Getting started

Hey all, I’m a 23 year old college grad in the Greater Cincinnati area. I am currently working for crappy pay at a newspaper and I have always been interested in Real Estate investing. But, I have some questions.
How do I get started? Do the Carleton Sheets programs really work? How do I get into this with little credit and no down payement?
I welcome all advice.
-Jason-

read just about every REI book you can get your hands on and learn. read everything in these forums, there is a wealth of knowledge and experience in here. there are free e-books on this site, too. check out ‘rich dad poor dad’–good stuff in general about moeny and life.

BTW–i don’t like those programs that charge more than a couple hundred bucks (there are some at $7000+) to show you how to do REI, their goal is just making money off you.

instead of your newspaper job–which you obviously don’t like–think about finding a job at a RE agent’s office, title co, mortgage broker, etc. etc. what you will LEARN is more important than what $ you make, which will probably be about the same, and you can make some good connections too (see ‘rich dad poor dad’ for more explanation on this).

make sure your credit is in order. check your 3 scores if you haven’t lately. surprises, when it comes to your credit, are usually really bad.

if your credit is bad or you have little savings, try to find a partner or family member to give you a hand.

after you read all your books and get a feel for things, think about what area will work best for you and your goals (rentals, fix and flips, lease options, foreclosures…), then DO IT. you’ll learn even more by doing than just reading.

thats just my $0.02.