nate Ziegler network and connect with other investors, brokers, lenders. Attend some of the local Austin market meetups and BP virtual events.  The relationships you build with help you grow.

Anders R. · Answer

Hi Nate - I am probably just a few months ahead of you in the learning curve, but this is what I've been doing following initial self-education:

- What's your future vision?  Where do you want to be 5-10 years from now?  Write it down.  Don't worry about getting it perfect.  Check out Brandon's free beginner's guide, where he talks about creating a plan and create yours.

- Explore markets.  Have you thought about where you want to start looking for deals?  Maybe start exploring your immediate neighborhood, or nearby neighborhoods.  Bike/Walk/Drive around and try to apply what you've learned to see if you can spot potential deals. Go online and start "collecting" properties you like, then...

- Analyze properties.  Based on what you've learned so far, what strategy feels right for you?  House hack, perhaps?  If so, start analyzing properties with that strategy in mind.  Don't worry about if your analysis is that great.  This is about going through motions and starting to think about the numbers.  Try to see if you can apply what you've learned to see if you've got a good deal or not.  Try to analyze at least one property per day.

- Network, network, network. Read forum posts and don't be afraid to respond.  Find a local REIA or Meetup and attend, virtually, if needed.

- Rinse, lather, repeat.

Good luck!

What Comes Next After Self Study

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