What is the best hands-on experience for a buy and hold investor?

[Daniel Galvan]

Hello,

I'm looking forward to begin my buy and hold investment career next year; I have some financial goals that I want to complete before investing. However, in the mean while I have strong desire to get hands on experience to learn the business via either assisting an investor or part-timing with a company in the field. If my goal is to be a buy and hold investor buying 1 property per year, who should I be looking to work with: 

1) A wholesaler to learn how to find deals, 

2) A real estate agent to learn the process and network,

3) A contractor to learn skills and to do better estimates, 

4) A property manager to learn land-lording skills?

[David Lowe]

I think it depends on your goals.  Do you want to manage your own properties or do you plan to work with a property manager as you build your portfolio?  I would vote for #4 as well if you plan to manage them yourself.  Do you plan to fix the properties yourself or hire someone to do the work?  If you are worried about learning how to estimate the cost of work, get a few quotes (3-5 if you are able) and you should have a good idea how much something should cost in your market.  If you are more interested in learning the skills yourself, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity is a great way to learn skills under the direction of experienced contractors while giving back to the community (and it would be free education for you).  I would recommend working with a real estate agent and/or a wholesaler to find your properties, so no need to work under them unless you aspire to become a wholesaler or real estate agent yourself.  Don't try to be a jack-of-all-trades.  Figure out what area you want to specialize in (wholesaling, renovating, managing) and become an expert in that field, then hire experts for the other areas.  Just my opinion, but I hope this helps and happy investing!