First post here. Was looking for some ideas in regards to first time investments. 0, or low down investments to get me started. I’ll probably have a mentor shortly, but just looking to get some ideas out as I have roughly only 4k to start with, and approx/very close to 700 credit – Not much cash, but my credits increased over 100 points within the last couple of years…
Looking to get a property going and flip it… or rent it for a year, flip it… reinvest, etc… something similar… but just looking for ideas for now. Thanks.
I would suggest starting out as a birddog. This will teach you to locate properties, and you will learn what is a good deal and what is a bad deal from the investors that you send your deals to. Good luck in your new endeavors.
Welcome to the forum and to investing in general. Before you buy a property, read on the forum some of the investment strategies people use. I assume you have a day job and this is something you want to do on the side?
Actually, I’m in the process of leaving my current job in IT – as of next Thursday, I will be unemployed and was looking to seriously dedicate a lot of time and energy into something like this…
I have a 24’ year old friend that I’ve spoken to in the past who works as a lender and rebuilds/flips homes himself. Last I spoke with him, he owned a 900k home, and had over 500k saved for himself. Was intending to get back in contact with him, and hopefully have him take me under his wing/mentor, and perhaps birddog through him and such. We’ve already discussed real estate over tea a couple times, I happen to meet him the night after my first ‘wealth’ conference which covered ideas on real estate- forclosures, stocks, and inet…
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, whatever you do don’t quit your day job until you know that:
You’re earning enough in REI that you can support yourself.
You are happy with it and want to keep doing it.
While there are ways to do deals with poor credit and no money down having a decent income and steady employment will certainly make it a lot easier to get deals done and do different types of deals. I wouldn’t think about quitting your job until you at least have surpassed your current income in IT.
I understand this more fully now, and while browsing through various topics and forums on here… and did understand this previously as well… Although, I have already put in a 2-week, it was more of a situational / personal thing under my present employer… Perhaps i’ll look for another IT job before jumping in/continue putting money into 401k, etc…
Would you recommend trying to find a 0/down, (and if so, have any good recommendations on where/how to find these?) or perhaps building up a 401k/savings, and taking out a 50% loan for a 10% down, although this seems like it could take quite some time still as I live in LA County.
There are many ways to buy. Subject 2, lease option, using hard money…etc that does not require your own money or credit. The challenge is in finding the good deals. Having that said, you also need to know to recognize a good deal quickly and know what to do with it once you buy it.
Real Estate Investing is like the gold rush… everyone heard of the very few who made lots of money and everyone thinks they can get rich quick doing it. It is a simple business, but not an easy business. It IS a business, so you are pretty much opening a company of your own and need to run it as such. It takes a while to realize the benefits.
As a Newbie you should start with flipping properties to build your cash foundation. There are so many techniques, gurus out there selling different methods. In the beginning focus on flipping with no money, no credit and generate cash. I was a Newbie that made thousands in a week. You can too!