All Forum Posts by: Chris H.

Thanks for the Insight @Shawn M. I’ll let ok into this further and see what is best!

Hi all, I’ve been reading books and listening to the podcasts for a little while now. One of the earlier shows had a guest who advised that anyone starting out should get a job that surrounds you with people already in REI and allows you to learn a side of the business while still paying your rent. I know there’s a lot out there, and I wanted to get some opinions on what jobs are out there that would help get me started? A little background: I’m 29, live in Denver metro (Aurora) I don’t have any REI experience currently, and do not have a bachelors degree. I am highly motivated, and a quick learner. I’ve thought about RE agent, or trying to find an entry level job in mortgage lending, or even workIng for someone doing rehabs and/or buy & hold would be awesome as this is what I aim to do as an investor myself. Thanks in adanvce for your advice and wisdom! Chris Haskin

“If you want to know the future, look at the past.” —Albert Einstein I started thinking about what the future holds and what it could look like when the next crash happens. Naturally, I wanted tonlook back to the last crash and how investors at that time handled that. Just thought it would be interesting to hear first hand from investors during that time where you were at prior to the crash (property pricing, difficulty in obtaining good deals, market saturation, etc and what happened once the crash came, how you survived or thrived during this and then how you did when everything started to come back up. If you had property why did you do to survive? (Or did you?) It would be nice to hear what type of investing you were doing at the time and see how they compare/contrast. Feel free to share your experiences and add in anything you feel is important to your story. Ideally it’d be awesome to hear where you were at pre-crash, what happened during that time period, and why did you do when the market started to recover up to where we are at today? Thanks in advance for sharing your story! Chris

Bill S. - the lot is rented, not owned. I did confirm that and I definitely figured this would be a log shot since there are so many variables to it. Jeshua Patrick thank you for the advice as well. I figured this wouldn't be a good idea but wanted to throw it out there. Thanks to you both for the advice. I'll pass on this one.

Hello All,

I was approached recently by a family friend who is looking to move out of Colorado (Thornton area) They bought a manufactured home a couple of years ago and are looking to sell it so they can move in the next couple of months. I haven't gotten a lot of the details yet, but they did mention that they would likely have to do a short sale on the property. Their current mortgage is going for ≈ $1400 for the lot and the home. Im not sure what the market looks like for manufactured homes, and if this would even be something worth pursuing. Thanks for any tips and I'll update as I get more info, as it is severely lacking right now. Just wondering overall what the experiences have been like dealing with manufactured/mobile homes and if there's any money to be ade there since they seem to all sell for >90k out here.

As I am sure you have probably heard already, your best strategy to get started is to save money and learn while you save. REI is not get rich quick. Sadly there won't be any hot deal just laying there for the taking. (Unless you get extremely lucky) Try to cut costs where you can. Increase income if possible. Omaha may have higher paying jobs? Saving will simply take time. But don't give up! Educate yourself and network while you're saving. Learn the markets you are interested in and analyze deals. The weekly podcasts here on BP are super valuable. Listen to them on your drive to/from work and during your free time. You have to decide if REI is something you want, or if it is something you are committed to. If you just want it, you probably wont go very far. But if you stay committed, learn something valuable every day and start building your plan out for you path in REI you'll have enough money and knowledge to gain some traction. Keep networking! Meet people in your area that have done what you want to do. See if one can mentor you, maybe you bring something to the table that they can use. Keep grinding and before you know it you'll be ready to do your first deal and start gaining momentum. Best of luck to you.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Sounds like in some form or another, everyone had some money saved to get started. May I ask about how much did you have in savings when you decided to jump in? Was REI something intentional that you were saving up for? If so, how long did you save before taking action?

Hey All,

Just wanted to get some ideas going and see if anyone wanted to share how they got started in RE.

-What steps did you first take to make the jump?

-What type of property was it?

-Did you flip it? wholesale? buy and hold?

-Were you able to do it using someone else's money, or did you have to save for years to jump into that first property?

-Were you feeling discouraged at all during the process? If so, how did you overcome it?

-In the end, how did the first one turn out, and where did you go from there?

I think sharing these stories can be beneficial to those who are new, or those who are simply still debating whether REI is right for them or not. I know for me, I am not someone who comes from wealth. my parents didn't go to college, don't have spectacular jobs and don't have a lot set aside to live their lives. I didn't get lessons on financial planning growing up. I can certainly say I have made a lot of mistakes along the way and have wasted a lot of valuable time that I will never get back. I am not someone who has an expert in REI to lean on and so I know personally, I try to utilize everyone on this site for their expertise. I can say for sure that in the 4 months that I have been absorbing information, reading the books, and looking at the big picture, I have certainly been guilty of analysis paralysis. For me, my biggest hang ups are (like most) from money and trying to understand the market. What if I don't have the savings someone else might have to buy a property for cash? what is the best strategy to take for starting out? Should I buy a property and try to flip it, or hold onto it and rent? Especially in my local area, (Aurora/Denver, Colorado area) it seems impossible to find something that you can make a profit on. Everything is already so expensive, I just don't know how I can even start. Any advice for me personally would be great, and I know I am not the only one feeling discouraged about trying to get my feet on the ground and build myself up from square one. So I thought it would be good to hear from actual people who have been through it and can remember what that feeling was like. Maybe get some of that confidence back and start a road map on how to finally begin. Thanks in advance everyone and I look forward to your responses.

Chris

Thanks for the responses. Erich Martinez I think in the beginning it would be more manageable to start with flipping for profit instead of renting out the property. Ed E. - I like your idea of looking in cities with job growth, definitely something that I hadn't put much thought into. Do you find more success in looking for the properties that are being foreclosed on where you can potentially make a lower offer work? Or do you look more at auctions or simply just houses being listed by agents, etc?

Ed E. thanks for the advice. Just curious, why avoid Pueblo area? I've seen lots of property available in S. Colo (colo Springs down to Pueblo) is it just something where there is a low resale value? Or is it something else that makes you want to stay away?