All Forum Posts by: Andrew Swart

Hi @Andrew Swart, It's sometimes hard to know who's good and who's not. Many advertise "we have 200 lenders to broker through...." but in reality, they only truly work with a handful of those. Experience is key. Have a deep conversation with them and feel them out for professionalism. Local title agents and closing attorney's will likely send you to those who send them business, so that might not be the best place to turn. If you're looking for vanilla Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA deals, pretty much every lender offers those. If you're looking for a lender that handles significant amounts of investor deals, then you might want to ask other investors in the area. All lenders aren't equal. Go with someone that conducts themselves as a pro...not a used car salesperson. I know that helps.

Hey @Andrew Swart! Welcome to BP and sounds like you already have a solid basis from the books and analyzing some deals. As some others have said, don't get stuck in the learning phase too long, it can be a major killer of momentum and getting started. I do appreciate your approach of wanting to shadow someone and get learning that way, but I think it will stunt your growth in the beginning. These investors may not be receptive to taking you under their wing or giving you work and you won't be getting too much out of the relationship as you'll be more on the sideline. Unless you can find a value add proposition to people (Say being a GC and partnering with flippers, or being able to provide capital) then you may be stuck.

I would recommend getting connected with a solid Investor agent here in Denver (there is no shortage, as you have already seen) that is 100% focused on your success and strategizing with you. They will serve as your mentor and guide, and I would recommend getting started in a House Hack. It is a low barrier to entry and lower risk than any other investing strategy. That will be the quickest and easiest learning experience you can get and will get your feet wet in Investing, and then you can scale from there. There truly isn't any replacement to just simply getting out there and doing it.

Welcome, Andrew! Happy to have you and congratulations on deciding to go into real estate. I think a lot of us when we first got started can relate to what you’ve expressed. I can say that no amount of books alleviated that fear. The biggest catalyst to overcoming them was by doing. Taking action. And I’ve learned the most through being in the thick of it. I’ve had my losses (significantly more losses than wins) but it only takes a few wins to make the whole journey worth it.

I’d encourage you to:

1. Find local REI meetups in Denver and connect with people doing what you want to be doing.

2. Find ways to serve others. Whether it’s getting your tool belt on, helping investors connect with others that can help, or providing a skill, give give give as much as you can before asking for something.

3. Read as much as you can and be obsessed with growth and real estate. Read rich dad poor dad if you haven’t yet.

4. Find an investor-friendly lender that can at least take a look at your financial status and give you an idea of what you can afford so you know what to look for when you’re ready. I recommend @Grant Schroeder! He’s helped quite a few investors in CO, he’s got a number of rental units and he got started house hacking a few years ago.

Best of luck!

@Andrew Swart welcome to the community! You are in the right place to move from the unknown to a successful real estate investor in no time. Being in Denver you have endless resources not only on this site but also on the ground. There are A LOT of REIA Meetups in Denver and the surrounding areas. Take advantage of these as it's in my opinion the best way to get around others who are already in the mix with most Meetups being very low-pressure environments!

Helpful to hear that's a good place to start, which I've been trying to do. Thanks!