All Forum Posts by: David Cianci

It depends on what your goal is. If you want to make a career of investing you get "one on one" training that is comprehensive, like at

How I Made Millions Investing In Real Estate

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/1146250-how-...
that should be in the $15k to $20K range and guarantee you'll buy properties or your money back.

Or, if you want to learn basics and "dabble"

There is a "community" that runs about $8k to $10K that says they have online videos and other community members to answer your questions. I fail to see how that is any different than Bigger Pockets but people talk about it.

There is a very large group that charges $20k to join and has a lot of videos and meet ups and is run kind of like an MLM where they give you a "discount" "to the next level" if you convince someone else to join. That to me isn't investing, it's something else, but some people fall for it.

But, if you are just starting out and building your capital, 

There are good REIAS (NationalREIA.org) where you can join an investor group in your area. Ours. locally runs $20 a month. If an investment group charges a lot of money, they are charging to join, not to teach. If you are new, you want the teaching type.

You can hire individual specialists in asset protection, legal documents, estate planning, and so on, but my belief is that it's better to get that in a training program focused on real estate investing by investors.  And of course, plenty of opportunities on Bigger Pockets. Lots of options. it depends on your goals.

I always ask the question of a new investor: "Do you want to go the traditional route and pay 20% down for a property that cash flows $100 to $200 a month" which is relatively easy to do and buy 1 house and then wait a couple of years until you have enough for the next property, with rising real estate costs

or "Do you want to learn how to buy multiple houses using Creative Finance that cash flow $300 - $500 a month with no limit on the number of houses you can buy" but requires learning how and taking advantage of the rising real estate values?

The direction I point people depends on their answer.

Thanks for all the replies. So this is in a rural area in central Pennsylvania. House is 2750sq ft with 3-4 BR and 3 bath and detached 2 car garage in nice neighborhood. Asking price was $125,000. I got it for $95,000. Cost for labor and materials (including contingency) is $130,000. Comps range from 290,000 to 350,000. Our guess on ARV is about $310,000.