What's A Newbie to Do While Waiting to Take the RE License Exam?

You do what anyone else does...you go to work educating yourself!

It's been a little over a month since I happened upon the Bigger Pockets community. To say I'm grateful is an understatement. Far be it for me to say that a community of people I've never met control or dictate my life. But the amount of education I have been and continue to receive from this community is invaluable. I find myself not making a move unless I check on here to see if someone else has done it, and if they succeeded or failed. 

I found out about CFRI from here and I have gone to a couple of meetings. I continue to meet some great people who have been open and giving of their time. I have been trying to pull together a meet & greet with some local BP members to start getting to know them and build my network. Because everyone is so far spread out and conflicting schedules have gotten in the way, I haven't been successful with that just yet. But I'm not giving up.

The BP community helped me decide to pursue my real estate license and I'm looking forward to sitting for the exam. I've also decided that if I want to get it crackalackin in real estate investing, I'd better start learning how to do some stuff on my own. Yeah sure, we all need a team. And trust me, I'm working on that. But one thing I learned in business a very long time ago is that you should always learn how to do stuff so when you can get a team in place or outsource you won't get taken advantage of. That's one reason I learned how to do web design and continue to keep my skills current. It's also the reason why I have been taking classes.

When I became a homeowner, I never gave much thought to Lowes and Home Depot. Both were within walking distance of my home, but to me, I figured I wouldn't need to know how to fix, build or install anything. I could call people for that. But then reality sets in. Being an entrepreneur, income and revenue ebbs and flows and there are times where you're riding high and can afford to "hire people". And then there are times when you have to roll up your sleeves and get to work. 

I started taking workshops at Home Depot last month. So far, I haven't found anything that was too difficult for me. Listen, one time I had to change the front door handle and lock and the guy at Lowes told me that a little old lady came in and did it with no problem. Meanwhile, it took me 7 hours, help from my sister and my friend and a call to the 24 hour locksmith to get it done. I was pissed! And to kick me while I was down, the guy got it all done in 6 minutes flat. 

So after that I told myself I needed to start learning some basic handy skills. No, I'm not trying to be Bob Villa's little sister. But as I embark on the world of real estate investing, I want to be able to do some basic things and not have to wait on someone else to do it for me or come out of pocket when I don't have to. So off to the Home Depot website I went, found the nearest store, and registered to be notified of their workshops.

The first one was Installing Floor Tile. Dyal, the instructor, was so sweet and patient. It was a full class and it seemed everyone had tons of questions. I asked a few, but mainly waited until the workshop was done and asked during the product tour he took us on. (What a way to encourage folks to spend money! Brilliant marketing move.). But Dyal was patient and answered everyone's questions. 

I took plenty of notes, used my iPad to record segments of the demonstration and took pictures too. It's all going into my Wealth Building kit. I started using Evernote on my iPad to snap pictures of houses, take pictures during workshops and to document things I might need for myself such as tools, equipment, etc. 

Next up, I decided to "challenge" myself a little. I signed up for the How to Install a Toilet workshop. Yikes! The images of all those Flip This, DIY shows on HGTV and DIY showing those nasty toilets in run down homes they're flipping and renovating gave me the willies! But I told myself if I want to be a serious real estate investor and want to get educated, I have to learn the basics. Plus how hard could it be? It was in a store with a clean brand new toilet. 

Guillermo was my instructor. I was the only one to show up for the class! So I asked him if he was disappointed that nobody else showed and if he wanted to cancel. He told me nope, let's do it. So I did! Guillermo walked me through each step (which is pretty much three to four steps) and let me do some work. I can't tell you how empowered that made me feel. Me, Ms. Princess who didn't like manual labor of any kind was learning how to install a toilet. 

See it wasn't about the actual physical labor for me. It was about learning how to do something that brought me so far out of my comfort zone. It's about me learning how to fend for myself and not having to count on someone else. It's about taking pride and ownership as I embark upon my real estate investing career. I know there will be many nasty toilets and floor tiles in my future. That's hard to digest because I'm such a particular person when it comes to cleanliness. Shoot I won't use public bathrooms unless they have just been cleaned, and even then, it's with caution. I'm anticipating the next round of workshops because I crave continued education. 

I am immersing myself in this real estate class and here on Bigger Pockets learning about deal analysis and rehab budgets. That's stuff that I must learn to be successful in investing. But I have to learn how to fix/build/install stuff too. Not that I'm going to become a general contractor (I'm so not interested). But I want to be able to know what's going on. I love Nicole Curtis over on DIY. She makes no bones about getting elbow deep into her rehabs. I want to be like that at least as I begin. I'm not going to have the budget to hire big teams. So I'm watching, reading and learning all that I can, coupled with getting my networking on. 

Being the planner I am, I never go to a class or workshop without my pink notebook. Yeah, I said pink. I also started thinking like a planner. I went to the local Goodwill and found a brand new Wedding Planner binder for $1. I covered the part on the front cover with my name, changed up the tabs, and started using it to hold all my notes from classes, brochures, swatches, cards, etc that I get in my journey. My pink composition notebook comes with me everywhere along with my iPad to take notes. 

Real estate is one of my investing strategies (although the newest and most sizable vehicles I'll be using). I may be planning like "a girl" but trust me, there's a method to my madness. I want to be able to look back a few years from now and see the progress I've made. I want to see my struggles documented and create a blueprint for myself in case I ever need to start all over again, sort of like how my life is playing out right now. I don't know what the future holds, but I'm not going to sit back and wait for it to unfold. I'm going to live it out loud and in living color. Am I scared? Yup. But I'm doing it anyway.