My First deal, and how you can do it too!

Three years ago I decided to become a real estate investor, after making that decision I realized I did not know anything about real estate, I realized I did not know anyone in the real estate space, although I had created a BiggerPockets profile I realized I never actually used the site. I was under the impression that once I decided to pursue real estate and join BiggerPockets all the success was going to come my way, well I can tell you without a doubt that I was wrong, nothing came my way. Why was that?

The reason nothing came my way is that I was not taking ACTION, I was still dreaming. So my first action was to get plugged in. Step one to landing that first deal is

1. 1. Get plugged into the RE space

I started to become more active on BiggerPockets and started posting questions, welcoming new members, and more. I made it a point to interact in at least five posts on the forums every day. Once I started doing that, I started learning a few tips and tricks here and there. Moreover, I started attending my local Real Estate Investors Association (REIA) meeting, it was great and I started to recognize a few people in my city who was doing exactly what I wanted to do. The REIA meeting was a large group of people that got together once a month; although it was a great atmosphere I wanted something more intimate and thus I decided to start a meetup. How did I start a meetup? Well, since I was now active on BiggerPockets I began connecting with local investors in my area, and I reached out to them about starting a meetup, and three years later we are now 100+ and growing.

Once I was plugged into my local real estate space, I began meeting the right people. Who are the real estate agents who are crushing it in your market? I was meeting them. Who are the contractors who are crushing it in your market? I was meeting them, and the list goes on; the right insurance agents crushing it, lawyers crushing it, CPA crushing it, and more. Not only was I meeting the right people, but I was also learning how to be a real estate investor. More importantly, I was able to figure out which area of real estate investing that I wanted to pursue, that fit my personality. Once I was plugged in, the next thing I had to do was become educated.

1. 2. Get educated

I knew some of the basics from being around investors at the meetup and REIA meeting I was consistently attending, but I realized I needed to dive in more and get educated. So I began reading books and listening to the BP OG podcast obsessively because I wanted to up my knowledge. I read books such as Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaky, The ABCs of Real Estate Investing by Ken McElroy, The Book On Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner, and more. On my commute to and from work instead of listening to music as was my custom I listened to a podcast. At night before going to bed instead of putting on Netflix to watch a show, I cracked open a book. Within a few months, my real estate knowledge skyrocketed. At Meetups, I began having full-on conversations with other investors, before I got plugged in and became educated I did not talk much around other investors, because my knowledge was limited but now I could not contain myself and could not stop talking.

1. 3. Jump off

A few weeks ago my wife and I went to key west for a quick getaway vacation; while we were there we went to the beach. At the beach, there was a pier there, and some people were jumping off the pier into the water. The water was murky, and so you could not see what was underneath, and it was about 7 feet deep. I decided that I was going to jump off the pier even though I am not a great swimmer. When I got to the pier and looked down, someone was stopping me from jumping off, who was stopping me? Well, his name is FEAR, you might recognize the name. Why was FEAR stopping me?, well I could not see what was beneath the surface, what if there was something under there that was going to harm me. This is similar to when we are ready to jump into our first deal but you hear that voice inside you, that tells you what if it goes wrong? What if you buy this property, and a sinkhole opens up the next day and swallows the house? What if lightning strikes the house the day after closing and catches on fire; these are pretty extreme examples but our brain races to the worst possible outcome because the brain is trying to protect you from harm.

Well, you know what? I jumped off! I jumped off because I saw others that I knew jumping off and they were okay. You will meet those folks at the meetups that you attend and on the BiggerPockets forums that have jumped off. I jumped off because I knew the water was only 7 feet deep. You will know your numbers because of step 2, you got educated. You learned how to run the numbers, how to calculate cash flow, cash on cash return, and more! I jumped off because I knew the others in the water would help and guide me if, for some reason, something went wrong. Well, the people in the water are the folks in your network that you meet along the way in meetups and so forth, they can tell you which contractor to call if something were to go wrong.

Once you jump off, you will realize that there was nothing to fear because you were prepared! My first deal was a single-family that I got from a real estate agent in my market that was crushing it. I would have never met her had I not been attending local meetups and getting my name out there. If you don't remember anything from this article, remember this: do Step 1, do Step 2, and Step 3 consistently, never think that you have reached a level of success where you can stop getting plugged in and more importantly, staying plugged in. Never think that you have reached a level of success where you don't need any more education, always keep learning. Once you have done your due diligence and underwriting, always jump off!

Good luck hunting!