Once you have something tangible that you want to offer on go back to the contacts that you made at the REIA meetings and ask them to help with what you have.

It takes more than money to be a continued financial success in the real estate business.The Hard Way – Start from the bottom and learn the business – study neighborhoods – attend auctions (don’t bid, just observe.Take courses – but be very selected – don’t over pay – don’t chase the Get Rich Fast programs from Fast Talking Know Nothing Promoters – most of them are trashGet in the field – drive around – farm – talk to neighbors – get listings – call FSBO’s, have agents keep you informed of trends and off market properties – train a real estate buyer’s agentLearn to make offers – but first you need to know what to make offers on, you must understand clauses and contracts – you need to know and understand every word and what that word will do for you or how it can hurt you – my clients are trained to use a contract form we call a Skinny Contract – it is a one page document – it has the address – the offer – and clauses that allow you to sandwich yourself in for an assignment fee and most importantly – full disclosures and what happens if you cannot settle – Set goals ----yep – sound silly, but it works – set a goal to look at 50 properties – My clients call this the 50 house rule – select an area – make appointments with FSBO’s and agents – keep a journal, write down everything about the property especially the cost per square foot, financials, the owner and the building – look at 50 properties – but don’t make offers – just look and study the market – A doctor will studies for years, watches others doctors slice open patients and after many years he has a chance to be a real doctor who has learned to heal people – study your potential profession and work as hard as a doctor would – expose yourself to experience – your job is to know your market better than anyone – it takes a medical student many years to reach their potential – you can earn as you learn without spending years in the process.Working the 50 house rule – don’t make offers on any of them – just keep looking.The purpose of the 50 house Rule is to know every detail about properties on the market, the expired listing market, the tax sale market, the HUD market as well as the market at the court house steps.

Every tenant eventually moves so the costs will be exactly the same for each in time while not maximising rents will be a added ongoing loss from day one.

Chicagoactioninvestors currently has 4 ongoing flips in the area.

I'm heading to Wisconsin on business training but would lIke to meet, share ideas and experience.  

I doing the 3 day training as well.

It seems stressful to not have an idea of your expected income more than a month in advance, but I guess that will help me shift my mindset from employee to entrepreneur (I have a few other coals in the fire as well) J@James Carlson Thanks for the great advice and for the heads up about the ongoing litigation.

Straight from the mouth of a commissioner he said you cant ask what the disability is, cant ask if the animal is trained, there is no limit on what type of animal it is and he brought up an example of a duck that was denied to fly on a plane and the lawsuit against the airline for it, cant ask anything other than fora  note from their medical professional....and that can be any type of medical professional.

Last note - do not buy any training or course that cost more than $200 until you have been around the business for at least a year.

I am weeding them out (pun intended) pretty quickly but you think when they meet me and see the K9 shirts, the dogs, that both my husband I are carrying and they ask what I train for and I say dope and border patrol they would get a clue?