I attended my first REI meeting tonight and came away with mixed feelings. There must have been 150 or so people there, which in my eyes are competitors to me finding deals. I have heard people say there are plenty of deals to go around and the such but how can the little guy get started doing the same thing that everyone else is doing and semi-experienced at?
Take tonights topic of direct mail marketing, well if everyone sends their postcard to the pre-forclosure seller what is going to set you apart from the masses they get? Also Im pretty positive that I was the youngest person there, being 18 I can tell that it is going to be hard to get people to take me seriously. I am gaining knowledge by the day and have large HELOC to use but again how can I set myself apart from the rest of the crowd. I need some encouragment here!
Thats the thing im not sure how to go about jumping in. I want to do rehabs so maybe I should just buy a good wholesale property for my first deal… input?
I’m willing to bet when you go to the next meeting, 100 (or more) of those 150 people you saw at the last meeting won’t be there. And for 90-95% that do show up again, I’d bet -0- ever make a deal.
This is my point. Don’t be afraid of others are going to beat you out. There are very few of us at those meeting actually doing deals. The rest are testing the water gathering a lot of information. When they get all this information what they will be…what they won’t be is real estate investors what they will be is confused. And a confused mind never moves ahead. It sits and ponders. That is why I am a proponent of finding out what works in your area (and you will find it is only 1 or 2 techniques) and do one of them exclusively. It is just like a football team. Why is it that most teams start the game running a simple straight ahead running play into the line? It is because if the defense never stops it that is the only play they will run until they end up in the end zone. Don’t stop the technique you pick until it doesn’t work anymore.
Don’t worry about “competition”. As another has already said, the majority of those in attendance won’t be there next month. Most have done a deal, either. In fact, they probably were eyeing you as their competition.
One other thing: I am steadfastly opposed to a n00b trying to make it in this business by starting with foreclosures and preforeclosures. You need cash and know how, and one mistake can put you out of business in a hurry. There are safer and easier strategies to use when getting started.
DON’T LET THE AGE FACTOR SLOW YOU DOWN.
I BECAME A REALTOR AT THE AGE OF 19. I CHOOSE THIS AS MY PATH TO LEARN ABOUT REALESTATE. ALTHOUGH, I HAVE NOT MADE MY FORTUNE AS A REALTOR, I HAVE GAINED A BUNDLE OF KNOWLEDGE BY HELPING PEOPLE GET INTO HOUSES AND GETTING TO KNOW A COUPLE OF INVESTORS AND HOW THEY RUN NUMBERS, STRUCTURE DEALS ETC…
ONE THING THAT HELPED ME WAS TO LOOK SUCCESSFUL, WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS WEAR A NICE SHIRT AND PAIR OF PANTS WHENEVER YOU ARE CONDUCTING REAL ESTATE. THIS WILL HELP YOU GAIN A LITTLE CREDIBILITY. AS MUCH AS I LOVE WEARING MY TSHIRTS AND SKATE SHOES IT JUST WASN’T CUTTING IT.
EVEN WHEN I WOULD DRESS NICE SOME PEOPLE WOULD STILL QUESTION MY AGE BUT NOT USUALLY UNTIL THE THIRD OF FOURTH MEETING WITH THEM. THEY WOULD SAY TO ME " YOU LOOK YOUNG?" “HOW OLD ARE YOU?” I WOULD RESPOND WITH HOW OLD DO I LOOK? THEY THOUGHT I WAS LIKE 24-25. I WOULD SAY NO I AM 19. IT WOULD SHOCK THEM A MINUTE BUT WE WOULD BE RIGHT BACK INTO LOOK AT HOUSES.
Safer and easier stragegies, that sounds appealing to me. Your right I dont feel like the forclosure path is right for me now, but could you elaborate a bit on some strategies? some that come to mind are estate sales, divorce, or wholesale.
I had in mind strategies that offer a favorable risk to reward ratio, and not using your own cash is better still. That said, I firmly believe options and lease options are the best way to break into this biz. Done correctly, they are virtually risk free and require little capital to begin. Two big pluses from where I sit.
My two cents. . .
