Originally posted by @Paul Hitchings:
Originally posted by @Jonathan Steele:
Hello Everyone,
My name is Jonathan Steele. I live in Baton Rouge, LA and have been reading and researching real estate investing for a few months now. I still feel as though I don't know much, and would like some help.
I am a high school teacher and baseball coach, so come this summer I am looking to really dig in and launch my Real Estate Investing business. I know I want to start with wholesaling first. Is there any advice that y'all would like to give as I start out? Things to watch out for? Tips or tricks that I can utilize? Anything will help!
Yes I have been reading the forums and yes I have been reading the beginners guide here on Bigger Pockets. I just want to see if there is anything else that I could glean off of the Investors in this site.
Thank you everyone for your input and comments!
I would not necessarily recommend wholesale as best way for a new investor to break into the game. Yes there is profit potential, but likely all of your properties will be out of the area. Have you considered a house hack? IMHO, better to learn the game with a local property and then try the arms-length homes. Also, considering you are new, better to start with one property than a portfolio of properties.
I agree.
If you have no idea where to begin or even how to enter the world of real estate, wholesale is not the way or are you really intending to assign?.
There's so much more involved than newbies(don't take it personal) are really aware of. There's the whole aspect of following legal issues-doing things correctly,proper contracts to use, full disclosures- (will you let seller know you're assigning the deal?), marketing, prospecting,estimating discounted home values as is, repair values, setting up a realistic budget and time, what's a home worth after repairs, timeframe of what to expect, etc, etc..
In addition, Wholesaling is beginning to get more and more looked at as brokering without a license in many states which is illegal so that's another thing to look at.
Without going on and on,
Perhaps consider Purchasing a duplex, triplex or small unit and househack. You learn about building equity(hopefully you buy it correctly), managing tenants and live rent free while learning real estate. You will have small entry cost as owner occupant, meaning down payment is less than if you were to buy a property as an investor whereas banks typically require 25 to 30 %. Owner occupants pay 3.5 percent thru some of these fha loans.
Not trying to discourage but just keeping it real.
