I have to write this. I’m going to make this quick cuz i’m going to write about it more later.
throughout all of the posts from the experienced to the noob investor - there is one thing that is certain.
if you don’t go out and do it - you’ll get no where…at least in real estate or business or whatever it is you want to do.
this following statement is true:
BE THE CONTROLLER OF YOUR DESTINY.
this one is true also:
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT AND GET IT.
now…in order to be IN CONTROL of anything, you have to know what you want. these statements go hand and hand…but they mean something to those who have actually gone out and LIVED IT!
Control means “being at the wheel.” it means knowing what you want and what you need to get it.
let me say that again…control is knowing what you want and what you need to get it.
you will NEVER know it all about rei.
i’ve said before that i don’t believe in “analysis paralysis” - i believe that people must change themselves in order to be able to move forward in a venture like real estate - it’s scary sh*t. bottom line.
but after you’ve done the reading, asked the questions, learned about as much “stuff” as possible - you must eventually determine:
What you want…then move to get it.
YOU MUST.
what helps?
establishing a system to determine your investment strategy.
building a team of people who can help you accomplish it.
having the balls to go out and do it.
ain’t that the truth. if i may toot my own horn here…i’m not just thinking about real estate…i’m thinking AND doing. having that said, at least i can always look back and say i took action…not thought about taking action.
The only thing slowing me down is that I have to pay off some debt so I can get some cash saved up and free up some credit. I could theoretically get started now but I am not going to risk it going with no cash and little available credit to back me. As soon as that’s squared away I will be on my way. In the meantime I am reading as much as possible and trying to get a good handle on the terminology, strategy, and number crunching. If it were up to me I’d be buying something this week. My first venture will be owner occ 4 family, then I’d like to do rehabs and aquire multis to hold.
Rich- If you’ve already got a property you’d like to buy in mind. Try to get a purchase option on it asap. That’ll give you more than enough time to do your due dilligence, get your finances in order, etc. and if you decide when the time comes it’s not the property for you, assign the contract and make a few thousand on it. You will need to spend $100-1000 for “consideration” in order to make the purchase option binding though.
I don’t have any thing in mind right now, haven’t really been looking that much. I just finished paying a bunch of large one time expenses and with Christmas right around the corner I’d just assume wait until early next year to actually make a purchase. I just don’t have any liquid cash right now to cover anything like deposits, etc. Plus if something happened in the first few months like a vacancy or damage/repairs I’d be screwed.
The one thing I wish I had done prior to investing is finding a deal while I did all of my research and book reading. I was 16 when I got interested and I read everything I could until I was 18 when I could actually buy a property. The problem was that I didn’t have any properties in the pipeline. I thought that finding good deals was easier than it really was. It took me several frustrating months to find the right property that I could buy without any money.
The trick is to make sure the first deal is a winner. You cannot lose on your first deal or you will be financially screwed up for a while. Finding a deal with a lot of room for error is tough, and will take some time, so get started looking as soon as you get a chance.
Around here I would think that wouldn’t be a great idea. Condos aren’t so popular here. There are some around but its not like other places that have lots of them. I don’t have numbers to back this statement up but it seems like a lot of condos sit on the market for a longtime. Plus many of the 4plexs around here don’t seem like the layout of the building would make for a good condo setup. Plus the other downside is that most of the 4plexs in my area wouldn’t be nice enough to attract people that are looking to buy vs rent. There are a few towns that have buildings that this might work well but it wouldn’t be easy to buy in at a low enough price point to support the project. These towns typically don’t have any buildings that are in rough shape and the people renting there are usually young professionals so there probably isn’t many cases of landlord burnout. It is possible I suppose to get lucky and find a good one but unlikely.