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Do you want to rehab, flip or rent the homes?

Cool! Maybe next time you're up in Hoboken we can grab a few beers. :beer: Send me a PM or an email and we can work something out.

Yeah, I've noticed that too. Prices up here are ridiculous... atleast $400,000 for a 1/1 condo in Hoboken. I'll be meeting some people next week and hopefully I'll find something that works. Theres what, 10-20 million people in this area? They all have to live somewhere, its just a matter of finding out how to turn a profit. :mrgreen:

Good luck with the out-of-the-area hunting!

Welcome!

There are three types of income: earned, portfolio and passive.

Earned - Money earned by working for someone else (regular job). After taxes, social security and such, the government winds up taking 50% of it.
Portfolio - Money earned by paper investments (stocks, mutual funds, etc). Here, 20% of it goes to the government.
Passive - Money earned by your money working for you. Best example of this is rent coming in from a real estate investment. The key is that you do no work and still get paid. Here, after various loopholes, the government takes 0%.

I recommend grabbing a copy of Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. These are his concepts and he can explain it much better than I ever will. I highly recommend it and would go as far as saying that it is required reading for everyone.

Thanks,
Alex

It's really simple:

Make $1 of positive passive income from real estate this year.

Hello Everyone!

I've already made an introductory post in the 'Starting out' section, but I'll just rehash everything here.

I am a 22 year old, living in Hoboken, NJ. I will be graduating in 2 weeks from Stevens Institute of Technology with a BS in computer science. I have a great, high paying job (75k) lined up for after graduation and I will be starting there sometime this summer. I have no CC debt, about $17k in student loans, and very little money saved up at the moment (all the money that I've earned in the last couple years has gone to tuition). I plan on using the money I save from my day job to get started in REI and switch to doing that full time in several years.

As a RE Investor, I would have to say that I am at the end of the 'build up base knowledge' phase and am ready to move on to the 'first purchase' phase. I have scoped out a local CASHFLOW/REI club and I should be going to a meeting this week. I am hoping to meet some people there that will help me get a lead on my first purchase. My goal for this year is to have at least $1 of positive passive income from real estate.

Short term goals:
- Meet and network with other REIs from northern NJ (hudson/bergen counties) or NYC
- Find a mentor
- Build a team
- Find someone who wholesales properties in my area (if you know anyone, or even how to look for wholesalers, please let me know!)
- Buy a cashflow positive property by the end of this year

As a side note, here are the books that I've read so far. I highly recommend them to anyone just starting out. They both the how and the why. These are the books that brought me here and have changed how I look at money and the world. Here is the order that I read them in and it worked for me. They are all books from the Rich Dad series.
1) Retire Young Retire Rich
2) Rich Dad Poor Dad
3) CASHFLOW Quadrant
4) The ABC's of Real Estate Investing
5) Real Estate Advantages

I also have two books in the mail by Donald Trump. I'll let you guys know how they work out once I read them.

I'd convert it into cashflow. Pay out the principle on all the mortgages of all rental property that you have (or as much as possible). That will allow you to keep all that money safely in the form of equity and it should really pump up your monthly profits.

That changes the question to: "what to do with $xxx/month?" First of all, find 5 charities that you like and give them 5% each month. Travel the world. Take some art classes. Enjoy nature. Start a small business doing what you *want*. Maybe a restaurant or a bar or a club or a gym or anything else your heart wants. Start a scholarship. Go to a private island in Fiji with your significant other and figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life. Give money to cancer/aids/etc research. Give $ for food/medicine to developing countries. Find a way that you can make a positive difference in the world. The sky is limit here.

"Normal people take care of themselves. Good people take care of themselves and the people around them. Great people take care of everyone." What kind of person do you want to be? If you have the money to be that kind of person... then thats who you should be and what you should do.

First of all, thank you both for your comments. I really appreciate them!

Mike: Thank you for your advice. I have looked at some REIAs in my area, but there are a *lot* (I am in NJ, across the Hudson from NYC). Do you know anyone from this area that can recommend a good REIA?

r2: Thank you for the book recommendations, I'll pick them up at the store tomorrow.

In regards to flipping, I'll look into it. From what I gather, going for foreclosed homes is the easiest way to buy cheap. Is re-doing the carpet and painting the walls really all that needs to be done? You seem to recommend that to everyone here, so I am inclined to think that it worked for you. Has anyone else had any experience with just doing carpet/paint?

Also, when should I start switching over to purchasing rental properties? I recall reading about someone who used to flip houses and regrets selling them as holding on to them would have made him a multi millionaire. Is it worth it to buy a house cheap, carpet/paint, and rent that out? Worst case scenario, if you can't get enough rent for positive cash flow, you can always sell.

Thanks,
Alex

Hi Everyone,

I just finished reading one of the rich dad/poor dad books and I can say that I am sold on RK's ideas. I realized that working for someone else will never get me to the point I want to be at in life. I know that I have to make my money work for me and not vice versa. I've been looking around and I've come to the conclusion that real estate is where I want to be due to the massive potential for passive income.

Now, a little bit about myself: I am 22 years old living in Hoboken, NJ and I will be graduating with a BS in Comp Sci this may. I got lucky and lined up a very high paying job in my field (75k per year + bonuses) and I will start working there this summer. I have a little bit of money saved up, but it is nowhere near enough to make meaningful investments in real estate.

My question is... how do I get started? I've been reading a lot as part of the 'education' process. I know that I have to be familiar with the terms used in RE and the general flow of things before I get started. When do I switch gears from learning how RE works to applying that knowledge to make money? What is the best way to get started? Dive right in and buy a property and hope it makes money? Should I wait and see how things are in the market? I think that trying to find a mentor would be the best way to start, but I have no idea where to look for someone that would be willing to do that. Another thing to note is that property values in my area are quite high, which means a high down payment and more consequences should things go sour if I dive right into it.

And my final question, on a slightly unrelated note, my company offers 50% matching up to 15% of my salary on a 401k. Is it possible / worth it to max out my contributions and then withdraw from my 401k? I'm trying to find a way to get at that 'free money' so I can use it in other investments.

Thank you,
Alex