Quote from @Patrick Megill:
Hey everyone I'm Pat and new to the forum. I am 25, married, and live in Florida. As the title says, I'm new to real estate. I just started reading "Rich Dad Poor Dad" and have been skimming through the forums here to try and get some pointers for a newbie. I think my biggest worry so far is how my family will take me expressing interest in this type of investment. How were you able to explain to those close to you that this was a risk worth taking? I don't want to get discouraged and miss out on a world of opportunity. My long term goals are to first buy a house as a primary residence then rent that and then rent out either a duplex, triplex, etc. and go from there. I am working on saving for a down payment on a house now and don't plan to buy for another 3-4 years which should get me to around 20% down. I also have access to a VA loan so even if I don't make 20% it won't be the end of the world. I look forward to chatting with you all and if you have any advice I am all ears!
Welcome to BiggerPockets!
Forums are full of information, but it's hard to sift through when you don't have a good foundational understanding of real estate investing. I recommend you read a few books on general real estate investing. Learn the language, what makes a good investment, how to finance, how to scale, how to manage. Books will give you 80% of what you need/want to know, then you can come to the forums armed with questions to refine your knowledge as you go/grow.
1. Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free). It will familiarize you with the basic terminology and benefits. Then you can read a more in-depth book like The Book On Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turneror The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing by Spencer Strauss.
2. Get your finances in order. Get rid of debt, build a budget, and save. The idea that you can build wealth without putting any money into it is a recipe for disaster and the sales pitch of gurus trying to steal your money. A wise investor will not try to get rich quick with shortcuts. If you can't keep control of your personal finances, you are highly unlikely to succeed in real estate investing. Check out my personal favorite, Set For Life by Scott Trench , or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
3. As you read these books, watch the biggerpockets podcasts. This will help clarify and reinforce what you are reading. You can hear real-world examples of how others have built their investment portfolio and (hopefully) learn to avoid their mistakes.
4. Now you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them. Again, the BiggerPockets store has some books for this or you can learn by watching podcasts, reading blogs, and interacting on the forum. There is a handy search bar in the upper right that makes it easy to find previous discussions, blogs, podcasts, and other resources. Biggerpockets also has a calculator you can use to analyze deals and I highly recommend you start this as soon as possible, even if you are not ready to buy. If you consistently analyze properties, it will be much easier to recognize a good deal when it shows up. Find Brandon's videos on YouTube for the "four square" method of analyzing homes and practice. It doesn't take long to learn how to spot a good deal.
5. Study the market. You can learn to do this on your own or get a rockstar REALTOR to lead the way. I highly recommend a well-qualified REALTOR that works with investors and knows how to best help you.
6. Jump in! Far too many get stuck in the "paralysis by analysis" stage, thinking they just don't know enough to get started. The truth is, you could read 100 books and still not know enough because certain things need to be learned through trial-and-error. You don't need to know everything to get started; you just need a foundation to build on and the rest will come through experience and then refining your education.
You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months. How long it takes to be financially ready is different for everyone. Once you're ready, create a goal (e.g. "I will buy at least one single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex before the end of 2019") and then do it. Real estate investing is a pretty forgiving world and the average person can still make money even with some pretty big mistakes.
